Episode 2 Show Me What You're Made Of

So far, I've taken pampered British kids to three different continents,

seven countries, and 20 factories and farms,

to show them the hard work that goes into making their favourite things.

Now Show Me What You're Made Of is coming home.

I want our five to see that hard work is also home-grown

and that there are people all over the country putting in the hours

to make the stuff that our kids rely on, and to keep the country running.

Will our kids be shocked by the working world on their doorstep?

It genuinely brought, like, a tear to my eye.

How could someone do this just, like, over and over?

-I hate cleaning.

-If I'm going to be doing this for eight hours, I might have a heart attack.

-Who takes the time to have a poo in a bus?

-Disgusting.

SHE SCREAMS

I'm no longer a 13-year-old boy, I'm the boss!

This is Show Me What You're Made Of UK.

Our five kids are - Candyfloss Kazia...

I don't ever think about where my stuff comes from, to be honest.

..Boy In A Bubble Josh...

I never do anything around the house

because I don't really see anything that needs to be done.

..Stylista Hansa...

I do like being the centre of attention.

I'm not going to lie.

..Stubborn Safia...

When I don't get my own way I tend to sulk and I'm quite

melodramatic about the whole thing, I don't like not getting my own way.

..and Bold And Brash Noah...

I am a very self-confident guy.

Today, we've travelled 300 miles to the East Midlands.

To the vibrant and multicultural city of Leicester.

Leicester used to be the centre

of the UK's clothes-manufacturing industry.

But all that started to change in the 1980s,

when production went abroad to Asia, where it's cheaper.

But now companies like Basic Premier are trying to revive

clothes making in the UK.

Now, in Britain, we love our clothes, spending nearly £44 billion

a year on them. It takes a lot of graft to be able to keep up

with such a demand and our five are about to find out just how much.

90% of everything we wear is made abroad, but our kids are going

to be working for a man who is trying to change that.

OK, gang. Up you come.

-I want you to meet your lovely new boss, Mick.

-Hello.

Hello, how do you do? Mick, I know you're trying to buck the trend here, aren't you?

Yeah. We produce 35,000 to 40,000 garments a week here

for the fashion industry.

ALL GASP

But to make that garment...

we have to work very competitively to these oversees suppliers.

We are all very hard-working and we are committed to the same cause.

I didn't really realise that the clothes were more,

like, stitched by people.

I thought that, like, in this day and age,

there'd be machines that would do all of that for them.

Do you think you've got what it takes

-to make the high street clothes? ALL:

-Totes. Totally.

LAUGHTER

We're looking forward to having you for the next two days,

be a part of our team down here.

And you have to be dedicated to the same level as the staff down here.

So, if you go into an environment like that,

and aren't behaving in the same way, they're going to notice instantly.

-Pressure.

-Pressure's on.

Basic Premier employs 80 workers

and most of the jobs are done by hand. Speed and precision

are vital, as there are very strict targets.

The clothes made here

are sold by several big high street names and the major supermarkets.

-I've seen some things that I like.

-Yeah!

-Kazia, are you shopping?

-Yeah, just shopping.

Are you ready to go, are you ready to do your first task?

-ALL:

-Yeah.

OK, guys, time to get down to business.

So this is what you're going to be making for me today.

'Mick is starting them on a job that he gives to all his trainees -

'stitching the sides of bags.

'All they have to do is sew three seams in a straight line

'and edge the top.'

This is Moni.

-ALL:

-Hello.

She is our supervisor here,

so she will show you how to operate the machines.

The kids will have to do 30 bags in one hour.

A machinist can make 80.

That is so fast.

'Sewing two squares of fabric together,

'making bags, is the simplest job in the factory.'

That is so cool.

It looks hard but it's not too hard.

If you go to countries in the Third World,

there's kids about eight or seven years of age,

sitting on machines like this and sewing away ten hours a day.

Nice and quick at your stations.

'If young children can do this, surely for our lot it will be

'a walk in the park?'

OK, guys, you know what is expected of you. The pressure's on.

Three, two, one, get sewing.

But things don't get off to a strong start.

It's a lot harder than I thought.

I thought it would be like textiles at school but it is really hard.

And some seem to be finding it harder than others.

Oh, it's all wonky!

I don't know what to do.

Oh, my God, the pressure. What... Like that?

-Watch your finger. Oh-oh.

-I can't do it.

Kaz. What's gone on?

-SOBBING:

-I just can't do it. I can't do it.

Talk to me, why are you getting upset?

This one is all messed up. It's all wrong.

Come and have a chat. Let me hear what you're saying.

I can't do it. It keeps going wrong, and I can't do it!

Oh, dear, Kazia's got herself in a bit of a muddle.

So, Kaz, tell Mick what's gone wrong.

It's just... I just can't do it. I'm just finding it really hard.

That's fine, Kaz.

Basically what it is, you can't be afraid of the machine.

So, let's do it again.

Lift the foot up, place it underneath there,

That's it, nice and slowly, nice and slowly.

That's it, that's it, carry on.

Watch and just let it go through, that's it.

And then carry on pressing it and then we'll cut the thread off.

-That's definitely better.

-There you go.

But Kazia's not alone, Saf is also struggling.

That's a major issue, so to prevent you doing this again,

-what I'll do is, I'll put a little sign on your machine.

-Oh.

So that is a sign, "Seams not matching."

As the quality control

is walking around, they will pay you a bit more attention, actually.

-Ohh.

-OK. So, I'm just going to...

-Can I get it taken off?

Yeah, once your quality improves, yeah, we'll take it off, yeah.

I can't believe you've got a sign and I haven't.

-Mine's, like, ten times worse than yours.

-I'm not happy.

You look really flustered.

Oh, don't tell me I'm red, don't say that.

You're more of a salmon pink colour.

We have had a lot of drama already within this task.

There have been tears, there has been a sign put up,

there's been complaints. But if you look around at the other workers,

they are incredibly quiet and very, very disciplined.

The kids have really got to up their game

but things are going from bad to worse.

There are signs of bad work everywhere.

Quality control has said that you have got too many thread ends, so what I'm going to give you...

-But no-one said that I had to cut them off.

-..is a second sign.

-Can I have the blue one taken off?

-Seams not matching, do you think we should take it off now?

-Yep.

-We're going to remove this sign now.

-Yes!

You can give it to Kaz, she's got all hers messed up.

LAUGHTER

You're so mean. You gave them that to me.

That's bullying, that is.

So, I'm not entirely sure what's gone on.

I left and there was one sign, and I've come back

and there are numerous signs all over everyone's stations, bar Noah.

Noah hasn't put a foot wrong all morning.

Do a fair amount and then it gets a bit easier after a while.

I've got one left.

Back home in London, 13-year-old Noah is used to being top dog.

I am a very self-confident guy, you know.

I do like to... I'm not really ashamed of anything.

In fact, he's such a showman, he even has his own online channel.

It says "Fiery, earthy and exhilarating".

We're going to be testing that.

BOTH SHRIEK

Mum Sharon admits that his overconfidence isn't

everyone's cup of tea.

I think some of his teachers feel Noah is a bit big for his boots.

Not very long ago, the teacher made a mistake and I sort

of pointed it out. It's always quite fun to point mistakes out by a teacher because...

You feel, like, "Oh, you know, I'm actually quite clever!"

His mum's hoping this trip might soften him up.

I'm not hoping Noah will change drastically,

cos I love him the way he is,

but I hope that he might be a little bit more considerate, perhaps a bit

more compassionate, and a bit more thoughtful about other people.

Back at the garment factory, that's about to be tested.

OK, guys. Can I get your attention?

Your boss has got something he would like to tell you.

We're going to have to pull one of you off the line now.

Not for a bad reason, for a good reason. Noah...

-Surprise, surprise!

-Oh, my God!

-I'm promoting you.

-Really?

So, basically, what you're going to do now...

You're going to become a supervisor/quality controller.

Guys, Mick has just told Noah that he is now your supervisor.

What?

No way!

LAUGHTER

'Noah's promotion has not gone down well with all of the team.'

Why is he so good at everything?

Kazia, you're a bit gutted that you're going to have to listen to Noah.

Yeah. He's going to be proper bossing me around.

'And Mick has something to make sure they all take Noah seriously.'

-IMITATES AMERICAN ACCENT:

-I'm the boss.

-I've got a piece of paper that says I'm the boss!

-And he's quick to crack the whip.

WHIP CRACKS

Don't give me a sign. I'll hate you forever if you do.

-You're too small, Noah.

-That's just harsh.

Yeah, you're too small - you can't put it up. That means I don't need it.

That's cool beans. Done.

-It's not cool beans. I don't like you any more.

-It is cool.

It's up to him, since he's my supervisor, I cannot argue.

Cos that will just get...

Oh, look, it's a sign, it's fallen down. I don't need it.

I do not need it.

He may have a big badge...

Noah, I need your help...

..but it takes more than that to control these girls.

Just keep on, like, threading it through.

I haven't done it like that. OK, thank you, boss.

-Um, tell me how to do that, Noah.

-Right, OK.

-Noah?

-What?

-It's gone wrong.

-Noah, I done it wrong!

-Yeah, one at a time, ladies.

-Noah!

How is it supervising?

Hard.

It's just they're trying to be as awkward as possible to try

and push me to the limits until eventually I break.

'And they're not giving up.'

Yo! Check out my cool hat.

'Mick's not happy and decides to step in.'

The two candidates that are being pretty offensive, I think.

You know, in the workplace with putting hats on their heads...

And you've got another fellow employee looking up,

"Oops, I've chopped my finger off on the machine."

This ain't on.

You know, any behaviour like that, don't let them get away with it.

-Yeah.

-Do you feel confident enough to be able to do that?

Er, yeah. I think so.

THEY GIGGLE

Hansa, they're made for bags, not for things that

go on your head. So...

I'm very sorry, boss.

If you carry on doing that, I'd cut your wages.

Really? Can you do that?

Yeah. I got a piece of paper that says I can.

'Mick's seen enough, and pulls everyone off the line.'

Here they are, then. So you know why you're here.

Mick, your boss, wants to have a quick chat with you.

He caught up with his sheriff, and had a conversation with Noah,

the supervisor. Still got your badge on, Noah?

-Got the badge to prove it!

-There it is.

The boss with the badge.

And he has decided that some of you will be promoted, yes?

So, tomorrow, you'll come back and do a different job.

And the rest will be demoted

and perhaps do a job that is not quite as nice.

We looked at the quality of the craftsmanship.

We talked about that, and also about the behaviour.

There's one thing that you never tolerate in the workplace...

It is insubordination towards the authority.

Towards your superior.

And that's pretty serious, actually.

'The two girls have really crossed the line.'

It was decided that Hansa and Kaz - you are being demoted.

-Ohh, again?

-And you two have been promoted to the next...

-Well done, guys.

-Yay.

-..stage.

After Noah got promoted, we kind of felt that he could be

more lenient on us, so we could muck around a little bit more.

Me and Hansa thought that because he was supervisor

we could get away with a bit more, which obviously wasn't the case.

And we just...were silly.

When I arrived in Leicester this morning,

I didn't really know what to expect. It has been a complete whirlwind.

You know, we've had serious misbehaving, we've had tears,

we've had management issues.

What the five need to remember, ultimately, is this is a

working environment and the people here rely heavily on their jobs.

After Noah's problems at the factory today, I want him

and the other promoted pair to meet someone who knows first-hand

the difficulties of being in charge.

Hello. Jump in, guys.

'Anita lives with her daughters Anika and Manesha.'

So. I don't know whether you guys recognise Anita.

Anita works in the factory, she was on the shop floor.

-Did I not see you walking through?

-Yeah, I'm a quality controller.

I heard somebody became a supervisor today.

Yeah, that was me.

-Was that you?

-Yeah, I got a badge to prove it, as well!

LAUGHTER

-How did it feel to be a supervisor?

-Hard. The worst is

doing the telling off. I found that so hard.

-I found it hard to actually be serious.

-It's not easy

telling an employee that... "You are doing this right..."

You have to do it, because at the end of the day,

every garment costs money

and we've got to make sure that all the garments are perfect.

Across town, Hansa and Kazia are also meeting a family who

have nothing but respect for the work done at the factory.

-Hey, there. Welcome. Come on in.

-BOTH: Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you, too.

-I'm Kazia.

-I'm Hansa.

-My name is Amrit. So, guys, I would like you to meet my family.

This is my brother, Dave.

-Hello. Nice to meet you.

-Hello.

And this is my mum, she works at the factory.

Hello, nice to meet you.

15-year-old Amrit lives with his mum, Surjeet,

and ten-year-old brother Dave.

His dad works nights and his mum is a seamstress at the factory.

So, today, we have been working at the factory where you work.

Apparently, one of you put a bag on your head?

-LAUGHTER

-Yeah!

What would happen to you if you were as noisy as us,

and misbehaved like us?

Yeah.

And Amrit knows only too well

how important his mum's job is to the family.

In my opinion, she's like a soldier.

She comes home, does the work, cooks sleeps, and that's it...

It's the same thing every day and I can't be more proud of her.

And...and... She's, like, my inspiration.

With both his parents working long hours,

it's up to Amrit to look after his brother.

Cooking dinner for my brother, washing dishes properly,

just stuff like that, just basic things like that.

I don't do any vacuuming around the house.

I just... My mum does it all.

Back home in Surrey, Hansa rarely lifts a finger.

I'd like to say that I do loads of chores

but I don't really do many.

Hansa has never had to work hard for anything.

Her idea of hard work is baby-sitting,

and sitting around eating crisps and playing on the iPad.

I babysit the boys sometimes,

because I generally get something out of it.

And it's this attitude that her mum hopes will change.

I think it'll do her a lot of good to go away and see what

hard work goes into making the things that she loves.

And so I would love for her to come back

and contribute a little bit more.

I kind of take my mum's presence for granted.

Obviously, I love her, and it's amazing her being there,

but I kind of just...

I've never really known a life when she's not been there.

What about you, Dave? Do you wish your mum was around the house more,

to be with you and your brother?

I am kind of sad how my mum isn't really there, but I'm glad

that my brother's there cos he does pretty much everything for me.

It's crazy how mature you are.

-Yeah.

-Like, compared to us.

-Can't believe you are just 15.

-Yeah.

You're like an adult!

I've so much respect for Amrit.

Yeah, and normal fifteen year olds just care about themselves,

but he's so selfless.

Amrit's mum is so, like, caring, and the fact that she works

60 hours a week, all for her sons, is unbelievable.

Meeting her makes me feel really bad

that I kind of took the job as a little bit of a joke.

Maybe tomorrow things will change?

So, it's the morning of day two here in the garment factory.

Now, it's worth remembering that there was some serious playing up

going on yesterday. Our five have promised me there's

going to be none of that today. They now realise that the job must be

taken seriously. But let's wait and see...

And before they get down to business, it's time for a special celebration,

it's the Hindu festival, Diwali.

And Mick has laid on some treats to get the day off with a swing.

Mick has put all this food on for the factory workers.

Happy Diwali, everybody.

-Happy Diwali.

-And to you, too.

Thank you.

Oh, my God, it's so pretty.

How long have you been working here for?

-Three years.

-Three years? Do you enjoy it here?

I've been working for two hours, and I love it!

LAUGHTER

All of our kids are expected to match the work ethic

of these machinists today.

Let's hope demoted pair Kazia and Hansa can rise to that challenge.

Uncle Gee is Hansa and Kazia's boss this morning.

He runs the pressing and packing room,

and he's got a spot of ironing in store for the girls.

Under strict supervision,

they'll be using these specially adapted irons,

which have the right heat to press any type of garment in seconds.

This pile will be yours. I've counted.

-I have to do all of those?

-This is 120.

That's quite a lot.

It's a lot, but you have to. Our chap does it.

Sometimes they do 130, 140.

The girls' target is 120 skirts each in just one hour.

How many do you think you are going to get done?

Not 120.

No. I could not do 120.

Too hot...already! I've only done, like, three.

Are you sweating?

Yeah, literally. I can just feel sweat.

Shall we put our hair up?

Yeah, I'm putting my hair up.

-Does mine look all right, Kaz?

-It is hot.

Oh, mine's is really bad.

The girls still don't seem to be taking this job seriously,

despite the promises they made.

Uncle Gee is not impressed.

They are just, like, thinking that this is a game, you know,

but actually it's not, it's real hard work.

And you've got to get it out because everything depends on,

you know, the order and deadlines, and things like that.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Mick is putting Noah on the stitching line,

making tops for a major supermarket.

You're actually going to make a real product that is actually

going to sell in the shops.

This order is 11,000 units.

So, if they pick up, say, two or three faults

they'll send the whole thing back to us.

So I'm relying on you to perform a really, you know...

-Good job.

-..good task.

-Yeah.

No pressure, then!

Scary. Scary stuff.

Josh and Saf haven't quite made the grade,

so they are finishing off yesterday's bags.

So, you've overlocked them all up, and now we are attaching the straps.

When you're ready, start.

Whilst Josh and Saf get stuck straight in...

..Noah's finding stitching sleeves much harder than yesterday's task.

Noah...

Can I just show you on the one that you just done?

The reason that this will come back from the shops

is because it's got a big hole in it. Yeah.

I've just got to remind you that this is, like, a very important

order to us.

-Noah...

-Oh!

-I'll do that one again in just a second.

-OK.

I'm nervous. I genuinely do feel a bit under pressure.

In fact, his work is so bad he's given his first sign.

-It's a new sign, actually. We've never had this sign in the factory before.

-Oh, right!

Cos you've created a new fault that we've never had before,

-holes in seams!

-Yeah!

Back at the steam press,

Uncle Gee is still trying get the girls to iron the skirts properly.

Not taking this seriously, are you?

-We are.

-No, you're not.

You haven't done half of what you are supposed to have done.

No. But we're trying our hardest.

It is a bit annoying, him saying we're not doing our best,

because we're not treating it like a game, it's hard work.

Yeah, but we've just got to crack on and, like, do our best..

And prove to Uncle that we are trying our best.

Yeah, because we don't want him to think we're slacking.

Nothing's impossible, though.

With just a few minutes left to go,

the girls finally give up the chat and get their heads down.

So, are their skirts up to scratch?

That was really tough,

because you have to make sure there's no creases.

It has to be perfect.

But when Uncle Gee inspects their work, it's far from perfect.

This is all no good.

BOTH: Hi!

I've been through your work...

-Yeah.

-..and counted it.

-You're supposed to be doing 120 an hour.

-Yeah.

You only did one third.

Not only have they missed their target, but nearly half will

have to be ironed again, because the seams aren't straight.

It SEEMS they haven't learnt anything.

Back on the production line, Noah is not the only one feeling the heat.

If I make one, not obvious mistake to these guys,

but obvious mistakes to the retailer, that's 11,000 garments

that everyone here has worked really hard for.

That's just... All that is just gone.

So I'm trying to be as selfless as possible

and make sure that these are genuinely the best things that I can produce.

Whilst Noah returns to his high standards,

Mick is back to check his progress.

-That's it, that's the standard we need.

-Yeah.

That's a good standard there.

The boss may be impressed with Noah,

but when he hears about Kazia and Hansa's

dismal ironing efforts, he decides to give them one last chance.

They've been given one of the easiest jobs in the factory, folding skirts.

You take the garment. Fold the side. Fold that side.

Fold that halfway, like that. And then we bring this over.

If the girls can't iron, let's hope they can fold,

there are 5,000 skirts that need doing.

And Mick's entrusting Noah to make sure they do it properly.

-Noah is you're supervisor now.

-Hi, Noah!

-Hi, Noah!

So, on good behaviour, yeah?

-Yeah, yeah.

-Noah is literally the golden boy today.

-He's always the golden boy.

-Yeah, he is, but we're not going to give him

the excuse to tell us off and put the signs up.

Is it all right if I have a little bit more space

because I'm kind of going into Hansa.

I'll just go find where 12s are.

They know me now as like a supervisor sort of thing.

I think now they're going to give me the respect that they

would give any other supervisor.

Excuse me, the size 12s...? Yep, there you go.

And I've got a few more, if that's all right...?

STACEY: Not only is it Noah's last chance to prove himself

but it's also the girls', and Hansa's even spotting mistakes.

This skirt, I don't think it'll pass quality control.

-Cos, look...

-It's got a hole!

Exactly.

Noah immediately reports the fault

-That's a good spot.

-It's a good spot by Hansa.

That's really good quality control, there, Hansa. Excellent. Well done.

Mick's pleased with the girls' turnaround,

and it seems that Noah's also proved he's got what it takes.

So, everything is fine and it's OK

and we will get 5,000 done by end of today?

-Yeah. Hopefully.

-That's good.

With the skirts packed...

..it's time for the boardroom.

OK. Hello, guys.

ALL: Hi.

Welcome to the boardroom.

Mick, if you could remind us a bit about your factory

and why it's so important for you to still be here.

Why it's so important as a business to buy British clothing...

Cos it's not just about profits, et cetera, it's not about that.

It's actually working as a whole group.

We're thinking about the workers, we're trying to pay them

the best we can. We want to generate a business that can

generate a community, in a way.

You know Mick has been watching you for the past couple of days.

He has had conversations with his supervisors,

and we're going to tell you what he thinks.

So, let's start with Noah...

He was very, very good.

I had a few of the workers actually approach me

and say, "He is a pretty good machinist, there."

The other four, you are actually not ready at the moment.

No, the four of you in particular, you know, there were

points on that factory floor where you just weren't getting it.

Every time I looked over, you know, particularly the two girls...

It was like you were in the playground

-Noah!

-Noah!

Yo! Check out my cool hat!

And I look around and you've got the bag on your head.

It is just not cool.

If I had my way, I would have given you a proper verbal warning.

Called you in the office, sat you down. And it would have been up on your records, as well.

Do you think you two are a bit of a nightmare together?

-I would say so!

-LAUGHTER

-Yeah, we just kind of clicked. We've got similar personalities.

-Definitely.

-I think we just got on quite well.

-Yeah.

Good thing outside of the workplace, but not so good inside the workplace.

-Not inside.

-Yeah.

So with all of that said, Mick has told me that he would be

offering jobs, if you were old enough.

Mick, if you could tell us your decision...

I'm going to offer a job to Noah.

He treated the task in hand with 100% respect,

and I think he has got the right attitude at this stage,

to actually come into our business and, you know, give us credit.

That means the four of you wouldn't have been offered a job.

How does that make you feel?

Do you think that it's fair - do you agree?

Yeah, I wouldn't hire me.

LAUGHTER

Noah is the star of the show again.

But, you know, we have still got three factories to go, guys.

So there's... You know, it's still up for grabs.

Next time on Show Me What You're Made Of...

our five are cleaning buses.

Will Noah keep his crown?

Budum-tsh!

Can Hansa and Kazia face the filth?

Is that sick?

I actually feel sick. That's disgusting.

And will there be a fallout on the number 270?

What are you doing?

I'm going to kill you with a brush.