Eggs Show Me What You're Made Of

Our five teams have been on an incredible journey,

experiencing for themselves some of the toughest jobs here in the UK.

-Aggh!

-I can't do it!

They all come at once.

It stinks badly like bin juice.

It's been a real eye-opener into the world of work for our group.

-It's physically impossible!

-I don't think I'm doing it right.

I am soaking wet.

I've got tuna down my shoe!

The five are now on the last leg of their trip.

They've left Wigan behind and are heading to Penrith

in the Lake District.

CLUCKING

Will our group get themselves into a flap working on an egg farm...

Go, now! I swear, I've had enough of you.

..or can everyone hold their heads high?

First time lucky.

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

The group are en route to their fifth and final factory.

It's the last chance to prove they can succeed

in the tough world of work.

From dunking our toasted soldiers in to baking a birthday cake,

we love a good egg.

In fact, we love egg so much that in the UK

we eat 33 million eggs every single day.

Our five are about to find out what it takes to survive and thrive

working on an egg farm.

CLUCKING

Maddie, how are you feeling?

I'm actually really, really excited.

I live in the city. Like, I'm 100% city girl,

but I love animals.

You haven't yet been promoted. Are we hoping to change that today?

Yeah.

Lucas, I can't imagine there are loads of free-roaming

chickens in the heart of London.

I'm kind of scared of chickens. The way they peck...

HE CLUCKS

-So today might be a real eye-opener for you?

-Yeah...

The five are heading to the Lakes Free Range Egg Company.

On this farm, 350 million eggs are processed every year.

At their busiest, workers on the production line box up

and dispatch one million eggs every day.

Thank you.

'Keeping a beady eye on the group are the farm's owners

'Helen and David.'

Thank you so much having us. We really appreciate it.

That's fine.

As you can see, I've brought you five keen workers raring to go.

-So how many chickens do you have now?

-There's 135,000.

-135,000 chickens?

-Yeah.

-Wow, that's unbelievable.

I heard 135 and I was like, "Whoa, that's a lot!"

One question I do have to ask actually -

-is anybody scared of chickens?

-Yes.

-I've seen Chicken Run.

-What more could you ask for, really?

We can't take away your fear but we can maybe help you with it.

If you're scared, don't flap your arms around,

don't scream, don't shout, don't do anything like that.

Chickens are quite timid little things.

If you start shouting around them, they get scared and that's not good.

So discipline is key.

Final factory, 135,000 chickens.

How hard can it be?

Before they're allowed to do any jobs on the farm,

our five must pass a test.

Chop chop, the hens are waiting.

Keeping the hens healthy and happy is of the utmost importance here.

THEY CLUCK

'Helen needs to know she can trust our five to behave correctly

'when working with her chickens.'

Nice and calmly, yeah?

'After putting on all the protective clothing,

'we're now ready to enter the shed...

'..one at a time.'

-Oh, my gosh.

-Just get your bearings. Are you all right?

'Wet weather means most of the 12,000 birds

'have chosen to be inside.

'It can be a very scary sight.'

Wow. Excuse me.

CLUCKING

This is going to be the toughest challenge our five...

CLUCKING

..are going to experience.

Any loud noise or sudden movement could panic the whole flock,

so it's essential our five control their fear and stay calm.

Eloushka is the first to enter.

Chickens!

-Are you OK?

-Yeah.

-Nice and slow, yeah?

How are you feeling?

-There are just so many of them!

-Yeah.

Next up is Tom, then Madz.

-Are you all right, Madz?

-Yeah.

Maddie, nice and gentle, mate.

'Remember, one slip...

HE SCREAMS

'..could spook the birds.

'Last in...'

Speechless.

'..is Lucas whose tactic is to try and make friends.'

Hi, chickens. Hi, chickens.

Lucas, nice and light, nice and light.

'Unfortunately there's more to this test than just entering the shed.'

OK. Follow me.

Please don't kill me, please don't kill me, thank you, thank you.

Boss Helen needs to know the group are confident

working closely with her precious chickens.

It's really, really important that

we can see if you can handle these birds.

But you have to do it in the correct way because we can't hurt them.

This is my daughter Lizzie, and Lizzie works with the hens

so she's going to help us out with this task.

So, Lizzie, please may we see what it is they'll have to do?

Go for it.

'The skill to catching a chicken is to be decisive.'

So, it's two-handed.

Hold it in-between their legs and then get them comfortable. OK?

Also make sure don't hold them too close to their face

-cos if they do flap, it hurts!

-SHE LAUGHS

'Each of the group has a go trying to hang on to a hen.'

-Yes.

-Yes, Tom.

-Well done, mate, well done.

-First time lucky.

-Yes.

-Well done.

-Nice.

-Don't forget the legs.

-Oh, my goodness me.

Just go for it, Madz.

-There we go.

-Yes, Madz.

Did I do it right?

She's comfortable, that's good.

Come here, chicken.

-Nice.

-Well done.

-Yes, Lucas.

Easy, yeah.

That happened.

'That leaves Maddie.'

Maddie, just go for it, just go for it.

-I don't want to hurt it.

-You won't hurt it, don't worry.

'After a series of near misses...

'..she's desperate to earn her first ever promotion.

'Maddie has always given the jobs a good go in all the other factories.'

I knew that wasn't really my forte.

Oh! It won't get in.

I don't think I'm doing it right.

'But her lack of speed and decisiveness

'has left her without a single promotion.'

You're going to be demoted.

Demoted.

I would like to demote Maddie.

Promoted or demoted?

Demoted.

That's an easy one to get.

'So, back on the farm...'

It's harder than it looks.

'..now's the time to show some fight, not flight.'

-Well done, well done.

-Hold it, hold it.

-Nice and tight.

-There we go.

Yes, Maddie, well done.

Do you want to pop the chicken down nice and gently?

Oh, OK.

Great.

'Success! Maddie, along with everyone else, has passed the test.'

'With their boss happy, the group are ready to be put to work.

'During the day, the hens are free to run around outside.'

But, at night, we have to put them to bed

so we have to get every single bird inside the hen shed

and we have to do this because of predators.

The rules are you must not scare them, you must not kick them,

you must be calm with them.

And ordinarily, how many people would it take

to do a job like this, Helen?

-It would take two people about half an hour.

-OK! Ha!

I'm going to love this one.

Three, two, one, go!

Chicken, go that way now!

'So, 12,000 birds to round up...'

Chicken, to the left. Chicken, to the left!

'..running loose in one acre of woodland...

Whoa!

That was feisty.

'..what could possibly go wrong?'

Argh.

Come on, girl, come on.

Don't play games with me.

Come on, lady, I know you want to go to bed right now. Come on, go, go.

So we've been working for about 10 minutes

and I would say we're probably about four metres from the wall.

CHILDREN CALL OUT ENCOURAGEMENT

Come and get...there.

'With the five running around like headless chickens,

'the boss suggests a different approach.'

Instead of driving forward all the time, try and go up and down,

up and down a few times.

You can't go into them, Lucas,

-you have to drive them from the back otherwise you split them.

-OK.

-What about these ones up here?

-It's killing me!

'It's tiring, frustrating work.'

If you don't move, I'm going to eat you, and I like chicken!

'And Lucas is losing his cool.'

-Chicken, this way!

-You're not meant to be shouting.

-This way, chicken!

-I think he's scaring them a little bit.

-Lucas. Lucas?

-Yo.

-Stop pretending to fall...

-I'm not pretending to fall.

-..and herd chickens!

Lucas! Stop. Just stay in the line.

'The group were told they mustn't frighten the birds

'but this is something Lucas has clearly forgotten.'

Go, now! I swear I've had enough of you.

-Lucas.

-Go.

-Can you come here, please?

Listen to me.

Their welfare is the most important thing.

-I know it's frustrating, I know it's really tiring.

-It's annoying.

-Of course it's annoying.

-Oooh!

-That's what I'm saying.

This is where patience is key.

The chickens aren't scared of you.

And if the chickens were scared of you, it would be easy.

I can't do it.

It's too hard.

SHE CLICKS HER TONGUE

'The girls are trying a different tactic.'

A little bit of chicken korma would be lovely!

Chicken tikka! Chicken tikka!

'It's a good job chickens don't understand English.'

Come on, bed, bed!

'Maddie in particular is in her element working with these animals.'

It's really difficult. I still find it fun, though.

Why does everyone fight me?

Maddie's desperate to do well here.

She absolutely adores all animals

so this would be ideal for her to shine.

'Finally, after an hour...'

Keep the line.

Eloushka, keep the line.

Chicken, to the right!

'..all the birds are safely tucked up in bed.

'It's taken the group twice as long as it should have.'

Go on, chick, chick, chick, chick!

Last chicken!

'But how does their boss think they've done?'

Right, girls.

So if we could go through each individual, please, Helen?

-We'll start with Tom.

-Yep.

You fell down that bank more than once, bless you,

and you got up every time smiling. So, that was good.

Yeah, I thought it was the last factory

so I thought I'd give it my all.

-How's Eloushka done?

-Your communication was good.

Very impressed.

My favourite bit was at the end,

we went down, and then they just all went pop, pop, pop into the pen.

-Perfectly.

-Yeah.

-That's how it's done.

Madz?

Yeah, again, worked well in a team,

communication was good, weren't fazed by anything.

You were chasing the hens in, so that was good.

-Maddie?

-Did really well considering that you've not

really had anything to do with any animals at all.

It took you a little while to catch your chickens this morning

but actually that was not really anything to do with your ability,

it was you didn't want to hurt the bird and that stood out today.

I thought that was exceptional.

And you pride yourself, don't you, Maddie,

on being the animal lover of the group?

I really enjoyed it because I sort of made friends with the chickens

when I was putting them to bed.

How did Lucas do?

-Erm...

-SHE CHUCKLES

Mixed, wasn't it?

You kind of got very frustrated with them because they wouldn't do

-as you were wanting to do.

-Mm-hm. Chickens are just so annoying.

So, Helen, will any of our five be promoted here on your egg farm?

Yes.

OK. And if you could tell me, please, who those people are?

OK. So, we've got Tom.

We've got a Eloushka.

We've got Madz.

And we have got...

Maddie.

THEY LAUGH AND CHATTER

Well done, guys.

Maddie, good news, girl, promotion, well done.

I'm so happy because I really wanted to prove to everyone

that I could do it.

Fifth time lucky.

So, four promoted

which means we have one guy left.

Who's come in to here.

It feels really good to impress my boss because

obviously I haven't yet.

When she said I was promoted today, it was a really big shock.

Tomorrow, I want to try and self-motivate myself.

'I really want to do well in this factory

'because I did really well in the last one.'

If I do the best I can, she might think, "OK, wait,

"no, he's actually doing pretty well now, so I'm going to hire him."

Day one has ended with a surprise success and disappointing failure.

But it's the morning of day two

and a fresh chance for everyone to improve.

Yesterday wasn't great for Lucas.

He just failed to focus, he really struggled

and I think Helen's got a plan to try and change that.

'Three of the promoted group are already at work gathering eggs.'

Meanwhile, over at the farm's head office,

Eloushka and Lucas have been summoned to meet boss Helen.

They haven't been given a reason for the meeting.

I think Eloushka's here so she can supervise me or something like that.

I don't think she should be here.

I think I should be here

because I think Lucas needs a bit of encouragement.

Come in!

So I think he just needs someone to egg him on.

-Aw, thank you.

-Get it? "Egg" him on.

No.

I've asked you both here today just to have a little review

of what went on yesterday.

Lucas, I felt that you were not communicating with

everybody else.

-Lucas?

-Yo.

-Stop pretending to fall...

-I'm not pretending to fall!

-..and herd chickens.

And so, therefore, you were working more as an individual.

Go, now! I swear, yeah, I've had enough of you.

And I was a bit disappointed with your attitude, actually, as well.

Listen to me, their welfare is the most important thing.

Really annoying.

Lucas is getting a formal warning.

A warning, when you are in the workplace, is quite a serious thing.

You could lose your job.

What do you think about your behaviour yesterday?

Well, I knew it wasn't the best and that's not right for the chickens

and all that, so I needed to calm down.

You can't mess it up now.

So I've asked Eloushka to come in today, actually,

because I think that you can help Lucas overcome any of this anxiety

that he has.

Yeah, I'll try and help him out as much as I can.

As long as he listens, it should go well.

'Over in the chicken shed, the promoted three are sorting through

'freshly laid eggs.'

Just make sure that you're putting your eggs in correctly.

'Perfect ones go in the pink trays, but any eggs with imperfect shells

'must be put into the blue ones.'

This looks quite tricky.

'They have an hour to sort 5,000 eggs.'

You'll need to turn the belt off,

otherwise you'll start cracking eggs.

'The only way they'll manage this is if they can keep up

'with the conveyor belts.'

Listen to me, we've only just started and already

Liz has had to stop both belts.

We need to be a lot faster than this.

Normally, it runs continuously.

You're not being quick enough.

'In a bid to get back on track, the three speed the belt up.'

Guys, there's loads of eggs coming now.

Nice and quick.

I was just putting it in, but then it slipped out my hand.

'But the problem when working quickly with eggs is...'

-Oh.

-Sorry.

-Aw, no.

-Oh!

Oh, it's a crack.

It's really stressful, cos they just keep coming and coming.

Oh.

That's another one dropped.

How did I just do that?

We've got another crack.

Madz, that's your third egg.

Lizzie, how are they doing?

They're doing OK, but we'd expect them to be a little bit quicker.

Maddie's impressed me the most. She's actually got the right

balance of speed and quality, which is what you need.

'In her only promotion task, Maddie's performed well.'

OK, guys, that is it, time is up.

'But has the group come close to sorting the 5,000 eggs?'

How many do you think they've managed to achieve?

I think they've got about 2,300.

They've done better than I expected.

But still under half of what was required.

Yeah, unfortunately.

In the packing department, Eloushka and demoted Lucas

are making and filling up 200 boxes with eggs, ready for delivery.

I'm working hard now. I want to impress, try and get hired again.

Already on a warning, Lucas is desperate to turn things around.

It's really important for me to do well in this task.

I'm a lot more focused now.

Spurring him on is Eloushka...

We've got to keep going.

..his personal motivator for the shift.

-You're doing really well.

-Thank you.

Keen to get himself back on track, Lucas cranks up the pace.

I've got the motivation back.

-How are you doing?

-Good. Concentrating now, I'm getting

the hang of it.

Lucky for Lucas, with the hour up...

Well done. You've finished our task.

..they complete the 200 boxes required.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

'With their time on the farm nearly up, the group come together

'for one last task - stacking boxes of eggs as they come off

'the conveyor belt.'

The final task in the final factory.

Right. The finale.

'They have to pack six crates each in half an hour.

'The same target as a normal worker.'

The key here is speed and efficiency.

'This order is going out today and our five can't keep

'Helen's customers waiting.

'What did I say about efficiency, Lucas?'

Basically, on one of the eggs over there,

two boxes came out cracked, so I had to stop and get them.

Am I hopeful?

Right at this moment, no.

I didn't crack any eggs. I found it.

-So you just found an empty egg?

-Yes, it was coming on this side

of the trolley, there was two boxes that had cracked eggs.

-And then I found two boxes that were empty.

-OK, all right, mate.

-Don't crack any more eggs.

-Yes.

I didn't crack them, though.

'Further up the line, there's no dispute about how Eloushka

'thinks she's doing.'

The faster it goes, the faster I work, and the faster I work

-the better I do.

-So you're really determined

-to make sure that you go out with a bang?

-Yeah.

Good for you, girl.

I've had an egg-cellent time.

Here she is!

Da, da, da!

'Eloushka's not the only one racing along.'

Maddie, I've never seen you work this fast.

I've never seen myself move this quickly before.

-Maybe you've finally cracked it.

-Maybe.

I couldn't do this for eight hours a day.

-That's really impressive, you're doing a great job there.

-Thank you.

Keep that going.

All five are absolutely desperate to prove themselves.

You know, it's the final task in the final factory,

and it seems they could be onto a winner.

I'm finding it pretty easy.

'And even Lucas is loving it, too.'

Nine minutes remaining.

-Do you need help?

-No, I'm all right.

Got to go quick.

Lucas is doing really well. He's on his own, I'm really pleased

with him. I think maybe the chat that I had this morning with him

might have helped him a little bit. I hope it has.

I never knew how much went into eggs. I'm going to open

an egg with more passion next time.

-When you're dipping them soldiers in...

-Yeah!

..you're going to savour every mouthful!

'One last sprint for the finish.'

Guys, two minutes remaining!

Back on!

Come on.

-Three...

-Whoa!

-..two...

-Oh, my God, please!

..one, that's it now. Time is up!

Stop what you're doing.

Off you go.

'It can only be time for one more thing - the boardroom.'

-Hi.

-Hi.

-Hello.

Well, congratulations.

Helen, how has Eloushka done?

Well, quick off the starting blocks with the hens.

That was really, really good, wasn't it?

And no matter how dirty and how filthy, there's always a smile.

I think I've learned how to go into everything with an open mind.

Tom worked well. Sometimes quality rather than quantity is better.

So don't rush at it and just be a little bit more precise.

I think I've kind of proved myself.

I really enjoyed myself today, but I thought it was quite foul.

Egg-cellent.

-How's Madz done?

-Madz has done good.

You weren't fazed by the hens, it was good.

If I lived closer, I would actually ask to have a job here

cos I really like it.

-Maddie!

-You've had a really good journey, haven't you?

This is the first factory you've been promoted in.

It was a sigh of relief, really, because I was scared I was going

to get five demotions and it's nice to know that I've improved on

my speed.

Lucas.

Lucas has had a journey as well, really, haven't you?

I think you need to maybe work on working as a team.

Does that sound like fair feedback, Lucas?

Yeah. I think it's just more concentration, focus

and just try and do the best I can.

So the question is, Helen and Dave, if our guys were over 18

and they were seeking employment, would you hire them?

-Yes.

-Aha, OK!

I would be willing to take all of you on.

OK.

My proviso is with Lucas, but I would be willing

to invest time with you.

How does it feel to know that actually you would be hired?

That's awesome.

So, last. Helen, please may you tell us who your star employee is?

This person has made the biggest journey, I feel, and for that

reason alone, our star employee...

is Maddie.

-Whoo!

-You're joking?

Well done!

-Well done!

-Thank you!

-Yes, Maddie!

-That's crazy!

It's been an incredible trip for the group.

But now back home, have any of them changed?

Lucas!

A month ago, Madz thought the world revolved around her.

My relationship with my parents has definitely changed.

I think it is the biggest thing because before I left

there was a bit of tension in the house, because me and my mam,

we rarely ever see each other.

And since I came back from the trip,

we've tried to talk more, do things together.

So it's definitely been a big impact from the trip, yeah.

She's more worldly and mature

and she'd taken her mum a lot for granted,

whereas I think she's actually got

some sort of appreciation of exactly how hard her mum's working.

Before, Tom's life was all about just having a laugh.

Oh!

What I've taken off the experience is that you have to work

really hard for your money.

You've just got to keep at it, keep on top of it and keep going.

The experience really affected him.

I've noticed a big difference in his behaviour.

He is more thoughtful. It's improved him as a person,

certainly made him think a lot more about things.

I definitely treat my mum and dad a lot better.

Whenever they ask me to do something, I'll try and do it,

but not my brothers. They can jog on.

Eloushka used to live in a bubble.

The experience, I think, has changed me.

It just opened my eyes and really made me realise

that I'm a lucky person

and I'm definitely a lot more grateful for everything that I have.

I would say since coming back from the trip,

Eloushka has become a lot more mature in certain ways.

She's a lot more aware of what goes into making life nice and easy.

The trip has made me realise that actually if I focus,

I can achieve great things.

I'll beat you up!

Maddie lived in Maddieland.

Before, I didn't realise how lucky I was to have all this great stuff.

I definitely think I have a privileged lifestyle.

I think I have all I want in life.

I didn't realise that people live their lives in poverty

and struggling all the time to make their kids happy.

I think she led a very sheltered, a very protected existence

and now she's realised there's another world outside.

She used to say we're really poor

and she now realises we're actually really, really not poor!

A lot of people don't have what she has.

And Lucas always wanted the latest everything.

I haven't been shopping for a very long time now.

I'm used to going out shopping, like, pretty much every week,

so it feels weird, but good.

Since Lucas came back, he became

more responsible and more caring

for other people, so I can see,

like, he shows his love and care for me.

I don't really need that much stuff

any more because I've got what I need and I'm living a happy life.

-No!

-No!

Tomato!

Yeah!

Whoa!

HE LAUGHS

Bwak-bwak!

THEY ALL CLUCK