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Private Notes
David Clarke, Chief Executive of mid-range hotel chain Best Western, goes on an undercover mission to examine the inner workings of his company, with mixed results
Harry Ramsden's new CEO Marija Simovic goes undercover to find out more about the fish and chip chain, and to see how her company's fortunes might be turned around
Paul Fisher is the boss of Jockey Club Racecourses, the largest and most successful organisation in the competitive world of British horseracing. He'll pose as Richard Setter, a new casual employee, who is trying out entry level jobs in the world of horse racing to find out how his company works from the bottom up. Strong language
Fifty-nine-year old Colin Drummond is chief executive of Viridor, one of Britain's largest recycling and waste management companies. Colin spends five days undercover as a new recruit called John Roy. By going undercover and seeing his business at the sharp end he believes he will learn valuable lessons about what his company is doing both right and wrong.
Andrew Withers, boss of Southern Fried Chicken, goes undercover in his fast food franchise, and is shocked by what he discovers about the standards, staff, food and customers. Southern Fried Chicken was started by Andrew's father back in the 1960s and now has outlets across the UK. Andrew feels passionately that the SFC brand in the UK is in need of an overhaul, and feels himself at odds with the carefully constructed image he has spent years developing for the brand in 70 countries overseas. In the UK, SFC is associated with post-pub late night binge eats rather than seen as a family restaurant. Andrew spends time behind the counter to find out why the company's 200 UK franchises aren't living up to his expectations. Can he get his business back on track? Strong language
The Blue Cross, one of the UK's leading animal welfare charities, undergoes the Undercover Boss treatment as Kim Hamilton takes a turn cleaning dog kennels and helping cats give birth. Having previously spent over 20 years climbing the ranks in banking Kim Hamilton now uses her business skills in the charitable sector. But ditching her suits for scrubs requires a different skill set, and hiding her identity from the staff and volunteers, who are the backbone of the charity, is even tougher. Can she pose as a volunteer without being unmasked, and what lessons will she learn that could shape the future of the charity?
Chief Operating Officer Kevin McCullough goes undercover at npower, one of the UK's top utility companies. Npower is capable of generating up to 15% of the UK's power at any one time. But earlier this year, Which? magazine reported that just 27% of the company's customers said they were satisfied with the service. Kevin McCullough is responsible for over 8000 npower employees. A local lad done good, 45-year-old Kevin grew up in Yorkshire and started his career in 1984, shovelling coal at the plant. After all the bad press, Kevin admits that because `the company made me everything that I am today, when people criticise the hard work our employees put in - it hurts.' Undercover Kevin sees for himself what his employees have to put up with, working a spell on the busy customer service team. There's a mountain to climb to gain back the respect of customers and staff; will Kevin's spell undercover go any way to turning the business around?
Fouad Haghighat is preparing to take over Pizza GoGo from his father. Undercover in the business, he discovers some shocking health and safety breaches, but also meets some inspirational workers. Strong language
Company director William Reeve goes undercover on the shop floor of multi million pound gaming business Paddy Power and unearths some shocking problems behind the scenes
Former celebrity hairdresser Jacqui McIntosh, now a senior manager of The Francesco Group, is on a mission to find out why the company's profits are down
Pam Finnis, managing director of one of Britain's biggest care home firms, goes undercover to investigate standards of care. The private care home industry has been plagued with problems. In 2011, scandal-hit Southern Cross - then Britain's biggest care home operator - collapsed under £50 million of debt. HC-One stepped in and took over a third of the homes. They now care for more than 10,000 people across 241 UK care homes, and the woman in charge of the day-to-day running of the company is Pam. Ex-nurse Pam finds going back to the floor tougher than she imagined. She discovers one home is in need of urgent refurbishment; she breaks down when she hears how her staff struggle to survive on their low wages; and she's upset to discover overstretched night shift staff unable to respond immediately to residents' calls for help. But Pam's also inspired by dedicated employees, some of whom choose to work on their days off in order to spend more time with residents.
Gunnar Blomdahl, CEO of one of the UK's biggest ferry companies, Stena Line, goes undercover on some of his own fleet of ships to find out if the business is delivering its promise of convenient, efficient and relaxing travel. Stena has recently invested over one billion pounds in increasing the look and size of its operation, but Gunnar is worried that standards have slipped. What he discovers undercover shocks him - paying customers onboard a building site at sea, sub-standard customer service, and flawed design on a brand new superferry. When he meets foreign crew earning less than the UK minimum wage and staff dealing with the uncertainty of seasonal contracts he faces difficult moral questions, and is moved by a Filipino crew member coming to terms with the death of his daughter while working away from his family. When Gunnar returns to head office he's determined to make changes.
Chief Executive Phil Couchman heads back to the frontline to work alongside his staff. Terrified of losing even a single customer to the competition, Phil aims to find out if workers are delivering the top notch service he expects. In the three years since Phil became boss, he's seen DHL's turnover reach a massive 800 million pounds. But rapid expansion brings its own problems. When the CEO goes undercover he discovers a stretched workforce and customer service staff who are tied up in red tape. Phil is moved by a courier who supports his family in Brazil but has no job security, another whose job is stretching his body to breaking point, and finally by couriers being paid unfairly. Phil is forced to consider whether DHL have more to worry about than just their customers.
After years in the boardroom, Geoff Zeidler of Securitas goes undercover, to be blown away by the sacrifices his security officers make and the violence and racial abuse they encounter through just doing their job. Private security company boss Geoff Zeidler of Securitas spearheaded a risky takeover of two rival firms just as the worldwide recession took hold. Securitas's global profits are down by a staggering £65 million and he's now responsible for 12,000 officers that the company didn't originally recruit. So Geoff's gone undercover to find out if his new officers are of the high caliber the customers expect. Geoff is shocked by how much pressure his new staff are under, and amazed by the personal sacrifices the security officers make. After witnessing the violence his officers tackle and the racial abuse they endure, Geoff's forced to consider whether Securitas has more to worry about than just the bottom line.
Company director Ray Pope steps out from his cosy office and into very unfamiliar territory by going undercover on the shopfloor of multi-million pound car giant Hyundai. Having tripled car sales in only four years, Ray worries that the business might be creaking under the strain. After years behind a desk, he's finally getting his hands dirty, but unearths sales staff struggling to perform, mechanics so demoralised that they're leaving the company, and valets frustrated at unachievable targets. And when the boss heads to the company's largest operation, Tilbury docks, where they import 2500 cars a week, he's shocked to discover that dozens of cars are going missing.
Eleanor Kelly, Chief Executive of south London's Southwark Council, wants to see how slashed budgets are affecting the borough's services, residents and an often under-appreciated staff. Cuts of nearly 100 million pounds have forced Eleanor to think outside the box. With 300,000 residents demanding round-the-clock services and pressure mounting as a result of an inquest into a tragic fire, the undercover CEO needs to discover if slashed budgets mean Southwark is failing its residents. But after years at the top, she's shocked at what she finds.
Chief Executive Ian Wakelin goes undercover in Biffa, the waste and recycling company. Biffa has been finding it increasingly difficult to turn muck into brass in these tough economic times. With debts in excess of a billion pounds when he joined, Ian's been wholly focused on restoring the company's flagging fortunes. Determined to maximise profits and pay back the company's remaining debts, he heads to the front line in search of ways to balance the books. After mucking in with his hard-pressed staff, and working in challenging conditions, Ian discovers that some feel they've been overlooked and dumped at the tip. But it's not just hard physical graft, as tears and trauma come to the fore. It's an experience that forces Ian to question whether the company's people should be his main concern and not its numbers.
Peter Harvey, boss of slot machine company Quicksilver, adopts a dramatic disguise and goes undercover in the hope of working undetected alongside his frontline staff. Hit hard by the smoking ban, the company has seen profits drop by a massive 30% and Peter is desperate to find new ways to attract more customers. Once undercover, the CEO is shocked at what he finds: a young female employee feels vulnerable working at night; a talented engineer with ideas has been told to 'shut up' by management; and venue staff feel so ignored by head office that many want to leave the company. The boss has to confront the reality, that it might not just be the company's dwindling profits he has to worry about but also his underappreciated staff.
Brian Brick, Chief Executive of high-street clothing retailer Moss Bros, swaps his suit to go undercover to see how his cost-cutting, but profit-turning methods have impacted on frontline staff. In the five years since Brian became boss, he's turned the struggling retailer, that was once losing 10 million pounds a year, back into profit. While undercover, Brian's shocked to discover unmotivated employees, over-stretched delivery drivers, and staff so desperate to improve the look of their shop they're painting it themselves. After being moved by loyal workers undertaking massive commutes to hold on to their jobs, Brian's forced to question whether the staff should now be the business's main concern.
CEO Mark Goldring is the man at the top of one of Britain's best known and biggest charities. Awarded a CBE for his life's work tackling poverty, he's responsible for Oxfam's balance sheet. But with income down by £18 million in a year, Mark's worried the charity is over stretched. Mark goes undercover to investigate whether Oxfam is raising the maximum amount of money possible and spending it wisely. While undercover in the UK, he's surprised to discover flaws in the fundraising operation that could be costing millions, and is shocked that his British staff are fearful for their jobs. When he travels across the world to a frontline disaster zone, he's frustrated by the dangerous conditions his employees are working in and wrestles with how to balance the tyhpoon victims' needs, his staff's wellbeing and Oxfam's finances.
The co-owner of nationwide retailer Pets Corner goes undercover in his own business to see if a potentially risky multi-million pound investment to grow the business is likely to succeed. Steve Charman is responsible for over 450 staff and a turnover in excess of £30 million. He is going undercover to investigate the company's operations before they change strategy for the future. As he battles to keep his identity secret, Steve investigates whether there is disorder in the shops, if sales staff are struggling, and how suppliers are paid. Confronting whether there are problems within the organisation that cannot be ignored, he questions whether his expansion plan can succeed.
With government funding down and competition increasing, pharmacy chain Rowlands has seen its turnover drop by £20 million. In a bid to differentiate his business from rivals and win new customers, managing director Kenny Black wants his 510 dispensaries to offer free health advice and excellent customer service. When Kenny goes undercover, there's a bitter pill to swallow: he discovers life-saving medicines out of stock and staff over-worked and under-appreciated. When a dedicated delivery driver is moved to tears by the job, Kenny's forced to consider if he has more to worry about than the bottom line.
Senior director Bims Alalade investigates how a recent funding crisis is affecting the largest and oldest youth charity in the world. How have massive budget cuts of up to 80% impacted the organisation and the brand. Bims is worried that the YMCAs might be struggling to help youngsters in crisis. And once on the frontline, she's faced with the stark reality of sweeping cuts. She's appalled by facilities at breaking point, and shocked to find staff facing abuse. And when a young former resident of one of the housing projects breaks down in front of her it proves an unsettling experience.
Chief Executive Simon Kossoff goes undercover as his restaurant chain Carluccio's plans to double in size in five years. He's planning to spend £50 million and is keen to expose problems that could jeopardise successful growth. After scrubbing dishes and being run off his feet, Simon is shocked to discover branches struggling with chaotic kitchens, inefficient systems and demotivated staff, and is forced to consider whether Carluccio's should worry more about existing employees than expansion.
