£1 Crime Spree Pound Shop Wars

The question I get asked mostly in here is, "How much is this?"

How much is this?

HE LAUGHS

That is the truth! How much are shammies?

HE LAUGHS

They're shops with a magical formula.

It must cost more to make them. How they do it, I'll never know.

Everything costs a pound!

A pound?!

Bargain in itself!

And some people have fallen under their spell.

Football! This is the most expensive shop in the centre.

You buy one thing and you find another, then you find another.

It's just so cheap. I like a bargain.

SHE LAUGHS

There is now a pound shop in almost every town and city.

Bloody brilliant! I love pound shops!

But for Chris Edwards, owner of the Poundworld empire,

it's war.

It's an insult to everything we try and stand for. It's ridiculous.

It's a cut-price, cut-throat

battle for survival against giant pound-shop chains.

And now the supermarkets.

Our "breast" sellers and we haven't got it in again.

Somebody has made a boob somewhere.

And as customers get more savvy...

Sometimes they are smaller sizes to cater for the pound customer.

..it's a fight to find new tricks to keep the magic alive.

We've saved a fraction by not including any underwear.

She doesn't mind. She's got a smile on her face! This week...

The one in the red. Go and get her. It's a ?1 crime spree.

We have more stealing than we have profit in the company.

Chris is losing millions to shoplifters.

I think they should chop their fingers off.

And his rivals are even using his name. Oh, my God!

If we want to say in business, that can't carry on.

?1 a bowl. ?1 a bowl. Every bowl is ?1.

It's champagne and lemonade prices.

Chris Edwards, the owner of Poundworld,

started his career like this.

These are nice. These are nice.

Selling bargains on a market stall.

Do you want anything else, darling? It's just ?1.

Now he is flying high with over 200 stores.

Do you like strawberries, raspberries? Look at these.

Ra, ra, ra!

When I look at it, I'm amazed at how far we've come in such a short time.

I keep thinking back to the market stall and I think,

"How the hell have we get here?"

I can't even remember planning it or organising for it.

It seems to have just happened.

How we've managed to employ 4,500 people or more, amazes me.

For Chris, business is a family affair. Hi. Everything all right?

He built this empire with his brother.

But there is one person who is really in charge. This is my mum.

Are you all right this morning? Yes, I'm fine, thank you.

Alice may be 86, but she clocks in every day to look after her son.

Do you want anything? I'll have a slice of toast, if it's available.

I've no toast today. I'll have a coffee. I've overspent this week.

I'll have to wait until next week for another loaf of bread.

Being a family firm, it is

very important, because it's all I've ever been used it.

I treat here like my own home. It's that personal to you.

I would like to think that the whole staff

thought as much about the business as we do.

And I know just how he likes his coffee. Milky.

It's a family business and we look after each other.

Over in North Wales,

one of Chris's managers has created her very own pound family.

I'm Sally. This is Poundworld in Colwyn Bay. I'm the store manager.

This is Mark. He started as a Christmas temp. I did, yes.

Can't get enough of the place. Definitely not.

He comes in and works for free sometimes, don't you?

Many earn just over the minimum wage

but Sally manages to keep them happy.

The staff are nice and friendly and always there for each other.

It's a bit of a laugh.

That one? You know you want it! You're tempting me.

That lady comes in. She roots Wayne out

and he helps her do her shopping. He's very good.

He helps me a lot. Don't you, my sweetie pie? I do. I do.

This is Steven, the assistant manager.

It should say assistant fool, really.

Because we have such a laugh,

the customers enjoy coming into the shop.

They know they can have a laugh and a joke and join in.

It's like one big happy family, but without the arguments.

But the happy family is under attack by shoplifters after their

?1 bargains.

Sweets is a big area that gets hit.

Sunglasses is the same. As you see, it's quite empty.

Somebody's been trying to open that. It's an iPhone 5 case.

There's one there gone. The bras, for instance.

About 20%-25% of this product was stolen in three days.

It gives us a rough idea of what is going on in the shop.

It's very frustrating.

The only thing stopping them is a cardboard copper.

I think we're being robbed blind, to be honest.

It's just ridiculous the amount that is going through the doors.

It threatens all of us. It threatens all our jobs.

Everybody's hours, it threatens your wages.

It's unfair.

If something isn't done, jobs will go.

Sally's isn't the only store getting fleeced.

Look at this situation here, look. Crikey!

Chris is showing Alice CCTV of shoplifting incidents. Look.

He's opening the bag. She's stuffing things in as quick as she can.

She's nearly cleared a shelf. They've got away with murder there.

I'd love to have caught them myself.

I would've picked the biggest thing up

I could and hit her on the head with it.

Alice has a little bit of an issue with shoplifters.

Can't get it in the bag quick enough.

She doesn't know there's a member of staff behind him.

Nothing... I wish I could meet them.

Just put me in a room with them. Leave them with me.

I'd be up for murder!

"Did you pinch..." Yes. Are you finished? Yes.

I've forgotten what I was going to say. You may as well carry on.

It makes me mad.

I know. They should put "thief" across the front of their head.

Yeah. Chop their fingers off or something.

Are you going to talk next? No, you talk. I'm not saying another word.

I'm too upset to talk. Right. You could have fooled me!

The thieving is costing Chris up to ?5 million a year.

?5 million! That's more than we earn!

We have more stealing than what we have profit in the company.

And to make things worse, some police forces aren't interested.

They don't want to come and apprehend...

Sometimes they say, "It's only ?1." But it's not.

If we want to stay in business, that can't carry on.

All this pilfering couldn't have come at a worse time.

You've only got to look down the street how many to let signs

and for sale signs.

There must be 20 shops closed, which just tells you the way it is.

Over 18 shops a day went bust last year.

Now even some pound shops are struggling.

When stores like Poundstretcher start closing,

it tells you how tough the business is getting.

But Chris sees opportunities. This is the M that we're looking at.

He's scouting clothes stores for sites to open new shops.

If somebody said to me a few years ago we would be jumping in

Marks Spencer's shoes, I wouldn't have believed them.

Here we go. Let's have a look.

Opportunities are what they are and you've got to take them as they come.

I don't think we've got an option. We've got to go for it.

This store is planned as a strike on his archrivals down the street.

You can see the Poundland down there. That's a big shop.

US-owned Poundland is Britain's biggest pound-shop chain.

They've got 500 stores, almost 300 more than Chris.

Right.

About 5,000-6,000 square feet. How big is the one we're looking at?

About 9,000. So we can give as good as we get there.

Poundland is probably our biggest obstacle. They're good.

We think we're better, but they've got a lot of buying power.

That is why we've got to keep opening the stores to keep

creating our buying power.

Chris wants to open 50 new shops this year to stay in the game.

If we just stood still now, we'd get engulfed.

And he's spent millions on a new hi-tech warehouse to supply them.

It ships 200 million items a year to shops from Glasgow to London.

HORNS BEEP

These busy bees are called the pickers, supervised,

quite appropriately, by Buzz.

The pickers are these people that are flying around

this building on what we call man riders.

They are basically picking what the shops have ordered.

That's why they are called pickers.

There's one whizzing past now. Off he goes.

HORN BEEPS

Because he's seen us, he used his horn, because he is supposed to.

If we had not been there, he probably wouldn't have.

HORNS BEEP

Pickers have to pick up to 2,000 items a day to keep up with

store demand.

Say again? To help them go faster,

they are connected to a voice-activated computer.

Ready.

It tells them where to go and what to pick up.

710.

One ready.

The faster they pick, the more they earn

so they do what they can to save time.

Two ready.

If you listen to it, the computer, they talk so fast.

I have no idea what it's saying. No idea at all.

INDISTINCT COMPUTER COMMAND Ready.

INDISTINCT COMPUTER COMMAND Ready.

But you can tell when the computer is going wrong.

Oh... BLEEP.

I'm like, "It doesn't understand that!"

Talking to a computer all day turns them a little dotty.

I have actually heard that they just randomly blurt words out. Ready.

What did I say that for? I don't get it.

It's just words you say constantly.

Because you are repeating them, over and over.

Four ready. Two ready. Say it again.

It's not right, is it? No, it isn't right. But that's what happens.

Ready. Say it again.

INDISTINCT COMPUTER COMMAND

One ready. Ready.

Ready. Ready. It's like Tourette's, isn't it?

It's all I can think of. You do not know you're saying it.

Say it again. Ready.

She does! It'll be on my tombstone. "Ready. Say it again."

Ready.

Over in Colwyn Bay,

Chris has decided to crack down on the shoplifters

eating away at his profits.

My security guard starts today. Just waiting for him to arrive now.

It's zero tolerance on shoplifting.

He is replacing his cardboard coppers with some real-life muscle.

SPAGHETTI WESTERN-STYLE MUSIC PLAYS

I suppose I'm expecting him to be quite tall, erm...

I don't know. Athletic?!

SPAGHETTI WESTERN-STYLE MUSIC PLAYS

So he's here.

Hi. Good morning. It's Warren. I'm from Sure Tec.

Warren has been an undercover store detective for eight years.

He is keen to crack on.

I just want to catch my first one. Get that out the way.

Then I can take a chill pill and get a few more throughout the day.

Chris's Liverpool store has also got a problem with shoplifters.

Staff say it's one of the worst-hit in the country.

A lot of stuff got stolen yesterday. This morning we've had stuff stolen.

Every single day.

It is a complete nightmare, to be honest with you.

The thieves here have to get jiggy with the store's

very own Will Smith.

There's a seat. Sit down. It's only a ?1 item. Pay the ?1.

If I catch you stealing, I'll lock you up.

He's regularly confronted with some of Liverpool's

finest criminal minds.

Come here, mate. Shop security. Come with me, please.

Do us a favour. Security. Can you come back in the shop, please?

Come on.

Look, I'm security. Come on. I'm not going with a stranger.

A female member of staff, please?

We'll sort it out in the back.

He needs eyes in the back of his head to catch this lot.

She's just dumped... She's given the bag to the one in the red.

Go and get her. The one in the red. Go and get her.

Bring her in.

How many did you take?

You took one? You took one?

How much stuff have they taken? A lot. For three young kids, a lot.

About ?20-worth of stuff.

These rascals have stocked up on some essentials -

fake eyelashes, cans of pop and Nutella.

I'm going to get your mums' and daddies' phone numbers.

Well, we have to call the police.

THEY CRY

Don't cry. What are you crying for? Don't call the police! Please!

If I get your mums' and dads' phone number, there'll be no police.

How about that?

You don't know them at all?

OK. Don't cry.

THEY CRY

See you after. You'll be all right.

These gentleman will look after you.

It's time for a telling-off by the coppers and their very angry mums.

Londonderry in Northern Ireland is the latest

battlefront in the pound-shop wars.

Recruitment manager Frances Dove is here to prepare for

a new shop opening.

Oh, this is it?

This is massive. Is it about 5,000 square feet?

I think it's a good location for us. I think it was worth waiting for.

Poundland already has two stores here.

Poundworld wants a piece of the action. But there's a problem.

This one on the right-hand side. Oh, my God!

Where did this come from?

This isn't one of Chris's shops, but it's got the same name

and some of the styling is familiar too. Have you seen the uniform?

And Star Buys! Oh, my God! It's unbelievable.

Oh, well.

They might be looking for a job soon. Chris must be told.

Hi, Chris. Hi. How are you? How you doing?

It turns out Chris knows about the other Poundworld

and he's contacted the owner. Mark, have you got a minute? Yeah.

If you can fill us in. Can you tell us exactly what he said?

Yeah, of course.

He said he's been using that name for years and years and years

and that in no way has he copied us.

Let's make sure that we put the pressure on him.

"You've got to get it shifted by this date

"because that's when we're opening."

But the owner says it's simply coincidence

so they decide not to change the name.

As Warren hunts for shoplifters in Colwyn Bay,

Sally and Steve are dealing with a special delivery.

Apparently, somebody came in and dropped me off a pie.

Oh! Yes, it's in the warehouse.

This lady brings in food for her favourite staff.

Why did you bring them pies? Because I feel sorry for them!

They can't get out!

The team is often so busy, they can't go out to buy lunch.

She got me a meat and potato and Wayne's got a steak one.

I'll swap that.

I'll tell Wayne you're after his steak pie

and he can come and eat it before you get your hands on it.

I'll go and nick his pie now.

Where's she gone?

You're not going to lick his pie, surely?! My pie.

Steve would eat pies all day, if he could. Pies are good for you.

Steve needs all the pies he can eat to keep up with

some of the store's livelier customers.

Kids. Bane of my life. The place just gets trashed.

It's the school holidays and in pound shops across the country,

kids are out in force.

Rah!

You want this one? No.

They come in and throw everything back down again.

She's filling the basket up.

Just got to go around and keep redoing everything.

Do you want this one? No. A car? No.

Sometimes you can hear them when they don't get their own way.

SHE SHOUTS

There you are. George? No. Look at that.

They've pulled the lenses out of that. How much is this?

Everything's ?1. And not a terribly good quality.

But you only pay ?1, so you can't expect a lot.

This? No. These? No. This one? No. This one? No.

No. Power Rangers? No.

You spend ages on toys. You can feel like it's never-ending.

Oh. Where? Where? This one? Yes. Are you sure? Yes.

Football! Football!

Trashed again. It's all been trashed.

Kids' toys are very important to us

because we sell thousands and thousands.

In fact, there are over 100,000 toys packed away in Chris's warehouse.

?1 is pocket money.

If we haven't attracted the mum and dad in by what we offer for them,

kids are pretty strong to drag them in on our behalf.

The new delivery has come all the way from China.

Chris and buyer Daniel are taking a look.

That is phenomenal, really. Looking attractive, looking colourful.

It's passing the safety test. And we sell thousands.

They order in bulk to keep prices down, and that's only the start.

Every single part this doll has a cost - cost of the wool

for the hair, cost of the beads for the eyes.

We decide the quality of the clothing that goes on, what their hair...

how many strands, down to that detail.

But the kids' party is under threat.

Anything that is made with plastic is oil-based.

We all know the price of oil is constantly going up.

So to keep selling toys for ?1, they are making them a bit smaller.

We're not saying any shorter, but they might get a touch thinner!

And that's not their only trick.

We've saved a fraction here by not including any underwear.

She doesn't mind. She's got a smile on her face!

Back at the office, there is a crisis brewing.

It's not business, it's just purely to put a spanner in the works.

It has caused unrest in a lot of shops.

Finding and keeping good staff is tough.

Now a big discount chain is trying to poach

some of Chris's best people.

All together, there has been nine incidents so far.

Have we lost any? I've lost two.

If you imagine the devastation it would cause

if we lost nine managers.

They are trying to unsettle us. Three of our managers have been offered the same shop.

They are playing games.

We should try and stamp it out now before it gets any worse.

The poacher has even been fishing in Colwyn Bay.

What's up? Got something to tell you. Go on.

I've been offered another job.

You're having a laugh! No, I'm not. Yeah, you are. No, I'm not.

Flagship store. 20% pay rise. Can't afford to say no, can I?

I'm going for an interview on Thursday.

Ah!

You're just mean. I know. Not too happy about it, but...

I can't force her not to do it. Everybody would miss her.

You'd be all right.

I feel really torn.

It's more money and it's a challenge

because it's a shop from the very beginning.

But I absolutely love the team here. They're all brilliant.

I'm following a gentleman which I believe has put his items in a bag.

For one member of the team, things are looking up.

Warren is stalking a suspicious-looking pensioner.

Can't see nothing at the moment.

He's got to be 100% certain before he can pounce.

A sneaky peek inside the suspect's bag confirms it.

Control. I'm just doing a stop outside my store. Excuse me, sir.

Excuse me, sir. Store security from Poundworld.

I wonder if you'd mind coming back into the store with me so I can have a word with you.

We've seen you with a pink Vanish in your hand, which I saw you put in there.

You haven't paid for that, so I'd like you to come in with me. Yes, I'll come and pay.

It's a bit too late for that now. A bit too late for that.

If you'd like to come with me. It's a big bust.

He's nicked a tub of Vanish and a bag of toffees.

This is what you took. I know you didn't pay for it.

That is why they are left there. He got one. Good.

He went in his bag to put his other items in the bag and could see they were there.

He could have said, "I have forgotten."

All he took, a pack of special toffees. ?1. A pack of Vanish.

He's now vanished to the local police station.

Listen. Beware. Don't do it. It's where you go.

Poundland saved two quid today, so...

I'm starting.

Poundworld, not Poundland. Poundworld. Nice one. One down. Many to go.

See you.

In Liverpool, Will Smith is close to bagging his 100th shoplifter.

She had ?60-odd-worth of Dairy Crunch.

She was charged and taken to court.

Across the country,

the new crackdown on shoplifters appears to be working.

This male stole a roll-on deodorant. That's my mum.

This is our Gaviscon thief.

Over 300 people have been arrested and thefts are down.

Two boxes of creme eggs. Theft of a tin of mackerel.

Oh. I think it's dinnertime for me.

I'll see what my beloved has made me. Smells lovely.

While I'm having my lunch, I'll be watching would-be criminals.

Are you coming to the new Poundworld? Did you hear it was opening?

Would you like a balloon? ALL: Yes! Can I have a blue one? I'll give one blue.

The new store is opening in Derry.

There you go.

Customers can't help comparing it to other pound shops.

Well...

Very similar in price.!

This one here looks... What's that big word?

Fantastic. Fantastic, aye.

Chris has flown in to see his newest store.

But first he checks if the rival Poundworld has changed its name.

Right, we're here.

We've gone from Poundworld to Poundgiant. That is original. It's good.

Have your own identity, we'll have ours and we're all happy.

With one big problem overcome, Chris can do what he loves best - open a new shop.

Let's see what we've got. I just noticed, as usual, we've got some lights out.

I notice these things. It gets to me.

There we are. Let there be light. Let there be light!

This is his 183rd store.

How are you finding the new shop? Good. Very good, in fact. Looks great. Are you impressed? Yes.

Are you impressed by me? Of course! Deirdre!

Only another 290 needed to catch up with Poundland.

That's what I like to see, a full basket.

But there's another battle that Chris has already won.

Two weeks after a rival tried to poach her, Sally has decided to stay.

Very proud of this shop. It is a really nice shop to be. The people are nice.

It's just great.

The package being offered wasn't good enough to tempt her away.

If somebody was to leave, I think all of us

would feel it really, really deeply.

There'd be a link missing from the chain that runs it.

It's...

I've never felt like that about where I've worked before.

Being silly now. That's good news for Steve. Life returns to normal.

Two steak pies, please. It's lunchtime. Two baps as well, please.

Today, Steve and his mate Mally are treating themselves to

a gastronomic delight known only to select few.

Pie bap. Minced beef and onion pie in a bap.

Good.

Ah! Oh!

Can't take you nowhere. No.

Oh, dropping my innards now. Gutted.

Top notch, mate. Always hits the spot.

Really nice.

Next time... They are monsters. The supermarkets are coming after Chris.

They are chasing everybody's business.

They just don't know when to give up.

A battle in Middle England gets ugly.

It's unfortunate that a pound shop has come to Harrogate.

And Chris comes unstuck.

It's a hell of a store.

We've only got four tills.

Hopefully, people don't get the wrong impression.

Hello.

Hello. The

Hello. The 92nd

Hello. The 92nd update.