You Can't Get the Staff Scrappers

I'm Terry Walker and this is my scrapyard.

All right, our Dean? You all right, pal? All right, boss.

I buy cars. I strip 'em, squash 'em and flog the lot.

It's all coming together nicely.

I've never seen a place like this.

Don't strain yourselves, will you?

We'll try not to, boss!

It's been the love of my life.

Other than our Lyndsay, the wife.

Well, who's paying this? Is it more than a grand? Yeah.

You're paying it. No, I'm not. You're paying it!

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

Nobody can do the deals like Terry. Nobody. He is a one-off.

One day, we plan to hand this all over to our kids.

I am here solely for my family.

He loves his job. You look good in that, don't you, our Jon?

Won't find them in the corner shop. SHE LAUGHS

But first, we've got to get it running right.

Stop messing about! That's exactly how it shouldn't be!

And that's the hard bit.

I want the yard to be run properly.

Oi, Frank!

Well, it's not even safe to work. He's under this bonnet of this car for nothing.

Can you get a high-vis vest on?

You? That's not high-vis.

Worst-case scenario, they'll close us down.

In the middle of all this chaos...

..we've got to somehow try to earn a few quid as well.

I'm stuck!

But if we stick together, do the job right...

..and keep the cars rolling in,

we'll be one big, happy family.

At their Bolton home, scrapyard owners

Terry and Lyndsay aren't talking.

To be honest, at the moment, I'm happy for the peace and quiet.

You know, I'm not getting her chewing my ear off

every five minutes about bullshit.

I can't live like this,

I can't put up with this silent business every day.

It's like you're treading on eggshells, walking from room to room,

it's absolutely ridiculous.

They've fallen out after Terry very publicly sacked their son, Jon.

And now Lyndsay hasn't been in to the yard for three days.

We've had an argument. I've not had an affair,

we've had an argument. You know, it's as simple as that,

it's not like the end of the world.

But with two staff down,

Terry's big plan to modernise the yard is in jeopardy.

He cannot run that business without all of us.

I feel like I don't want to go there.

I've no idea what's going to happen next, I really don't.

Terry and Lyndsay have spent the last 30 years building

up their scrapyard business together.

Today, the yard is a refuge for Terry from his problems at home.

Morning, our Lee! Morning T, how're you doing, pal? Morning, Terry.

He's throwing himself into work

and concentrating on what he does best, making money.

What's on my mind now, is we're not getting the full potential

out of cars and what I want to do is get thousands

out of the cars that we bring in, rather than hundreds.

For instance, callipers. We don't take off every calliper

and every calliper's worth more than scrap value.

Some of them are worth 20 quid each.

There's about 25 quid to 30 quid on each car,

so if the lads get in the mind-set,

you times 20 cars a day, it's 600 quid, innit?

So it pays the lads' wages.

It's all part of Terry's efficiency drive

and he wants to make sure the lads are on board.

What I want to try and do is drill into the car a bit more,

you know like how you get the copper out of it? And I want to try and get the callipers off...

Obviously we take the caps off. If you whip it off and throw it in the tub, well,

for every item that's in there, I don't mind giving a quid.

I'll just have 100 quid in my hand and I'll go, "Here y'are, there's 100 quid."

How you split it up between yourselves is up to you.

Where there's 100 items, it'll be 100 quid.

So are you up for it? Yeah. Up for anything, us. You know that. Good.

Terry's big push for profits is taking his mind off his other troubles,

but the bust-up is still the talk of the yard.

Families, innit? Families do fall out.

We don't. We don't.

Jon's Lyndsay's little boy. Oh, of course, yeah.

So, it's only natural you're going to stick up for your son, isn't it? Oh, of course, yeah.

The main thing is to get through it

and just makes it even stronger... Ready for the next one.

I were gonna say, what, for next time?

Give it a month, they'll be off again.

THEY LAUGH

Here he is with his bin bag!

We've all been there!

Chris, Chris! I've got an idea.

It's not just extra car parts that could make more money.

Come here.

In depollution, they're throwing away materials that could also be valuable.

You might wonder why I've put your bowser there.

Well, no, not really, I just thought that's more work for us.

I've put you that there, I want you to fill it.

What do you want us to fill it with? Wheel nuts. Wheel nuts?

And I'm going to give you 50 quid each. You're gonna give us what?

50 quid each. Oh, my God... THEY LAUGH

The wheel nuts are made from high-grade metal,

so if the spanner lads can separate them from the general scrap,

Terry can sell each container for ?300.

That's one!

Here y'are...

Spanner lads Coxy and Dave are quick to take advantage of Terry's new incentive scheme.

If we take, 30, 40 off, might have enough for dinner.

Won't sort a night out, will it?

Making me look like a fool, this calliper.

There's two quid.

There's another quid.

Terry's got the lads onside, but Lyndsay's another matter.

I hope he's struggling now, without Jon in.

Maybe he'll think twice about shouting at him next time.

Things have changed today. As you can see, Terry is not making my breakfast.

But we're not bothered. We can cope with making breakfast,

it's not an issue.

I'm used to doing everything else, it doesn't matter.

It is ironic, because he says he does all this for his family...

All he's interested in is that yard. He's not bothered about how we feel.

And the cracks are starting to show.

The lads are struggling to keep up with Terry's new demands to salvage every part.

Have you been taking callipers off? Yeah. Yeah?

I need them all though. All the back ones.

Frankie said, after this, I'm getting on it, so every calliper I see, I need to get off it.

Like these here. See them, they want coming off.

Callipers.

In the depollution bay, the message hasn't quite got through either.

Chris knows, and so does Mo. They know exactly what I expect.

They think, "Oh, I'll just leave them shockers on this time."

Y'know, when they should come off?

And, "Oh, I'll not bother. I'll just leave the doors on this one,

"I've took the last set off, so I'll leave them on."

We need to take every set off.

These shelves should be full of parts.

Tell me I'm wrong. If I'm wrong, Chris, tell me!

Sometimes, we can get a bit complacent

and we need Terry to give us a kick up the arse, get us going again.

I certainly get me adrenaline going when Terry's shouting!

It seems that wherever Terry looks, there's a problem.

The money's here in the rack and the callipers!

They've put it back there again.

All they want to do is scrap, scrap, scrap.

There's enough staff round here to take every single calliper

off and more besides and they're all just wandering around doing nothing.

After a positive start, the stress is starting to show.

And Terry knows why.

I'm here early, going home late, just to keep my mind occupied.

This argument has gone a little bit too far.

My way of dealing with it is to come to work, out the way.

But it just doesn't seem to be working out, right now, so...

I don't know, really. It's just one of them things.

I wish Jon was here and we're all missing Jon down here,

none of the lads want to see me falling out.

I'll just send our Jon a text.

See if he answers this one. He didn't answer me last night,

so I don't know why he should answer me today, but I'll try him again.

TEXT ALERT Sit down.

Did your dad text you? Yeah.

And he said, "Have you found a new job?"

Have you found a new job? Yeah.

I'll say no, not yet.

No. Just say, "No, but I'm going looking now."

I don't want it to be a battle between whose side I'm on here, you know?

He'll appreciate you more. You've got to let him down!

He's took the piss out of you for three days.

HE MUMBLES

You've got to be harder than what you are.

I'll just text back, "No, pal, not yet." Keep it sweet.

Yeah, that's it, short and sweet. Best way.

In the yard, there's a surprise visitor.

Son Jon has come in for the first time since Terry sacked him

for dropping a car from the stacker.

The thing that upset me the most, is the fact that the company

has just got you through your test and it's all about safety.

And the fact is, on that day, you weren't acting safe.

Obviously, I lost my rag and you went, "Ah, sack me!

"I won't work here!" Like, as simple as that.

Did I say that?

Yeah, yeah. "I won't work here, then!" That's why I lost it.

It's just a stupid thing over a car and it's just gone too far,

everything's just got blown out of proportion.

The fact your mum's got involved, it's gone on and on

and on, it's magnified into something else.

Anyway, are we all right now then?

We're all right, mate. You know that, you know that.

Come here, mate, give us a kiss.

Jon's like me, you know? You sleep on it and it's over with. Couple of days, whatever,

and it's over with, but Lyndsay?

Different kettle of fish, that one.

DOG BARKS Hello! Lyndsay! Hiya.

Good morning, love. These are for you, sweetheart.

Thank you. OK, love. OK.

All right. Cheers, love!

Yeah, Terry.

It's not going to make things right, just by sending these,

there's no way.

You know, he's got to learn that he can't keep being and doing what he's doing.

"Thanks for the flowers, they are lovely, like me."

So we'll leave it at that till we have a chat later.

Shall we go to the restaurant?

What? Shall we go to the restaurant? Now? Yeah. No, no.

SHE SIGHS

Talking in no restaurant, where everyone else can hear what I'm saying.

Right, end of it all, you've shouted a bit and I've shouted a bit,

but me and our Jon's made up, but what is it you want me to do?

I'm just not putting up with it.

I'm not living in this house putting up with all this stress.

I'm not doing it.

What, you mean the stress between me and Jon? Yeah.

We fell out and it was our argument, weren't it?

Yeah, but it's HOW you do it. It's not normal behaviour.

To shout over a tannoy in front of all the customers,

all the staff, how will he ever be boss

of that place when you speak to him like that?

Quite easily, quite easily. No.

I didn't just lose my temper straight away.

He loves you more than anything in this world.

I love him more than anything in this world. And you.

But you can talk to him worse than you talk to other people.

This what he doesn't like. He can't handle it.

You know, you need to change ways completely.

Feel like I'm back at school.

Teacher giving me a lecture.

I'm not against you... Yeah. Funny way of showing it.

I'm not!

Can I have a hug? Later.

Come on, give us a hug. No, I'm not up for it just right at this moment. Please, please.

Come on, love, give us a hug. Sorry.

I won't forget.

I know, you're like an elephant.

Right, mind, I'm burning the tea. Whoa-whoa-whoa!

Have you seen my slippers?

Dog's chewed them up. Bad?

Here. Muchos gracias.

For what it's worth, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. Thanks very much, cock.

In the yard, there's a new air of optimism.

Four, five, three, two, four... HE LAUGHS

Lyndsay is back at the yard with some grand ambitions.

I'd like to have it all under cover, everything on the shelves,

everything clean, and everything tagged up, so that it runs like B

You need staff what can write. Yeah.

Jon is also back and throwing himself into the business.

Right, Jon, what are you doing with the alternators and stuff?

Do you not think they should go to Dave? We don't know what they're off.

I want to do it, I want to follow it on, I want to crack it on.

I like the job, man. Not because I've got to make money

and I've got to go to work, I just want to show him I can do it.

Starter motors and alternators are worth more than scrap value.

These here are worth more... They're even worth for scrap, say, a tenner a piece.

So they're not scrap. If you put them in there, you get coppers for them.

With Jon back in the yard, Terry's turning his attention

to his ongoing staffing problem in the sales office,

where it's the job of Jemma and Aaron to field calls from people

who want to sell their cars for scrap or to be resold as runners.

If you give me the registration,

I'll be able to check the details for you.

All right, if they let you down,

give me a ring and I'll be there within the hour for you.

Not a problem, love, take care.

All right, bye.

It's vital they write down all the customers' details.

There's a car here now, an '05 Ford Focus,

and you've put on here, "wants 130 quid."

Yeah, cos that's what he wants.

What? We've got it. We haven't got it.

Is it on a job sheet?

No. So we haven't got it, then.

So you're going to have to try and chase that one up now.

That's about the fifth one in the last couple of days.

He knows that he's supposed to take all the details of the vehicle,

the phone number,

the registration and the value of the vehicle,

so we can assess whether it's worth ringing back.

Is the vehicle still running, sir?

Thanks a lot, see you later.

It's Terry. Terry comes across...

strong. He has to, look at what he owns,

he has to come across strong.

Youth don't like it.

I want to see him change it round,

otherwise he'll be up the road.

Over the next few days, Terry continues to push the lads hard.

Jon!

I don't want the lights!

The back lights are OK, but not the front.

But the challenge to collect wheel nuts is off to a slow start.

Jesus Christ!

You can't put that in.

You've put a full frame off an Astra in here!

It's me who decides if it's too dear or not, not you!

And things go from bad to worse in the sales office.

Aaron hasn't show in, I've been the one who he's told that he's quit.

He sent me a text message to say

that he didn't want to be here any more and he wasn't very happy.

I've not spoken to him since.

So now Terry's got two new lads on a week's trial in the sales office.

Hello, breakers.

And this time, he's taking no chances.

What I've decided to do is do a few test calls, as me,

as a customer ringing the staff, just basically like a spot check.

You know, making sure they are doing their job correctly.

PHONE RINGS

'Hello, breakers.'

Hello, I've got a car for sale, mate.

'What car is it?'

Um, it's a Nissan, Nissan Micra.

Terry's pretend car could be resold for 300 quid,

so ?80 would be a reasonable price for it.

Oh, it's not scrap.

Can you do 80?

All right, then, thank you.

'Right, thank you, cheers, mate.'

He's giving me 60 quid, a Y-reg Micra, one owner from new.

It's only ever belonged to me mam, 60 quid.

You should have said,

"Listen, mate, I'll come and have a look at the car.

"If it's as described,

"I'll give you 75 quid for it."

If I offered 75 quid on a Micra based on paper, you wouldn't pay.

A dog, yeah.

A dog, yeah, but there's cars and cars, ain't there?

That's what I'm trying to get over to you - it's a one owner from new.

Yeah. It's only belonged to me mam.

Terry tries the other new recruit.

Hello, there, I've got a car for sale.

It's a Rover, a Rover 75.

The Rover's engine alone could be sold for ?300,

so 180 would be a fair price.

Hello, mate.

Are you serious, mate?

I've been on the phone now for, like, four minutes.

It's took you all that time just to come back to me

and tell me my car's worth 140?

Yeah, but you just said 140,

so what was you doing, chancing your arm?

LINE GOES DEAD

That was not good. We're in a world of hurt, here,

I'm telling you, we're in a world of hurt

on getting them cars in.

With his concerns deepening,

Terry hands over to daughter Cathy.

Hi, I'm wondering if you can help me.

I've got a Ford Focus for sale.

It's a '02 plate.

What would you be willing to give me on that?

RINGING TONE He's put me through.

Put you through to someone else? Yeah.

'Hello, good afternoon, breakers. Jem speaking.'

Right.

Dave, just tell him to go home. That's it now, finished.

He's had two chances - basically, he's given me the wrong price

and now he's just put Cathy through to Jemma.

Just tell him to walk.

That's another one in cars-in that's not been able to do the job,

keep up with the pressure. You know, the search continues.

I've seen people come and go.

I mean, I've been here a good few years now.

I'm working with new lads all the time.

Finding good staff has always been a problem.

Whilst Lyndsay has a pulled together a strong team in the office,

Terry's method of recruitment has been a bit haphazard.

Somebody walks into the yard, we get talking and I go,

"You look all right,

"a bit handy getting them parts off - do you want a job?"

"Yeah, yeah, I wouldn't mind a job."

"All right, start now."

But Lyndsay said I've got to do it properly.

He needs to change the way that he's employing people,

so, basically, what we want to do proper interviews

and with any luck we'll get some decent staff.

Today, Lyndsay has taken charge of finding new sales staff

and a new mechanic, so is conducting formal job interviews.

I would hate going in there,

it would be like going into the dragon's den.

Seriously...no.

Take a seat, pal.

It's the first time Terry and Lyndsay

have tackled recruitment together.

We're looking, really, for a phone operator for cars-in,

so somebody rings up with, "I've got a car to scrap."

What about your computer knowledge?

To be honest with you... Same as mine? Yeah.

So what experience have you got?

I stripped engines and cleaned them, if that's anything to...

Lyndsay has got the be all and end all killer questions

for the end of the interview.

I'm looking for someone with tools,

or good phone knowledge.

With what's going on now, it's a bit of computer knowledge and all.

As I say... So you wouldn't be an office man?

What would you be if you were an animal?

What would I be? A dog. A dog? Yeah.

If owt crops up, mate, I'll give you a bell.

Thank you very much for your time, I appreciate it.

Thank you. Bye-bye, now.

See you later, pal.

What would you be if you were an animal?!

Well, it says a lot about the person!

That tells you a lot.

A dog! A dog's faithful!

Yeah, yeah. It says a lot about that person.

It was a good answer, that.

It was a good answer. There you go, yeah.

Terry's doing interviews at the moment.

We just want someone who knows the job, but...

a woman, though, I want a woman.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah?

Who's the next victim?

John.

Hello, nice to meet you. All right, John. My name's John.

How are you doing, pal? You all right?

INTERVIEW CONTINUES IN NEXT ROOM

I've not really got much experience,

but I'm a good learner, if I get a straight crack at it.

He's very nervous, he's very nervous.

I've not heard him talk.

I-I-I...I have done it before,

I've scrapped loads of cars and know a bit about what you do.

Women know about cars too.

Let's get some women in, who know about cars.

They bring you treats and stuff, you know in the morning,

they bring you, like, dinner and stuff.

They do, they do, they look after you.

I bring you dinner!

Yeah, thanks a lot. No problem.

Ooh, sorry.

We weren't trying to make you nervous.

What animal would you be?

Lion. Lion, he's got it, he's got it.

Rarrgh!

See you later. See ya!

I think there's an Italian downstairs,

he's supposed to be a bit of all right, apparently.

It's about time we had something to look at in this yard.

Morning. All right? Pleased to meet you, Angelo.

Nice to meet you. Lyndsay. Angelo.

Do you have tools? Yeah.

Yeah. Spanners?

No, I'm Italian.

I know. Yeah.

Right, on your CV... Yeah?

..all this, it's very good,

but you need to bring your own tools.

OK. OK, thank you.

Thank you very much. Excuse me, sorry, yeah?

It's OK, thank you. Bye. Thank you. You're welcome. Bye.

HE SIGHS

God!

Too many obstacles there. How can that work?

How can you be a mechanic with no tools?

Aw, Terry, come on, give him a job, he's lovely.

Mum!

And he's got his own teeth!

I've got all the tools.

Buzz guns, air guns, compressors... Everything.

Basically, he's talking the talk. It's whether he can walk the walk.

What would you be if you were an animal?

Oh...a dog.

Next!

Thank you. I'm Lyndsay, by the way. See you later.

He's on trial tomorrow.

All's well that ends well.

It's hard work, though, ain't it?

Hold on a minute, Lyndsay, you've got a lion,

three dogs...

We had two lions, a tiger and two dogs. That were it, yeah.

Every time I look out this window lately, it's just, like, new faces.

Who's he there?

Him? He's the new mechanic.

He's normal, the rest of them are not normal who work here.

Including us.

Line them all up, it's like a scene of Crimewatch.

Terry and Lyndsay have found a temporary solution

for the sales office.

They've got their kids Cathy and Jon buying cars and selling parts

and it's already paying off.

Jon? Yeah.

Seat Leon, '06-plate, two-litre.

A complete engine.

Probably around ?1,200 for that engine.

Yeah?

Lee, do you know what they've said?

He's there - do you want to sell the engine out of that Mercedes there?

Sell it, yeah.

Yeah, I've got your engine, pal. It's 600 quid.

Thanks, pal. Bye-bye.

Sold your engine, sold it. Gone, mate.

Sweet, 600 quid.

Come here!

Chris, come here.

But it's early days for Terry's plans

to make the yard modern and efficient.

How many's in there?

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight...

32.

So do you think that's a good average?

No, I know, but we are on it, we are taking 'em off.

Well, you're taking some off.

'I feel like I'm failing, it's just not going to plan.'

'This is the problem,'

getting them to actually adhere to the new rules now is the hard bit.

Really, really difficult.

So frustrating, it's...

Just keep going.

MUSIC: Don Giovanni, La ci darem la mano, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Things are still not perfect at the yard,

so dinner at their favourite restaurant

is a chance for Terry and Lyndsay to think about the challenges ahead.

But at the moment...

Goodness gracious.

Cheers, pal.

You won't be able to move when you eat all that.

I will.

What's frustrating is the new regime won't happen overnight.

The changes won't happen overnight and I want them to be in place

and done and dusted, everyone in their slot.

It's coming together.

I saw Lee and Jon and Cathy all working together

and I said to one of the lads,

"I don't even care if they don't take a penny today,

"it were just so nice to see them all working together."

You've just got to have some patience, Terry, you've not got any.

I have got patience.

Rome weren't built in a day and I weren't on that one.

Let's put it this way -

that Coliseum would have still been up by now.

Not if you'd have built it, it wouldn't.

The Eiffel Tower would have been straight.

That's the Leaning Tower of Pisa!

Just seeing if you're on your toes, that's all!

Guess what I'm doing tomorrow? What? I'm swapping roles with your dad.

Have you seen who you've got to work with? Nesbit.

Don't start!

First of all, she's late. She should be going home now.

What are you laughing at? Do I look funny or something?

Don't start trying to put me under pressure.

I don't think she'll last a day.

Weather all right for you, cock? Lovely and warm up here, flower!

MUSIC: La Traviata, Libiamo ne' lieti calici, by Giuseppe Verdi

THEY CHANT: Yes, we can!

You and I, we're going to change this country.

Let's go get 'em.

You run and, hopefully, win elected office.

Not just for the sake of being something

but for the sake of doing something.