Episode 2 Oxford Street Revealed

It's the most famous shopping street in the world, in the heart

of Britain's capital city.

A mile and a half long, with 30 million visitors each year,

with some of the world's most famous shops,

biggest stars...

Kate Moss!

-..and busiest stations.

-Sorry, guys, stand back for me.

What does it take to keep it running 24 hours a day...

It's the busiest street in the world, it needs constant attention.

-..seven days a week.

-Oi, clear off!

Welcome to Oxford Street, welcome to the pickpocketing.

Are you ready, London?

A street that never sleeps.

This sort of thing wouldn't happen anywhere else.

Oxford Street.

Coming up...

Bag snatchers on Oxford Street...

We're looking for a specific, 35 grand bag, 105 grand in cash.

We're with the specialist police team as they go the extra

mile to get the bag back.

Police! Right, what are you putting down behind your back?

Rush hour leaves blood on the tracks at Britain's busiest station.

Somebody has cut their foot on the escalator, there's quite a bit of blood.

The Thistle Hotel are expecting a delegation from Finland,

-but they've lost their Finnish flag.

-I need this flag.

And this girl doesn't know it,

but she's about to be asked for her hand in marriage.

-She's getting suspicious.

-Cue violins.

Violins are go, violins are go.

But will she say yes?

With millions of pounds of transactions taking place

on Oxford Street every day, it's not surprising that some

unscrupulous elements are attracted to the street.

But those criminals that do operate here have picked a tough

spot to try and earn a living. Sgt Steve Stamp

and PC Darren Bond are part of the Metropolitan Police's

specialist West End undercover team, dedicated to catching those

shoplifters and pickpockets that want to try their luck.

We mainly target pickpockets, bag thieves, distraction thieves,

table surfers and robbers.

They patrol the streets in plain clothes,

looking for the telltale sign someone might be a thief.

You have to have to have that basic instinct in relation to

spotting somebody out the corner of your eye...

See these two in front?

They've got empty bags.

That split-second decision makes all the difference when we are

walking along a street of over 100,000 people every day.

The Oxford Street team even has specialist officers called

Super Recognisers,

who have memorised the faces of the street's most active thieves.

It's early evening, and officers Stamp and Bond are in the middle of their patrol.

This is Shark Alley, this is peak time.

Like sharks, as the sun goes down, the sharks come out to feed.

And it's not long before the two think they've spotted some

suspicious behaviour inside one of the shops.

Now, watch this guy, all right?

He's come across the road, he's starting to sweat. All right,

he's got an empty bag on him.

Darren is on it like a bee to honey.

Bond is just in there as close as he can, to get to him.

It will be a classic shoplift if he does it in here.

Nothing stolen, but Steve's convinced

he's found himself a thief.

They follow the man along the street and then into one

of its most famous stores, which doesn't wish to be identified.

Right, I just saw a male acting suspicious out the corner of my eye.

And off-camera, in the electronics department,

Steve thinks he's seen the man stuff a computer mouse into his clothes.

See the guy, flat cap, he's gone to the right.

The man makes a dash for the exit.

Steve rushes to intercept him.

Are you all right, mate?

Take your hands out of your pockets.

Right, my name is Sgt Stamp, Met Police, this is my colleague,

PC Bond. We were upstairs, we followed you in here and you have shoplifted.

The arrested man is taken behind the scenes to an area

not on view to the public, a holding room far away from the shop floor.

Uniformed officers haven't found anything, but Officer Bond,

from the pickpocket team, is prepared to be very thorough.

-The mouse is there.

-Oh, look.

I don't normally do that to guys, but there's the mouse.

Concealed under his clothing, between his legs. I wish I had gloves on.

I should have gloves on.

But while the team is readying the suspect for custody, word comes

through that a much more serious crime has taken place elsewhere.

A visiting tourist has had their bag snatched in one

of the street's major stores, but it's not just any old bag theft.

I'm not sure, totally, of the details,

but a customer's bag was taken in the store

that contained a quite considerable amount of cash, multiple thousands.

In fact, the victim's told shop security that their bag

contained over £100,000 worth of cash.

The designer bag itself is worth over £30,000.

But now, it's gone.

The shopper's only chance of getting it back rests

with Steve Stamp and his team.

Steve and Darren check the CCTV footage,

supplied by the shop security team.

The actual theft isn't covered by CCTV,

but by getting good coverage of what her handbag looks like,

as you can see it's quite a distinctive, large green bag,

they've been able to then pick up the suspect,

the thief, as they have left the store.

You look at the exits and there we have a suspect

carrying a very distinctive bag.

Later, the Super Recognisers get to work on the bag snatch case

and what they find surprises even them.

Female suspect. My guys have viewed the CCTV.

Would you believe it, we know who it is.

Over a third of Oxford Street shops are flagship stores.

The competition between them is fierce.

One of the main weapons they have to entice

shoppers in is their shop window.

It's some of the most valuable promotional space in the world

and each must look eye-catching enough to grab a shopper's

attention in seconds.

And no-one knows that more than Laura Woods.

She's a visual merchandiser from high street fashion chain, Warehouse.

And tonight is one of the most important of her year.

She is overseeing the window

and store design for the store's new autumn-winter campaign.

Oxford Street is massive, there are so many other brands,

you want to make your presence known.

British chain, Warehouse, makes mid-range

clothes for twenty-something women.

This is their first store on Oxford Street

and has only been open for a few months.

The trading space is too valuable to shut during business hours,

so Laura and her team have got one night to get it dressed and ready.

So, we found this image in Milan, a kind of peg-board display.

It's a real mix and match of wood and different colours.

This is kind of where we landed, what the design was.

Peg-board, installation-based, we wanted to make it a bit

different for Oxford Street, it is our flagship.

Ready to go? Let's do it.

The design will be the public face of the shop for months,

so if it's going to compete, it's got to look great.

For Laura, personally, it's her first campaign for the store

and she's put months of work into designing it.

Laura's right-hand man is fellow visual merchandiser, Nathan King.

It's actually a really big deal for us as a British brand,

to be recognised on Oxford Street

and it's been something we've wanted for a really long time.

There are four parts to the installation.

They've got to build the peg-board window display, dress the mannequins,

hang the campaign photographs

and build another display in store.

It's perfect, leave it.

While Nathan takes over on the pegs,

Laura moves on to the collection's mounted photos.

So, we're going to put them on this wall here

and were going to carry the creative through...

When we put these up, we'll use some of the pegs to put them up.

Doing the fit is an experienced team from Leeds.

They take as much pride as anyone in how the display looks.

Shopfitter, Johnny Day, is a regular visitor to Oxford Street.

Making Laura's vision a reality is down to him.

We'll do probably one to the left and then one to the right.

Right, well, I'll put it up in the middle, and then we can...

-Left a bit, right a bit.

-Perfect, we'll probably do that for about an hour.

That's perfect, I wouldn't expect anything less.

Right, let's get cracking and get one up.

But it soon becomes clear that the job isn't going to be as

straightforward as they'd hoped.

Laura wants the photos to be hung on pegs drilled into the wall, but

the fitting team are worried that the fixings won't be up to the job.

Whoever has come up with the idea of doing this hasn't

thought about it enough.

Just show Laura there, just put on that top bracket there, Josh.

It's just bends, it's going to slip off.

If this slips off and hits somebody... It needs something more substantial

to hold the weight of this.

-This 18 ml ply is heavy.

-Right, OK.

I can't... Unless I screwed through the graphic.

-Straight into the wall...

-OK.

It's not ideal but at least it's safe.

But the change of plan means Laura's schedule is slipping.

That's going to take them more than an hour to do that.

I'm quite calm, so... These things kind of just...

With only hours to go before the shop reopens, Laura and Nathan

will have to pull out all the stops to get things back on schedule.

Later, we'll see whether they managed to get the window

ready in time for the shop to open.

Oxford Street is one of the busiest roads in Britain

and bang in the middle of it is the country's biggest railway station,

Oxford Circus.

Never a dull moment here.

Never a dull moment at Oxford Circus.

Three major tube lines converge here

and 89 million passengers get on and off trains here every year.

That's more annual passengers than Heathrow Airport.

Please board the train as quickly as you can, stand clear, stand clear.

The biggest challenge for station staff is coping with

the rush-hour, when platforms can get overcrowded.

The front of the train is overcrowded, you are advised to move further along the westbound platform.

Ian manages human traffic through the station.

It's his job to keep people moving on and off trains

as quickly as possible, but that's not his only talent.

Please give room for your fellow passengers to exit the train first.

I've got a bad, bad habit of going into some kind of southern American...

Which some of my colleagues don't like. The quicker they exit the train, the easier it is for you

to board the train, please let them exit.

But I try not to, it's just a habit I've fallen into.

Please ensure that your belongings and yourselves are beyond the yellow safety line, for your safety.

It's now rush hour and there's disruption on one of the lines.

Ian wants to stop passengers bottlenecking.

Move along the eastbound platform, this reduces congestion,

please use the eastbound platform for the Bakerloo-Victoria Line interchange.

Further down, please, further down the platform.

About 90 percent of the time they do listen.

They need a little bit of ushering sometimes.

Please remain behind the yellow safety line, this train is now on the move.

On a weekday between 4pm and 7pm,

over a million passengers use the tube, but as Dwayne knows

only too well, rush hour and rushing passengers can lead to accidents.

Can I get someone with a first aid box to come to the Argyll, please.

Someone has cut their foot on the escalators, there is quite a bit of blood.

-It just hurts a lot.

-What escalator did you come up?

-How did you cut your foot?

-I just tripped.

-You just tripped?

-Yeah.

Ouch, that looks painful.

Canadian tourist, Alicia Kwong, has lacerated her toe

rushing off an escalator.

I was shopping at Topshop and then I was on my way home, I was

halfway home, but then I forgot some of my stuff,

so I just decided to come back right away

and I was kind of in a rush, so I just tripped and fell.

You have to be really careful when you're coming up.

I know, you were panicking, because you lost something...

There is no sign of Alicia's lost shopping, but she's been

advised to limp one stop up on the tube to the nearest hospital.

By the time she had realised how bad it was,

she could actually feel the pain.

She is one of over 2,000 people injured annually

when rushing on underground escalators.

It's another challenge dealt with,

but the party is just starting at Britain's busiest station.

Later, staff cope with drunks and disorderlies

as Friday night takes off.

The Metropolitan Police's pickpocketing team have had

word there has been a bag snatch on their patch.

A shopper's had her handbag stolen from a major department store,

with over £100,000 of cash inside.

Back at the station, Sgt Steve Stamp

and has team get studying the CCTV footage,

supplied by the shop's security team.

Steve asks one of his Super Recognisers to look at it.

A Super Recogniser is one of the Met's

best secret weapons

available to them.

The Super Recognisers are highly skilled and highly trained officers,

able to memorise the faces of Oxford Street's most prolific robbers.

Super Recognisers have a form of photographic memory, where

they can remember faces, distinctive things on faces, they can

remember names, they can remember dates, they can remember times.

It's just something that you were born with.

They can be brought in on cases ranging from murder to terrorism,

to see if their expert memories can nail a suspect.

We spend a lot of time at the moment out on the streets,

stop-searching people, for instance. We remember them.

A few weeks later, a few months later,

that person may have committed an offence that we didn't

know about and will pop up on camera.

Super Recognisers would instantly recognise that person,

having stopped them months previous.

And studying the footage, the team's Super Recogniser makes

a breakthrough that convinces Steve to prepare for a raid.

He thinks he knows who the bag snatcher is.

It's a she, and even better for the team,

they know where she lives.

Female suspect, we're going to hit her address now.

This is an immediate job, because there is no way she can spend

that sort of cash straightaway.

Let's go.

The team now represent the victim's only hope of seeing their bag

and their money again.

If there is any persons inside, guys, don't be afraid to handcuff them, all right?

They head off to the woman's address

and what they'll find there is a new one, even for them.

-Police!

-All right!

-Right, what are you putting down behind your back?

At fashion chain Warehouse's flagship Oxford Street store,

visual merchandiser Laura Woods is leading the overnight installation

of the firm's new autumn-winter collection.

The quality of a shop's displays can mean life or death

on a street like Oxford Street.

Laura's only got one night to get the shop dressed,

but already, there's a problem.

It just bends, it's going to slip off.

The delays are causing her schedule to slip.

Luckily, Laura's Leeds-based shopfitting team

are on their A-game tonight.

Johnny's come up with a solution for the pictures -

screwing them directly into the wall.

-Can we just get an actual position?

-All right, OK.

-With the first one up, the others should be quicker to install...

-Erm.

..if Laura can decide where she wants them.

No, it can't be the same height, it needs to be, like, a bit...

Yeah, I think that looks all right.

Actually, can we go a bit higher?

I don't want it to be level.

I'm being really pedantic, sorry.

Lower.

-Is that all right?

-Yeah, OK.

-Yeah?

Would it be nicer if it was level?

Only joking.

She might still have her sense of humour,

but the delays are starting to take their toll on Laura.

It's just this, like all this mess,

because you feel like you're not achieving anything right now.

To try and get the schedule back on track,

Nathan makes a start on the window mannequins.

Five past one now, and we want it to be done by 2-2:30am.

It's probably going to be more like...3am...4am.

Maybe 5am.

How these look will determine how many customers

they can attract inside.

You know, we don't want to overcrowd the window. Oxford Street

is the busiest street in the whole world, like,

she has literally got seconds to see it and get in the shop.

The fitters are finally ready to hang the last photo

under the watchful gaze of Nathan.

Yeah, there. Actually, up a bit.

No, no, up a bit more. Can we take it down, like, one brick?

Right...left, sorry.

Down a bit.

I could do that all night.

-Yeah, that's brilliant, well done.

-We'll get it done.

We're almost there, so, like, final push.

But it's going to be a really long push.

I've hit a bit of a wall now.

Like, no amount of coffee or chocolate is going to fix this.

Leave a bit of room for error, to be fair, cos there's always something that goes wrong.

We're getting there. We're nearly there.

For Johnny, doing a good job on Oxford Street is a matter of pride.

I like coming down to Oxford Street, because, at the end of the day,

when these windows are done, I get to put a little bit of my finger

on that and go, "Well, I was a contributor to that."

Oxford Street is, you know, one of the fashion capitals of the world.

And that's a big thing for me.

When it goes right, you do get a good buzz off it.

The final big job is to create another mannequin display

at the front of the shop.

It's like a massive, 3-D game of Tetris.

There're going to tip over.

No they're not.

With the mannequins in place, the end is finally in sight.

-See you in a bit, bye.

-See you.

And with a couple of finishing touches, the installation is

complete, and Laura and Nathan are finally able to take stock.

It looks great.

Laura had a lot to deliver, and despite the setbacks,

-she's pleased with her display for the store.

-We done really well.

-A job well done.

-Yeah.

And, when the shop does finally open for business, the new window

is hard at work, doing its bit to get the customers through the doors.

At the west end of Oxford Street

stands the 700-room Thistle Marble Arch.

Paul Walsh is the head concierge.

He prides himself on going the extra mile to satisfy the full gamut

-of his guests' requests.

-Two tickets, uh, Arsenal Longside.

Get them in now. I'll get the money ready. Fine. Cheers. Yeah, it's done.

He's a member of the Society Of The Golden Keys,

an elite group of concierges

from some of the world's most prestigious hotels.

I'm your sort of go-to guy, so if you need anything, or if anyone needs

anything, they come to us. We're the Fix It guys.

I've seen Paul go out of the way for people.

I've seen him travel over to France with a case

because they left it in the hotel and he drove there.

He goes out of the box. He does, he really does. He helps everyone.

Today, the hotel is preparing for a large Finnish delegation.

Everything needs to be perfect for when the guests arrive.

Working hard behind the scenes

is assistant maintenance manager, Raul Ellison.

I love my work. It's a hands-on job,

and it gives you satisfaction to finish what you've started.

I think it was in me from when I was young - breaking things

and fixing them and putting them back together.

But, today, Raul's got a problem that's not as easy to fix.

Huh? They said that that flag was in this office here.

The hotel's Finnish flag has gone missing.

The conference starts in three days,

but Raul needs to put it out before the first delegates

start arriving, tomorrow.

It was a blue one in there, wrapped up in there. In that cupboard.

Raul gets his assistant on the case.

We need to call House Of Flags

and see if we can get a flag brought over today.

She calls the hotel's regular flag supplier to try

and order a replacement, but being a Friday, it's going to be tight.

We want a Finnish flag, from Finland.

It's going to come back on my head because I'm the one that's

responsible for it in the first place.

-Any update?

-They could do pre-9am on Monday.

But Monday is too late for Raul. He needs it today.

I need this flag.

His best bet is to rope in some help and track down that elusive flag.

This is the cupboard that it should have been in,

but obviously it's been misplaced and moved somewhere else.

We'll find it.

It doesn't normally look like this.

It's a lot more clear and a lot more organised down here.

No, good point, though, Batman.

-Good morning, guys.

-Morning.

-I'm looking for this flag.

Lita, I'm looking for a blue and white flag.

-Has anyone given you a flag to wash? Adrian, a flag?

-No.

-No flag.

-Sorry!

-No flag. That's all right, Lita. Thank you.

Desperation starts to set in...

I find myself looking in the same place over and over again.

..and Raul returns to the office to search increasingly unlikely

-hiding places.

-Flags don't just get up and walk away.

We've looked everywhere.

We've turned up open cupboards, places where it shouldn't be,

that we thought it might be.

We've doubled checked on everything and we still cannot find this flag.

Raul's all out of ideas,

and he turns to the one man who might be able to help.

PHONE RINGS

Concierge Paul, how may I help? Hi, Raul.

Yep, OK.

A Finnish flag. I'll make a couple of phone calls.

The long shot and go for the embassy...

..of Finland...

and see how that goes.

They're your own ones,

but they're your spares for when you take them down.

OK, that would be amazing.

Paul's smart thinking pays off.

I can come over with a driver and pick them up as soon as possible.

The Finnish Embassy has a spare flag and they're willing to share.

It's less than ten minutes' drive from Oxford Street,

but Paul leaves nothing to chance and goes in person to collect it.

Number 38, we need.

That is if he can find the embassy.

I imagine they have a Finnish flag outside.

When I see it, I'll probably recognise it.

What's that?

Mexico. I need to brush up on my flags.

They finally locate the right place,

and it isn't long before Paul has his precious flag in his hands.

Thank you. Super. OK, perfect. Thank you.

Cheers. Thank you.

-Cheers. One Finnish flag.

-Aw, my man!

My man. Thank you very much.

You've saved my life this morning. Literally saved my life.

Thank you very much to the Finnish Embassy. We needed that.

Paul has delivered and Raul is one happy assistant maintenance manager.

-He can now finish the job and get the flag flying.

-Worked out.

The Metropolitan Police's under cover pickpocketing team are on

their way to the last known address of a bag snatcher in south London.

We're really close now. We're one minute away.

At the end of this road, take the next left.

They believe their suspect stole a tourist's handbag

from an Oxford Street store.

We are looking for a specific 35 grand bag.

All right, nearly 105 grand in cash.

Most importantly, guys, when we get to the address,

we have to check every room inside this premises, all right?

Sgt Steve Stamp and his team intend to get the bag back.

Hit the lights. Let's go slow.

I think it's right there. Stop.

The Oxford Street team are in luck - the suspect is home.

Open the door.

-Open the door now.

-Five seconds, it's going in.

One...

Two...

Three...

Four...

-Police!

-All right!

-What are you putting down behind your back?

What are you putting down behind your back? There you go, look.

Look at that, right there.

Look at that - there's a load of cash, right there.

-All right.

-Listen to what my colleague has to say.

You're under arrest on suspicion of theft for a bag

and a large quantity of cash.

It looks like the Super Recognisers got it spot on.

The woman's hiding a bag with a massive stack of cash.

It looks like tens of thousands of pounds.

-Can you account for this? Is this your money?

-No.

-Whose is it?

-It doesn't belong to me.

-Where is the bag that this money was in?

-It's just there.

Game, set and matching handbag to the Oxford Street team.

They've recovered the cash and the goods.

-Have you spent any of the cash today on drugs or anything?

-No.

-All the cash is there?

-Yes.

-Have you counted it?

-No.

-Do you know how much is there?

-No. Haven't got a clue.

-£105,000.

-Right.

Today was your payday.

The shopper was walking round with huge amounts of cash.

As well as thousands in £20 notes,

the shopper also had these - bundles of 500 euro notes.

Is there more there?

The thief must have thought she was dreaming

when she looked at what she'd grabbed.

-This is a Hermes bag. I'm guessing it's alligator skin.

-I don't know.

Actually, it doesn't match you. It just doesn't match you.

The clothing that she wore today are right here.

Her little hat that she wore. This.

But there's also vital evidence to be seized,

including other items known to have been in the bag when it was taken.

OK, very expensive rings.

Three very expensive rings here.

Can we find out what, actually, the victim had in her bag, please?

I just want to confirm.

One orange Hermes purse. Where's the purse, sweetheart?

Where's the orange purse?

There's no sign of the missing orange purse yet

and, with £100,000 seized, the thief is starting to get tetchy.

I'm just waiting here. This is a very small space.

-That officer. That officer has been told to not let you go.

-Why?

She's in control of you, all right, darling?

Please don't have a go at her.

Right, systematically, guys.

The search for the orange purse continues.

Oh, well, lookie, lookie, lookie, sweetheart.

Lookie, lookie, lookie.

Look what the cat's dragged in. Right.

The missing orange purse was nestling under the mattress all along.

Off-camera, the thief had told the team she dumped the purse,

but she's actually already stuck her own cards and cash inside it.

-This is when I ask the question, darling, yes?

-Yeah.

And you tell me you binned it, so you lied to me.

-Yeah, I did lie to you.

-OK.

The purse will be returned to its owner

and although the thief is not happy...

Something in the flat has amused the Oxford Street team.

It's a leaflet that police officers usually hand out -

"Don't let a pickpocket spoil your day." That's karma.

Foiling this robbery is a great result for the Oxford Street team,

but the thief thinks it's a lot of fuss over nothing.

Oh, so what? She's got it back, hasn't she?

Don't give it all this.

Right, if you want to take her downstairs for us.

The team, the evidence and their suspect head back to the station.

The thief later pleaded guilty

and was sentenced to 30 months in prison.

The tourist was later reunited with her belongings.

All in all, for Sgt Steve Stamp, the Super Recognisers

and the rest of his team, it's been quite a night.

At Oxford Circus Tube station, the weekend's just begun, and

drinkers and revellers from up on the surface

are filtering down below.

Some heading home, some seeking new destinations to continue the party.

Oxford Circus, bro.

Helping people find their way is Gerry Haynes.

He's better known to colleagues as The Colonel.

-How can I get to Caledonian Road?

-Platform number six.

Go to King's Cross, change at King's Cross, get the Piccadilly line.

Platform number six.

Yeah. We get all sorts coming through here.

-Ooh! Thank you!

-Thanks for your help, babes!

-You're welcome.

And amongst the passengers are officers from the British Transport Police.

They've been called in by staff who say a drunken couple have

-been abusive to them and are causing a nuisance.

-Just down there.

It's on the left where the windows are, yeah?

Officers confront the couple who have clearly had a few.

Lie in the fresh air, anyway, and just try and stand here for a bit.

Try and sober yourself up a little bit.

Now British Transport Police are on the scene, everyone has calmed down.

The woman is the worse for wear,

but her more sober husband is promising he'll take care of her.

The officers want to see the woman onto a train home,

and with one injury already on the escalator tonight,

police want her husband to do the hard work.

Oxford Circus has brought out her romantic side.

It's gone midnight and the last trains are nearly due,

but some passengers are still making merry.

# ..So watch your back! #

-Yeah!

-I'm really quite embarrassed.

With the time approaching half past midnight,

staff are keen to get everyone off the platforms and home.

Last eastbound Central line, last westbound, Ealing Broadway.

Step it up, people, step it up. Last eastbound, last eastbound.

Last eastbound, last eastbound.

And with this lot on the train,

Ian hopes that's all passengers clear of Oxford Circus.

But...

Sir? Sorry, the last train has gone.

There's no more trains, where are you going to?

No more trains?

No, where were you going to?

Close the gate, close the gates.

'All trains have now departed. Any passengers left on the platform...'

My colleague's just telling everyone that it's good night, from him,

and good night from me. Ciao.

'Oxford Circus station is now closing.'

London is the most popular destination in the world for tourists.

Nearly 20 million people take in its sights and sounds every year,

and the vast majority of them

take the time to visit the city's premier shopping destination.

But competition for foreign shoppers' money is fierce.

Helping to keep the street on top is the job of these people,

the Oxford Street ambassadors.

Funded by the street's Retail Association,

the New West End Company,

the team's main role is to help visitors find their destinations.

-It's, like, 10 minutes straight in that direction.

-The 15-strong team

is made up of an assortment of nationalities

who, between them, speak 23 different languages.

They're up for any question.

Where is the toilet?

Victoria's Secret, it's at New Bond Street.

For ambassador Fleur, it's a learning process.

It's only her third day on the job

and today she's shadowing colleague Flavio.

Round the corner...

It's quite challenging, I must say,

because you need to know everything people ask you.

Luckily, Flavio is at hand.

Pittman Institute?

Pittman Institute...

Flavio, do you know this?

For ambassador Lisa,

her morning is about to go beyond answering questions.

One of the ambassador's roles is to watch out for anything which might

affect the shopping experience, and Lisa's run into just that.

A protester has chosen Oxford Street as a venue

to make his feelings on consumerism clear.

The man, Danny Shine, and his megaphone, are

regular features of the street. With a crowd building up around him,

Lisa is worried about the ease of movement for people in this busy area.

Just to make you aware that the regular IC1 male, who is talking

through a megaphone, is outside McDonald's next to Harwood Place.

It's a tricky situation for Lisa. Her powers are limited.

People have the right to protest as long as they're not causing a disruption.

What we can do if he is too noisy, we can phone the Westminster Noise Team and ask him to move on.

As long as he's not swearing or being abusive towards someone,

there's not a lot of things that we can actually do.

So, just freedom of speech at the moment.

The impromptu protest is visibly irritating the restaurant management.

It's not just the staff that are showing concern.

To Lisa's relief, the protester eventually decides to move on

and the crowd gradually begins to disperse.

For Lisa, it's been a tricky situation,

but she wouldn't have it any other way.

Helping people in general is what I want to do in life and,

I mean, what a better job than doing this, just to help people every day.

It's your fifth on the right, you're welcome.

And with their final enquiry answered,

Flavio and Fleur call time too.

I learned a lot, really a lot.

I wonder what tomorrow will bring me.

-Thank you very much, it's been a pleasure to work with you.

-The ambassadors can sign off,

but there's no doubt what tomorrow will bring -

thousands more visitors in need of their help.

Down an unassuming alleyway just off Oxford Street lies

St Christopher's Place.

It's a historic little square filled with bars,

shops and restaurants, providing a welcome

respite for the millions of shoppers pounding the pavements next door.

And today, it's playing host to Leigh.

She doesn't know it yet, but she's but she's about to have

the most memorable moment of her life,

because, little does she know,

her boyfriend, Paul, has chosen it as the perfect place to propose.

Leigh and I have been together for a year and a half.

She is from Australia, moved over here, and I want to show her

that I am equally as committed and ask for her hand in marriage.

But teacher Paul's proposal is going to be a little more than just

a ring in a box.

It started off I was going to just do a nice, gentle proposal, but

with the input of a friend, we've now got and an a cappella, all-male choir.

Then it was me joining in,

then we've managed to talk some musicians into coming along

and, just a few days ago,

we've somehow managed to get some choreographed dancers to

come in as well, so, it's going to be this huge, theatrical event.

I'm 99.9 percent sure she will say yes,

but there is that horrible fear and doubt

that she will say no.

Paul's best friend, Jamie, is in charge of staging

and secretly filming the event.

We've got two cameras set up over there, we've got two over here...

His biggest challenge is keeping the whole thing under wraps.

I don't think she's that observant,

so, the hope is that should be completely oblivious to the

four large cameras that are pointing at her.

With only an hour to go, Jamie rounds up the singers, dancers and musicians.

Get in, get in, get in.

Jamie shepherds them upstairs for final prep.

There are 27 people in total and they've all got to know their cues.

We've got 10 minutes, is that when we're on?

It's called All Of Me and I believe it's by John Legend.

And then if everything goes well, we'll sing Happy,

Pharrell Williams' Happy.

-Yeah, if it goes well.

-If she says yes.

-If not, we'll just going to have to make something up.

-Yeah.

With everybody in place, Jamie gets ready for action.

Paul, can you see them? They've just arrived.

While Leigh is occupied with the menu, Paul makes his excuses

and leaves,

and then, things get going.

Violins are go, violins are go.

First into action are the musicians.

Quickly followed by the a cappella group.

# What would I do without your smart mouth...?

She hasn't clocked yet.

# I'll be all right...

# My head's under water

# But I'm breathing fine... #

Paul waits nervously behind the scenes.

# You're crazy and I'm out of my mind... #

She's getting suspicious.

With Leigh beginning to twig something's up,

it's time for Paul to make his entrance.

She's got it.

# Love your curves and all your edges

# All your perfect imperfections

# Give your all to me

# I'll give my all to you

# You're my end and my beginning

# Even when I lose I'm winning

# I give you all of me

# And you give me all of you... #

-Will you marry me, baby?

-Yes.

THE CROWD CHEERS

Whoo!

# Because I'm happy

# Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof

# Because I'm happy

# Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth

# Because I'm happy

# Clap along if you know what... #

With relief all round, the singers, dancers, filmers and happy couple,

can all have a celebratory drink.

THE CROWD CHEERS

She said yes. It was good fun.

She said yes!

It was perfect, total surprise, I had no idea.

I'm still a bit shaky, a bit nervous and,

it's just a bit overwhelming, really. But I'm... Yeah, it was really beautiful.

Over the moon. Over the moon.

And when they get round to it,

they certainly know a good street to go shopping on for a wedding dress.