Episode 13 Money for Nothing

Ooh, just before you throw those away...

How do you make money for nothing?

-Can I have it?

-You can have it, yes.

The answer could be hiding in the 30 million tonnes of household waste

we throw out every year.

Now, this is one seriously unusual tip find.

That's why entrepreneur Sarah Moore

wants to get her hands on things before they hit the skip.

I'm a passionate user, maker and buyer of old stuff.

And I've turned my passion into a moneymaking business.

I make new stuff out of old stuff and I sell it for profit.

And with some of the country's elite designers and makers...

These were going to be thrown away? Seriously?

I love it, love it, love it.

..she can transform her finds into desirable...

It looks brand-new.

..valuable...

You are joking?

..and, hopefully, saleable items.

That is a triumph!

If Sarah is successful, then she can hand the profits back

to the very people who had no idea

there was cash to be made from their trash.

That is amazing!

Welcome to the Merchants Way Recycling Centre in Walsall.

Excuse me.

It's Sarah's first stop

as she travels the length and breadth of the country

searching for unloved items that she can work her magic on.

Today, I'm looking for those items destined for the tip

with that transformative potential that I can turn into profit.

But before you eager beavers get any idea

about heading down to your local dump,

Sarah's been given special permission to raid the rubbish.

You never know what you're going to get here. That's why it's so thrilling!

She's on a mission to save four items from the scrapheap

to rejuvenate or repurpose and sell on for a profit.

It looks like there's plenty of potential loot in Dave's boot.

You've got a car-full, what are you doing?

This is my auntie, who's moving from a house to an apartment.

There's some real old stuff in here, I tell you.

Surely in amongst all this, Sarah can uncover an item

to unleash her creativity upon.

After all, she can make the use-less use-ful, the aw-ful awe-some.

SARAH LAUGHS

I don't know where the head's got to, I'm sure.

Some items, though, are beyond even Sarah's skills. Thankfully.

Tell you what I'm liking the look of. What's that?

Little stool or something?

-Yeah, it's a table.

-It's a telephone seat, isn't it?

Back in the days before mobiles or cordless phones,

you may have had one of these next to your telephone

so you could have a nice sit while you had a natter.

I love its legs.

I've got somebody who I'm working with who loves a leg.

I nearly said something earlier! I nearly said something earlier!

I'd sooner see your legs than them legs!

Them legs do nothing for me.

I'm sure when you take them jeans off, them legs'll do better!

Now, now, now!

Keep it clean. This is a respectable show.

Let's get back to business, please.

I really like that, I love the metal on it and I like the look.

Do you think I'll get more than a fiver for it if I do it up?

You've saved it, that's the most important thing.

I'll see what I can do with this little gem.

-Smashing.

-Lovely.

-Keep up the good work.

So what would Dave's auntie make of all this?

She'd be chuffed, absolutely chuffed.

It's been part of her life for a long, long time.

So if you end up recycling that, then that'll be great.

I know it's only small, but I think this is absolutely beautiful.

These lines are classic,

you know, got that '50s atomic look to it,

and I think this'll turn out to be a really pretty piece,

and I know just who to take it to.

Let's meet the man who'll be ringing the changes on this telephone seat.

Jay Blades is a builder-turned-philosophy graduate- turned-furniture designer.

What I love about furniture is the playfulness.

It reminds me of my childhood, where I used to make Meccano sets

and just making stuff.

Now with furniture, I'm allowed to take things apart,

add some paint, add some fabric and just basically add a bit of me.

Jay has his finger on the pulse of contemporary interior design,

reworking the very best of British craftsmanship

and bringing it bang up-to-date.

Personally speaking, I think adding colour is very important.

Give me the most ridiculous piece of furniture and I will turn it into something beautiful.

That's my claim to fame. I know I could do it.

Hopefully, Jay will be just as engaged when he sees what Sarah's bringing him.

-That looks nice.

-It's a gem.

-Is it le...? No.

-It looked like it was leather.

-No, it's not.

It's a telephone chair, call chair, kind of thing.

-What do you reckon?

-It looks really, really cool.

I love the legs.

I saw the legs and I thought of you.

Yeah, most definitely.

This is me. All over.

I think the fabric is the thing that's going to make this shine.

Is it leather? Is it velvet?

I love working with leather or velvet and I think they ooze luxury,

so if we want to sell this for quite a bit of money,

because of the style it is, it should be quite a bit.

And this is quite unique, I've never seen anything like this before,

so we're going to make this one of those spectacular pieces.

That sounds fantastic.

-Yeah.

-But what are we thinking about in terms of budget for it?

If you're working with something like leather,

leather pushes it up a bit because you have to buy a whole hide,

they don't sell them in halves, that I know of anyway.

And...I would love to work in the leather.

So the leather alone, we could be looking at least 60...

I would say £60 to cover that.

I'm probably looking at 150 quid, maximum, on it,

so I think that that might define what you get to put on the seat.

Sounds like Jay's big plans to blow the cobwebs away

come with a big price tag.

His leather dream is being crushed by Sarah's bottom line.

I'll leave you with 60 quid.

If you struggle on the fabric,

then maybe I've got another fiver, another tenner to spend.

OK. 60 to 70, no more than 70.

-Don't spend more than 70.

-No more. OK. That's a deal.

-You take care, yeah?

-Bye!

-OK.

There's something really special about that telephone chair, and Jay picks up on that.

He's so good to work with because he knows about leaving a little bit of margin in it for everybody.

I think he's going to create something really special.

The fabric is going to be the wow factor,

and also with the fabric being the wow factor,

the legs, the side have to complement it as well.

So this one's going to be quite interesting.

Sarah and Jay agree this chair needs a modern makeover,

but can Jay do it within his 60 to 70 quid budget?

One item down, three to go, and Sarah's loving every minute of it.

Time flies when you're having fun.

Bringing new life to cast-aside odds and ends is Sarah's passion,

but she also loves selling it on for a tidy sum.

Can she surprise Brian by turning his clutter into cash?

Oh, I like the look of your rubbish.

What's that? What's that, before we throw it away?

-It was a...

-Oil.

-..an oil tin, but...

Oh, it's all solid in there, is it?

Retired engineer Brian's getting rid of all the old bits and bobs

from his garage.

Oh, I quite like that. OK.

And then what are these bits? Are they...?

I love these.

Oh, I love them, too.

Uh, but what is it? A heater? A light? I think it's a heater.

It's these bits I'm wondering if I could do anything. These are...

These don't go together, do they?

Ah, rusty metal shelving. That's more like it.

I think I'd quite like to take these bits and these bits

-and see if there's anything I can do with them.

-Yeah.

On top of the rusty shelves,

Sarah's also nabbed some rusty metal poles.

I think we might leave the other bits

but just take this lovely rusty little bundle here

and see if I can do something with that.

I'll help you put the rest in the recycling.

Oh, hold on.

How can you chuck the, um, thingamabob? We love that.

CLATTERING Oof! Mind me lug holes!

So, Brian, do you have any ideas

what Sarah's going to do with all that?

-Well, throw it into the scrap.

-HE LAUGHS

Well, ask a stupid question...

They all think I'm bonkers.

And they're probably right.

What do you mean, probably?

Let's find out who Sarah's lined up

to rejuvenate this rusty old rubbish.

Artist blacksmith Bex Simon is an expert in manipulating metal

into high-end furniture and bespoke metalwork commissions.

Blacksmithing as a craft, you know, it hasn't really changed

over the hundreds and hundreds of years that it's been around.

We still use fire as a tool. We've got an anvil and a hammer.

There's something very sort of medieval about it.

Together with husband Dave,

this formidable team has the skill and imagination

to create something special from any old iron.

My passion for the craft is trying to use it

in a very contemporary way.

Still keep it alive and involve it as much as I can

with any job that we do.

You're a passionate woman, for sure, Bex,

but will you get excited about this pile of junk?

-Bex, Dave!

-Hello!

-Hiya!

I was just saying that I don't get embarrassed

when I bring you piles of rusty stuff,

and then I walk in here and I feel really embarrassed.

-Oh, no.

-Come and see my rusty stuff.

What have we got? Oh, look. Shelves.

-This is a high-end interiors cabinet.

-Oh, yeah.

It just looks like shelves at the moment.

I thought what we could do is make a frame out of that

and some sort of finishing out of this to make a lovely cabinet.

Oh, dear. I'm not sure I like that.

Don't get all excited at once.

-Why don't you draw down, so we can...?

-OK. We'll bring a bit in.

I've got a feeling they're not totally convinced.

Is this is where Dave normally stands?

-SHE LAUGHS

-Yeah.

Well, they don't call him buns of steel for nothing, you know.

Maybe the front of the cabinet

could be made up of a couple of the panels,

and maybe just one panel deep,

and then lovely legs.

Bex's lovely legs. So, how does that sound? Is that...?

-You know, can you imagine that?

-I can see it.

-Yeah.

I think just for finishing, I think, you know,

if we're painting over that,

then it's going to look like a really nice paint job

on a battered piece of furniture.

What do you use to clean them up? What will you go for?

Well, we're just going to give it a quick wire brush and see.

-If you put some...

-I love this.

Right, girls with power tools. Here we go, Bex. We can do this.

Bex is giving the metal a quick test rub with the metal sander

to see if anything still shines beneath all that rust.

I love that.

Really?

If this comes out to be this beautiful cabinet,

realistically, what kind of price do you think it's going to take

to get this with that high-end luxury feeling to it?

We could stretch it to, say, 700, 800...

-OK.

-..which would be...

-750?

-750, yeah.

-Fab.

It's a done deal. Everybody happy?

Hm. Dave, what's that worried face for?

My concerns are it looks like a bunch of workshop shelves

that have been... welded together in a kind of...

-And it's rattly, flimsy and just...

-SHE LAUGHS

Yeah, but we'll make it look good. Jazzy shelves.

It's a fairly steep £750 to transform the shelves.

I'll tell you, they're going to have to turn out pretty jazzy

for someone to pay more than that for them.

Let's make our way back to Wolverhampton...

..where Jay's modern makeover of the telephone chair is well under way.

And what is this I spy?

The luxurious leather that was ruled out as being too expensive.

Tell all, Jay.

I got some really cheap leather from my local market,

which I really love going to.

I know everybody goes to these fancy kind of fabric houses,

but I go down to the local market and he sells me a bit of leather,

get it at a cheap enough price and I can put it onto chairs like this.

But I've kept the same kind of colour, so it's similar.

But I've added a button.

The reason why I do upholstery first sometimes is because I want to see

how the fabric looks and then add the colour with the paint.

I know I'm going to be adding this...this colour somewhere.

We put the kind of cushion on the back, but to tell you the truth,

I don't like the cushion. I think it doesn't work.

I think it looks so cool without the cushion, it's unbelievable.

The back just destroys it.

But will Sarah agree to chucking the cushion?

Especially now it's in luxurious leather!

I'm not so sure, Jay!

All I've got to do now is just complement it with some paint

and that's just going to look zing! It's going to be like that - whoosh!

"Zing!" Well, I've no idea what it is, but I like the sound of it.

Jay is using an electric sander

to expose the natural grain of the wood.

I want these to be a work of art, so I have to put some effort into them,

which basically means rubbing down, getting the grain up,

but this is going to really look cool when it's finished.

As I've said before, "zing" is what I'm after.

The key to a long-lasting paint job is to prepare the wood

so it's clean and crisp.

Best thing to do when you're painting, I would say,

is to put less paint on.

It's always best to really put a thin amount,

just so you're in control of it and you can actually spread the paint.

That's a top tip.

I, however, have a tip about your top.

If you're painting, best not to wear a pristine designer white shirt!

Wow!

That's the first time... that's ever happened.

That's quite amazing.

Look at that. I've just got black on my shirt.

Shocker(!) Who'd have thought(?)

The blue leg is to match the button

and to make the button stand out even more...

..by adding another element of blue.

And against the three black legs...

..it's just going to look very...

Um, what's the word?

I'll give you a clue - begins with a Z.

Cor, blimey. I don't even know what the word is.

Oh, Jay, come on, now! I think we all know.

Just gives it that zing!

That's the one!

But will this zing equal ker-ching when it comes time to sell?

And will Sarah agree to chucking the cushion?

From Wolverhampton to Surrey,

to check in on Bex and Dave and those rusty shelves.

Bex is drawing out the blueprint for the new cabinet.

That's another door.

-So, you've got two of the shelves.

-HE LAUGHS

But I think Dave has spotted a small flaw in Bex's plan.

You've got five doors.

SHE LAUGHS

I was just testing to see if you were awake.

Well, that's an encouraging start, then.

Dave's first job is to weld together a steel frame

that will form the body of the cabinet

before the shelves are attached.

Dave was having a little trouble

picturing this as a high-end interiors piece...

..so Bex has been coming up with ideas to bling it up a bit.

We could either paint the inside, you know, like,

gold or something, like...

Or not.

I think it's back to the drawing board.

As Dave assembles the base, Bex starts to make the legs

out of the steel bars Sarah salvaged

along with the shelves.

Bex is cutting them to size with an electric saw.

-Positive thinking. Positive thinking.

-But...

-SHE GASPS

-Ah.

Houston, we have a problem.

Look.

..one of the legs has ended up a little shorter than the others.

-You'll have to cut them again, then.

-SHE LAUGHS

OK.

With time getting on, workhorse Dave helps cut the legs down to size

while Bex still has the tough job of trying to design the cabinet.

And she's just had an idea that might just make it saleable.

This is a hammered aluminium look,

so we want that thing when you open it up, you're like,

"Oh, my goodness. I so wasn't expecting that."

The outside's going to look a bit like that,

-maybe with a bit of paint.

-Yeah.

And then the inside is going to be completely and utterly different.

To achieve a hammered aluminium finish

requires the very technical process

of first taking some aluminium and then bashing it with a hammer.

This will create a lovely dimpled effect

that Bex and Dave are hoping will draw the eye away

from the rusty metal.

But back up the other end, Dave doesn't look happy again.

I can't remember from the discussion with Sarah what she wanted.

Fear not, Dave. You've done exactly what Sarah wanted.

This one's putting them into a spin.

It's probably too thin to be one deep, isn't it?

I think if it was twice the depth, it would look just too bulky.

I think you might be right there, Dave, and you two need to crack on.

To be honest, I'd say the bigger problem is that at the moment,

it's a million miles away from anything

anyone would pay over £750 for.

In Wolverhampton,

Jay's putting the finishing touches to the telephone chair.

Will Sarah give the thumbs-up or down to Jay's handiwork?

I can't wait to see what Jay has done with that poor little redundant telephone chair.

I'm hoping he's given it a new lease of life and a purpose again.

Sarah and Jay were both hung up on the smooth curves

and slender legs of this item.

But it didn't mean a thing, cos it didn't have that zing.

The two-tone colour palette and simple but eye-catching addition

of the blue button make it modern and stylish.

Jay's left the back bar untouched.

It's chipped and cracked,

but contrasts nicely with the sleek finish of the paintwork -

a talking point hinting at the chair's history.

And, of course, the leather.

A touch of extravagance - exactly what Sarah was after.

Now, this is how Jay would like the chair to look.

But for Sarah's viewing, he'll bring back the cushion

and try to smooth-talk her round to his way of thinking.

Good luck with that!

Do you like it?

Let me look at it.

SHE GASPS

-It's leather!

-It's leather, yes.

I thought I'd push the boat out a bit, just a wee bit.

It's luxury!

It is luxury! The one thing I don't like is, I don't like the back.

I think it doesn't look good with the back on there.

But the back off - now, that is style.

For me, it just doesn't look... When you look at it,

because no-one has a chair up that high anyway, really.

Hee-hee!

It just looks cool. Really, really cool.

Mm. That could work.

Will she or won't she?

Personally, I'm on Team Jay.

And now it looks naff.

Cool...

Yeah, baby!

You're completely right.

This is luxury, classy, designer, and that is sluggish, isn't it?

Yeah, it is. It's not good. But that... That works.

That looks... I think that looks really, really cool.

You've done well there, you've done well!

I have done well, thank you, thank you.

Let's put it back on its pedestal so I can have a proper look. Because that... The legs...

You've got such a great eye.

It's beautiful, I think. It just oozes style, sex appeal.

It's one of the most stylish things I've ever produced.

And because Jay did a deal on the leather,

he hasn't burst his budget.

He completed the work for £60.

The leather, you normally buy leather hide and it can be, like, £250.

But I've got a man at my local market

and he sells me leather hides really, really cheap

and this was like an offcut of one and, yeah, it just worked.

It's the business, isn't it?

It may look the business, but will it be a good bit of business?

The proof, as ever, will be in the profit.

Jay has definitely managed to get some life back into the old stool...

and I'm going to make a bit of money on it,

because the design is great and it's got a very strong look now.

Sarah first spied this leggy lovely in Dave's boot.

What was that? Little stool or something?

-Yeah.

-It's a telephone seat, isn't it?

-With a back.

It belonged to Dave's auntie.

It's been part of her life for a long, long time.

So if you end up recycling that, then that will be great.

All the vintage chair needed was a little va-va-voom.

Made-over to the max, it was an easy sell for Sarah

through a specialist antique and upcycling shop in London.

Now she's on her way to Dave's house to surprise him with the good news.

Hello, Sarah. Nice to meet you again.

-How are you?

-I'm really well, David. How are things?

Smashing, yeah. Smashing.

Lovely. Well, I said after our brief encounter at the tip that I'd be back in touch about your chair.

-Yeah.

-It belonged to your aunt, didn't it?

That's right, she was downsizing, yeah.

I work with a guy called Jay Blades,

who takes a lot of mid-century furniture like yours

and really makes it look amazing. Do you want to see what he did with it?

Yeah, yeah. I'd love to, love to.

-I think you probably remember it looking...

-Yes, yes, yes.

-Looking like that.

-Yeah.

After he finished with it, it looked like that.

Excellent, yeah. Unrecognisable, really.

What do you think your auntie would think about that?

She'd be amazed, really, and just pleased, you know.

I think that generation don't throw things away, do they?

You know what I mean? Yeah, she'd be chuffed.

I took it to a shop in London.

It did sell, and I'm really pleased to say it sold at a profit as well.

-Really?

-So I've got £60 here to give to you.

-For me?

-For you, for your old chair.

I think it should go to my auntie, actually. I think she'll have that, but, yeah, yeah.

Excellent. Any idea...? What does she like, what kind of interests does she have?

She likes theatre and arty things, things like that.

Now she's a pensioner, I'll say, "Just treat yourself to whatever you want to do."

Seems a good idea, doesn't it, yeah?

It was my auntie's, at the end of the day, I was just...

-The messenger?

-The messenger, yeah.

Oh, well, that's lovely. Well, say thank you very much to her.

-I will.

-And thank you for your time and for letting us take it away

and do something with it. It'll make a lot of people very happy now.

Well, it's made me happy and you happy, there's no losers!

-No losers.

-No losers.

-Exactly.

-Smashing.

-Take care, thanks ever so much.

-Thank you.

-Bye-bye.

Jay charged Sarah £60 to transform Dave's auntie's chair.

Sarah sold it for 120,

turning a profit of £60.

With our first item producing a profit,

Sarah has now travelled to Altchringham,

just outside Manchester,

to hopefully find some more moneymakers.

Sarah, queen of tips.

Yes, Ma'am!

Mind you don't miss what Luther's unloading from his boot.

-Hello, hello.

-Oh, hello.

-Big clear-out? Garage, is it?

Well, moving home,

so this is the start of getting rid of a load of rubbish.

How long have you got till you move?

-Well, we have probably a couple of weeks or so.

-Oh, really?

-So the pressure's mounting?

-Definitely.

-This is just the start, you know.

-It's a good start. What's that?

Well, it used to be the father-in-law's. He died recently.

-What is it?

-Well, it's just an old amp-meter-type thing.

-He used to work for Shell.

-Oh, really?

In the electrical department.

He was 97 years of age, so it could be quite old.

This is more accurately known as an ammeter.

It is used for measuring the strength of an electrical current.

Nowadays, it fits in the palm of your hand,

but this one has its own carry case.

It was destined for the tip

but, you know, if you can make use of it, make use of it.

-Do you know something? I would love to have that.

-OK.

-Brilliant.

-Thank you so much.

-OK.

It's like a handbag, look.

Oh, that is a SHOCKING idea! Get it? Voltage, shocking?

Oh, all right, I give up.

But Luther's pleased to see the back of it.

To me, I've got enough old stuff at home

and don't need any more, thank you very much!

I love my new ammeter. Have you seen it?

Look at it. It's a stunning little piece of industrial equipment.

I know exactly who to take this to

to make this into something fantastic.

If you like lamps made from all sorts of crazy stuff,

Guy Trench is your man.

Handyman Guy works tirelessly with his band of happy helpers

to make one-of-a-kind furnishings from...well, anything, really.

I used to be a North Sea diver, and I spent ten years doing that.

My grandmother was an antique dealer,

so I thought I'd try antiques.

My wife said to me, "Guy, you're good with your hands.

"Why don't you cobble together something old?"

And so I got some old bowling balls and turned those into table lamps,

and I thought, if I can do bowling balls, why can't I do cricket balls?

And I thought, if I can do a cricket balls, I'll just try a cricket bat!

And did a cricket bat and then I was really on my way.

I love using reclaimed material. Can't beat it.

With Guy and his gang at the ready,

there's a chance that the ammeter could be electrified once again.

Well, I have to say this is one of the quirkier items that I've saved.

Who knows what Guy might be able to make out of it?

-Hello, hello!

-Hi, Sarah.

-Lovely to see you.

-And you, my dear.

I've got a little something

and I don't know if you can do anything with it.

But have you seen anything like that before?

I don't know what you've brought me this time.

Oh! It's an altimeter, or meter.

-Keith!

-Hello?

-Come and look at this.

-Hi, Keith.

-Hi, Sarah, how you doing?

-Yeah, really well. How are you?

-Good, thanks.

-What do you reckon to that?

-It's quite smart, isn't it?

-Isn't it?

Whether it can actually be put to any good use is...

well, is a problem I'd like to leave to you.

That's right, Sarah, pass the buck!

I think this, polished up, would look really good.

-Don't you think, Keith?

-Yeah.

This out here is all patina, it's lovely.

And I think we could just work the lovely waxes into this

and you'll get a lovely colour there.

Round the outsides, a bit of leather polish on there?

It will look good, won't it?

Yes, yes, it'll look nice. But what could it be?

-Um...

-And make it into lighting?

Make it into a light, of course, yeah. Definitely a lamp.

A lamp, of course. Why aren't I surprised?

In terms of converting it,

are you thinking it would stand on something?

-Um... What about a wall light?

-Yeah.

-I don't know.

Once that's cleaned up, half shade on it...

Because that's in your eye when you walk into places. Boof!

"Boof" indeed.

But there's a spark of inspiration from Keith too.

I'm wondering whether you'd get a little LED or something in there

-to light that up.

-That's a nice idea.

-Yeah?

-Might be able to do it.

-What kind of money am I looking at?

-I think about £125.

-OK.

-Um...

-I'm really happy to leave it with you.

-Yeah.

Just do what you can, turn it into something functional

and saleable, then, you know,

I'm not going to be able to go wrong on that. That would be great.

-Lovely, always a pleasure.

-Lovely to see you again.

-Take care, Keith, nice to see you. Bye-bye!

-Bye-bye!

Well, that ammeter is going to look amazing

when Guy has finished with it.

He's certainly the man to put a bit more energy back into that ammeter.

And Sarah's empowered Guy to get creative.

If we can get maybe an LED or light inside it,

yep, I think you've got a great wall light.

She's done well on her skipping this time!

Sarah's probably not in the mood for skipping,

having committed a hefty £125 to the project for Guy

and his team's labour and materials.

They're going to have to give it quite a finish

if Sarah's going to sell it on for a profit.

And so to Surrey, and it's the moment of truth

for Bex and Dave.

Sarah's arrived to see what's been done with that metal cabinet.

When we left them, they were struggling

to add a bit of glamour to the rusty shelves,

but from the looks on their cheeky faces, I think they've been busy.

We just really went to town on this one,

cos it's so big it needed something more, didn't it?

And so, yeah, the inside is quite exciting.

Yeah. I think we can be proud of this one.

Look at that cheeky face. Right.

Let's find out what you've been up to.

Before, it was just a bunch of rusty bits and bobs.

But now...

It's a cool and colourful funky drinks cabinet.

The Art Deco geometric design on the front really adds

a bit of pizzazz to the cabinet doors.

But wait till you see what's inside.

Bex and Dave ditched the hammered aluminium look

and instead lined the inside with a tufted metal effect.

For a real bit of bling,

they've added a suspended glass shelf and mirrored bottom.

It's certainly got the wow factor, but what will Sarah think?

I feel a group hug coming on.

Oh, they're cuddling. That must be a good sign.

Come on. Spit it out.

-Is that what you wanted?

-It's stunning, isn't it?

It's lovely. It is so cool. It is quite a wow piece, isn't it?

-It is.

-It's completely wow, and what's inside? Does it...?

-Is it all rusty and...?

-Here we go.

OK, so, a lovely...

-Holy Moley. Look at that.

-It's a James Bond drinks cabinet.

-Is that...?

-That's the lights, so when you open it...

Bex, I'm all overwhelmed.

Guys, it's a triumph. It's stunning.

I'm completely and utterly blown away.

Can we shut it up again?

Bex and Dave have really outdone themselves with this one,

but what with the mirror and glass shelf...

-Oh, wow.

-..have they come in on budget?

So, 750 quid was left on the table. Tell me you've made that for that.

Well, it's not something that we'd build again for 750,

but you know, we're going to stick to that.

And we had a bit of extra costs on the glass and the mirror.

-It's about another 60 quid. So if we call it 810.

-810?

-Do you a deal?

-Do me a deal?

You're not doing me a deal. You've done me proud. That is exceptional.

-Hey, what about one for the big man?

-And you, Dave, obviously.

-Yeah.

-Well done, well done. It's beautiful.

Oh, so we're all cuddling. How nice.

What a glorious cocktail cabinet they've created.

I can't believe their imagination and their creativity.

But there's one thing that's upsetting me -

I can't keep that, so I'm going to go and find it

an excellent new home.

I think Sarah really did love that cos she said she had, like,

a jaw ache from smiling so much.

So, I think it was...yeah, a good result.

Oh, I like the look of your rubbish.

When Sarah pounced on Brian back at the dump,

she had to wade through a load of bits and bobs from his garage...

Oh, I quite like that.

..before she discovered the metal shelving and rusty poles.

I think I'd quite like to take these bits and these bits

and see if there's anything I can do with them.

What was she going to do with them? Well...

IT CLATTERS LOUDLY ..Brian couldn't imagine.

-Well, throw it into the scrap.

-HE LAUGHS

Luckily, Bex and Dave had a few ideas

and created a super jazzy, shiny cocktail cabinet.

Sarah's travelled to Aldridge near Walsall to update Brian

on what became of the bits and bobs from his garage.

-Hello.

-Hi there. Hi, Brian. How are you? Oh, hello.

-Hello there.

-Not too bad, thank you.

-And sorry, we haven't met before.

-Sarah.

-Jean.

-Jean. Come on out, both of you.

Was it here, the garage where all those shelves came from?

That's correct, yeah. Yeah.

I bet you were pleased to see the back of those.

Definitely. Definitely.

What did you think we might do with them? Any ideas?

I haven't got a clue.

I really could not imagine what it would turn out as.

I took them to Bex and Dave,

who are the most fantastic blacksmiths.

Would you like to see what they did with it?

-Yeah, why not?

-It's quite a transformation.

Your shelves were turned into an enormous cocktail cabinet.

-Oh, my God.

-Good grief.

-What do you think?

I would never have believed that you could've done something like that.

-I haven't had a chance to sell it yet.

-No.

So, I'd love to be saying I'm handing over money now,

but it has only just reached the market,

and as soon as I've sold it, I'll be back in touch

and I will be hopefully bearing good news and some money.

But at the moment, it's just gone up for sale.

Well, you know, as regards to the money, that's not the object.

I mean, as long as you've made something useful

for somebody else to use, that's the main thing.

Well, that's a lovely sentiment, and it is genuinely a great piece.

-Yeah, beautiful.

-Lovely to meet you.

-And you.

-And nice to see you again.

-Thank you ever so much.

-Thank you, Sarah. Have a safe journey.

-I will.

Bex and Dave's labour, plus all the jazzy extras, came in at £810.

The cabinet hasn't found a new home quite yet,

which means there's a potential loss of £810.

But we all have high hopes that it won't be long

before Sarah can share some profit with Brian and Jean.

With just one item still to find,

Sarah's travelled to the Witley Recycling centre in Surrey

Whatever she finds here will become her own project.

Fantastic what we do these days. We even recycle pets.

Maybe stick to the searching, Sarah.

Soon enough, Pauline and daughter Samantha have appeared with...

..a boot load of old apples. Well, I wasn't expecting THAT!

-Hello. Hi, I'm Sarah.

-Hello.

-Don't throw them, don't throw them.

-Are you sure?

-Put them back in the car a second.

You've got quite a few there.

Made about 30 apple pies so far out of them.

-You have crumble coming out...

-And I can't take any more.

-Is it torture by apple?

-Yes, torture by apple.

I'm looking for things that I can recycle and I'm thinking...

I don't know if apples are in my remit. I'm a trained chef.

-Oh, well..

-I spent ten years cooking, so I can cook.

-There you are.

-I'm just wondering about making cider.

-Have you ever had them pressed before?

-Yes.

We have had them pressed and we wanted to do that this morning

but because we've got somebody at home that's not very well,

we can't leave him and we don't... We just can't... We need some help.

-Well, I'll go and get a trolley.

-Right.

And these will be one of my more unusual items of the day.

With Sarah's skills as a chef,

she should be able to take advantage of this unexpected bounty

and I've got one or two ideas.

How about apple strudel, apple crumble, apple muffins,

apple surprise, apple cake...

So that must be one of the most unusual things

that you get at a recycling centre,

so thank you ever so much for letting me have them.

-No problem.

-Thank you so much.

Have a good day and I hope your papa gets better.

-Have one on us.

-Thank you.

-Good luck.

-There might be more than one.

-..apple sauce, apple fritters,

apple chutney, apple turnovers...

I could go on but it's not all about me.

What do Pauline and Samantha think Sarah could do

with their boot full of fruit?

To make some cider out of them would be fantastic.

They're not in great nick, so I'm thinking that pressing them

either for juice, possibly cider, or maybe even cutting them up

and making some chutney out of them. Who knows?

But whatever it is, there's heaps of apples here

and that can be heaps of money.

Heaps of money from a heap of rotting apples.

Well, good luck with that one.

Having collected all her items,

Sarah's travelled back home to Sussex

and it's a big day as she's preparing to host a barn sale.

As things are set up, Sarah has a challenge on her hands.

Come on.

She's got to turn a profit from a load of old apples.

The plan is to make apple crumble to sell to the visitors.

Right, crumble time.

-Sarah's daughter Libby is lending a hand today.

-Let's get started.

And Sarah will need all the help she can get

if she's going to turn the rotting fruit into a saleable treat.

I'm hoping that these apples are going to be lovely inside

but I have a feeling they're all going to be quite brown.

Not that one!

That's fine.

These are going to be fantastic cooking apples

so what I'm doing now is just make a puree out of them,

peel them, make sure there's no little bits of core left in them...

and then cook them with some sugar and a bit of cinnamon.

But I'm going to have my work cut out

getting lots of good apple out of them

cos I think a lot might be a bit rotten.

I was a chef in a previous life

so I'm not daunted by the quantity of apples.

And I know that what you really need is a system in place

and then you can do things really quickly.

If you're thinking of starting your own apple crumble business,

there are many food hygiene regulations to comply with.

-Have you washed your paws yet?

-Yeah.

But with ten years of experience as a chef,

our Sarah certainly knows her stuff.

They might go a bit brown as they oxidise, but that's fine,

because I'm going to put a load of cinnamon and stuff in the puree.

If you wanted to make a snowy white puree, just put some lemon juice in.

I'm not paying a huge amount of attention here.

I've got way more apple than I need,

so I'm just going to cherry-pick the best bits

and I always use a knife because it's a lot quicker

and when you get to a bit that isn't perfect,

you can just pick it off really quickly.

These apples should pulp beautifully,

you can feel they're nice and soft.

They really are going to make the most lovely, fluffy puree.

What I'm going to do is make some crumbles up

in some little enamel tins and then serve some others in teacups

just so people can have a little taster of it.

Although now a British classic,

apple crumble became popular during the Second World War

when the ingredients needed

for the then-popular apple pie were rationed.

So, I'm hoping, within about 25 minutes, half an hour,

I could have some crumble ready for the people here at the barn sale,

just in time for lunch. Right.

CLATTERING

Careful, or it'll be less of an apple crumble

and more of an apple splat.

Crisis averted, it's time to rustle up the crumble topping.

To plain flour, Sarah adds sugar.

A lot of sugar.

Oh, crikey, she's used a whole bag.

I hope your customers have got a sweet tooth.

The butter just needs to be rubbed in roughly,

so I'm going to cut it up into little cubes.

-You've washed your paws, yeah?

-Yeah.

-Lovely.

-So go in underneath...

-I've got it.

Wait, I'm going to teach you how to do it.

When you're making pastry,

you only use the tips of your fingers

cos they're the coldest bit so you need to squeeze that together,

-lift it up and keep rubbing and squeezing.

-OK.

Bet you can't do it for more than 30 seconds. You keep going.

Bet you a million pounds I can.

Sarah's aiming for a breadcrumb-like texture

that will crisp up in the oven.

-Keep going. See, you're bored already aren't you?

-I'm not bored!

You do it like this. Lift it up, drop it down - gently, though.

After that's done, time to test the apple puree.

So that's just had...

about 15 minutes in the oven. Can I have that spoon? Thank you.

Mmm. Cos they're such lovely ripe apples, they're windfalls...

That nearly tastes right already. It's hot, be careful.

What do you think?

-Sugar.

-Even more? Are you sure?

Do you want to try another bit? Give me the spoon.

There you go. That is now super hot, with the sugar in it.

-Better?

-Mmm.

-Yeah.

-Not bad.

That's much better. That's plenty.

Sarah's official taster approves, which is just as well

because hungry visitors to the barn sale are arriving.

Better get those crumbles in the oven.

So far, Sarah's spent £4 on ingredients for those crumbles.

Let's just hope the punters at the sale get a taste for them.

In Maldon, Guy's getting to grips with the old ammeter,

and he's got some new plans.

What we'll do is we'll put two little bulbs

on the tops of each here.

I think that will look quite quirky and cool.

But before he gets stuck into the electrics,

Guy still has that scruffy wooden box to restore.

Keith?

He's a great delegator!

On this one here, we need your expertise on cleaning it.

And he's calling in expert number one.

First, Keith's attacking that ugly paint mark

with a scalpel and some paint stripper.

See, already you can see it starting working.

It's already starting to slightly bubble up the varnish work.

Here we go, it's coming off nicely.

Now that black mark is almost invisible now.

But before Keith attacks the rest of the box,

Guy's keen to have a look at that leather handle,

which is bolted to the inside.

You never know what might be behind here. We don't think

it's ever been off the back since it was made, probably.

Let's have a look.

I'm on tenterhooks. What might be in there?

A gold sovereign? Hidden Enigma codes?

-Well, there's nothing inside it apart from the mechanism.

-Oh...

-There is some scribbling there.

-Oh, it's a bit of writing, isn't it?

There's a date in here.

-8/3/37.

-Well!

With the handle now free, Guy can give it some love,

while Keith strips the rest of the box.

Now, what I'll put on this now is a bit of leather cream.

Whoops-a-daisy!

Yes, we will just work that into the strap.

Just let that dry off for a little bit longer.

Then we will give them a bit of buff.

And Keith's hard work on that wood has Guy inspired.

Sometimes it's very satisfying just working with a bit of wood.

Suddenly it all comes alive and it's becoming beautiful again.

It is so simple to do, anybody can do this.

But it's a great joy to do it, as well.

Isn't that right, Keith?

With all the varnish stripped,

Keith polishes the wood with some clear beeswax.

Oh, that's great-looking.

You've done a brilliant job on that.

Look, the leather strap has come up well, as well, hasn't it?

Yes, Guy, we know you did that bit.

With the box looking tiptop, it's time to light it all up.

Call in expert number two.

This time it's electrician Steve,

who starts by making a small hole for the mains wire.

OK, you want to stick with the...

I think the old silk wire is definitely important,

-it's keeping it in character.

-It is a nice look.

While Steve works his electrical magic,

Guy is starting to get excited about what Sarah will think.

I think when she sees this, she's going to go "Whoo!

"I can make some money on this." It could be in all sorts of places.

It just looks old-fashioned tech brought to life.

We need to find some more of them.

Yes, 1930s ammeters are easy to come by(!)

Perhaps a few more months at the dump, Sarah.

Right, OK. Put the old workings back in.

With Steve adding two old-fashioned filament bulbs to the top,

the rebirth of that ammeter is almost complete.

Wow. Yeah!

Back in Sussex, the barn sale is now in full swing,

so it's time for Sarah to take

the first batch of apple crumbles out the oven.

I reckon...they're about done.

That one's done, that one's done.

Mmm, they look great, don't they?

The apples started off as a load of unwanted windfall

cluttering up a garden.

But Sarah's worked her culinary magic...

..and now they're delicious apple crumbles.

Bit of clotted cream from the fridge, I think they're done.

These may have been destined for the dump

but they make cracking crumble.

Mmm.

Sarah came across piles of apples

in the back of Pauline and daughter Samantha's car.

-Don't throw them, don't throw them.

-Are you sure?

They were happy for Sarah to get her culinary mitts

-on their excess garden bounty.

-I'll go and get a trolley.

-Right.

And these will be one of my more unusual items of the day.

At the barn sale,

Sarah's crumbles are on their way to meet the hungry punters.

-Crumble time.

-And soon they're selling like hot, er, crumbles.

Going to charge £3 each for the crumble like this

and maybe put some in teacups later for a couple of quid.

Sarah and daughter Libby managed to make eight apple crumbles

and seven teacup versions.

Good work, ladies.

Now Sarah's near Hambledon in Surrey

to fill Pauline in on what became of her surplus fallen fruits.

-Hi, there.

-Hello, Sarah.

-Lovely to see you again.

-You too.

-A beautiful day, isn't it?

-Absolutely lovely, yeah.

I had so much fun with your apples. We made apple crumbles.

-Oh, well, I'm sure that's wonderful.

-They were really tasty apples.

They made a lovely pulp, so they were great to work with.

I took some pictures of it.

-I'm sure you've made a lot of apple crumble in your time.

-Yes, I have.

It's lovely to see someone else making them.

-Well, we made little ones and we served them in teacups.

-How sweet.

-We made a few bigger ones as well, some little enamel ones.

-Right.

so we did have a bit of fun with them.

I haven't made a fortune out of them for you but I have got £25 here...

-I don't believe it!

-..for you. It was great to have them.

-Oh, thank you so much.

-Any idea what you might do with £25?

Well, it's my grandson's birthday on Friday.

-So maybe I'll give it to him.

-Oh, that's lovely. That's really good.

-Thank you so much for letting me have them.

-Thank you.

Do tell your daughter as well.

I know she was highly involved in this.

-Yes, she phoned me last night.

-Thank you so much.

They were great fun to work with and very tasty,

-so I hope he has a good present.

-I'm sure he will, yes.

-Take care.

-Thank you ever so much. Bye.

-Bye.

It was great to catch up with Pauline again

and it sounds like her grandson will be pleased with that windfall.

Sarah spent £4 on the ingredients for her crumbles.

She sold them for a total of £29,

giving her a tasty £25 profit to hand over to Pauline.

That's another item making money,

so will Guy's ammeter make a profit?

I am looking forward to Sarah seeing this piece.

I think she's a bit of a techy girl. It just looks really different.

I think she's going to really love it.

When Sarah saw the ammeter at the tip,

it was a broken old electrical curio on its way to a landfill grave.

Now it's been resurrected as a unique piece of lighting,

which would suit anyone with a love of vintage tech.

The old-style filament bulbs on top emit a gentle, cosy glow,

which is complemented by the LED backlighting behind the old dial.

Guy's team has perfectly trodden that fine line between authentic

and modernised to give it a quirky, steampunk charm.

Both Guy and I were really enthusiastic about this piece.

I can't wait to see what he's managed to do with it.

Oh, Guy!

-Hello, Sarah, lovely to see you again.

-Isn't that stunning?

-Do you like it, do you?

-Oh, that's a gem, isn't it?

I'm really pleased with it.

It really has come up much better than I thought it would do.

-It's a special one-off.

-Those are fantastic.

They are quite funky little bulbs. Pick it up, have a look.

That is really lovely. To get that light inside. That is a triumph.

Every part of it that was looking a bit old, a bit distressed,

bit worn, now is a charming feature, isn't it?

I like the wear on it, it still shows it is definitely old.

I think you've done something really special.

I will sell this, I know I will make money on it.

And to go back and to show the guy who dropped it off in the tip

what you've done to his old amp meter, I think is brilliant.

Sarah's loving those bulbs. But has Guy blown the budget?

It's come out really well. But budget-wise, 125 quid.

-Are we anywhere near?

-It's been a tough one to do it for this price.

It's not a lot of money in it for us, to be honest,

but I think we'll keep it on budget.

I think you're being generous there.

It's beautiful, thank you for doing such a lovely thing to it.

Lovely, thank you, Sarah, very much.

I think this is a really great outcome for this little amp meter.

Guy has made something really special.

And I'm going to make some money.

You're never sure how people like it,

but I think she really liked it.

And I hope the person that buys it likes it.

It's a great one-off piece again.

At the tip, Sarah was switched on enough to see

the potential in Luther's father-in-law's ammeter...

unlike Luther.

Got enough old stuff at home,

and don't need any more, thank you very much.

Guy and his team gave it a new life as a quirky table lamp.

Wow.

It was quickly snapped up and delivered

to online vintage and retro retailer Nick Smith

who's wasting no time getting it out on display.

I like the concept of it, because it is fun design.

I haven't seen a design like this before for lights.

With the metering on the front, with the bulbs, it's really cool.

Yeah, really like it.

Don't forget to put the bulbs on, Nick.

Now Sarah's in Northwich with some news for Luther.

Hi there, Luther.

-Oh, hello.

-How are you doing?

-Come on in.

-Oh, lovely, thank you.

-Nice to meet you again.

-Nice to see you, too.

I said that if I managed to do something with the old meter,

-I'd come and keep in touch, so here I am.

-Right.

You said it was your father-in-law's. Is that right?

That's correct, yes. His trade was an electrician.

He was offered the chance

to work on the first computer in Manchester University.

He always talked about how big it was,

and it was spread over three floors.

Well, I love the thought that maybe this thing was used

on such a lovely piece of technological advancement.

Did you think when we took it away what might be made of it?

No, not really.

I just thought you were just going to rebuild it

-and get it going again.

-Let me show you what I've done.

-It was made into a lovely desk light.

-Oh, that looks cool.

It is in keeping, really, yes.

It looked a bit like it was something electrical,

something experimental sort of going on.

It all ties in, doesn't it, really? Good idea. I never thought of that.

Do you think your father-in-law would have improved?

Most certainly, yes, because better that way

-than sitting away in some cupboard somewhere doing nothing.

-Yes.

Actually, it was a good-looking thing and it has sold for a profit,

so I've brought here £40 for you for your old amp meter.

That's the first time I've come away from the tip with £40.

-Yeah, well...

-It is a surprise.

I'm sure my wife will be surprised,

-because she won't take long to go and spend that.

-Really?

So that's where that is going. Fantastic.

Well, thank you so much for letting me come back and catch up with you.

It was a lovely thing,

and I really enjoyed watching it come back to life again.

So thank you so much. And I hope you get a little bit of that money.

-Yes, thank you very much indeed.

-My pleasure. Thank you. Bye-bye.

OK, bye.

Well, I think we made Luther's day,

and we made something really lovely out of that amp meter.

And that's another little piece of history

that's got a whole new lease of life.

With Guy and his team taking £125 for labour and parts,

and the ammeter lamp selling for £165,

Sarah was able to squeeze a healthy £40 profit

for Luther and his wife.

Sarah rescued a variety of eclectic items

that have now been transformed.

They turned out to be a good bit of business,

and good for the environment.

Rather than being chucked in the landfill,

they've gone on to have brand-new lives.

Well, we've handed over a little bit of money along the way,

but what's been really special

is seeing things that were destined for the tip

being given a new lease of life and now off to new homes again.

Subtitles by Ericsson