Ebac Dehumidifiers Digby Jones: The New Troubleshooter

Lord Digby Jones is a champion of British business.

British manufacturing's got so much to be proud of.

We make furniture. We make shoes.

We make high-performance motorcars.

We make volume motorcars. We sell them around the world.

But it's a constant battle to keep one step ahead of our global rivals.

Manufacturing at the right product,

in the right market, at the right time - it matters enormously.

To survive, British firms will have to be at the top of their game.

You're not trying to say, "I'm the cheapest."

You're trying to say, "I'm the best."

Now, that is what manufacturing in the UK in the 21st century is about.

And Digby's determined to play his part.

In a career that's taken him from his parents' corner shop

to the House of Lords,

he's helped transform some iconic British companies.

Now, in a new challenge, can he help three ambitious companies

from the worlds of furniture, fashion and electronics to succeed?

We don't do cheap any more. We can't!

We actually do quality, brand and innovation.

That's what's going to make the profit that pays the tax

that builds the schools and hospitals.

He's demanded access all areas...

-Wow! This is pretty big!

-Yes.

..and he's not afraid to ask the tough questions.

What part of this do you not understand?

Ding-dong! Alarm!

Tonight, Digby Jones tries to help one company

take a radical change in direction.

They're doing this on gut instinct.

It's going to call for nerves of steel...

-Scary!

-It's exciting!

..and everyone's agreement on priorities.

-I don't think that's necessarily important to us.

-Prove it to me.

SHE CLEARS HER THROAT

Can the company's ambitious plans be kept on course by Digby Jones...

..the new trouble-shooter?

Someday, some way, I'm going to have a Servis fully automatic.

British electrical brands were once portrayed in adverts

as the ultimate in domestic chic.

Today, it's rival imported brands that sell us

short cuts to sophistication.

Now, one company is taking the biggest gamble in its history

with a plan to get British-made white goods back into British homes.

This is Ebac in County Durham, northeast England.

They make water coolers and dehumidifiers...

and they're very good at it.

This is the managing director, Pamela Petty.

The buzz I get is in this factory, seeing that line there,

filled with product and people working.

I think it's brilliant.

Her dad, John, is the founder and chairman

and sister Amanda is manufacturing director,

but there's more to this family than making water coolers.

'This is John Elliot, signing away his personal fortune.'

In 2012, chairman John turned the company into a foundation,

meaning all profits had to be put back into the business

or go to local community projects.

The change also deprived Pam of a possible

multimillion pound inheritance.

I've given up my inheritance, but I'm a big girl.

I can earn my living.

So I was more than happy, actually, to go ahead with it,

for what it means to everybody.

In fact, Pam's pushing it even further.

She's taking an extraordinary gamble that could help create 200 jobs,

increase turnover from 15 to 50 million,

or plunge the company into the red.

Almost on impulse, and with only a basic business plan,

Pam's spent £1 million on this...

..a business that's gone into administration twice in ten years.

Pam's bought the Norfrost chest freezer brand

and a factory-load of equipment

after company that owned it went bust.

She plans to move the entire set-up from its base near John o'Groats

over 400 miles south, to County Durham.

This lovely chest freezer's going to create lots of jobs.

Pam's ambitious plan to lead Ebac to unprecedented growth

rests on resurrecting this frozen freezer brand.

So, she's asked for Digby's help

to overcome the many obstacles in her path.

This is the first time I've ever been involved

in something of this scale.

The company must absorb the shock

of only operating in a niche market it dominates,

to also fighting in the huge domestic electrical goods sector.

The old production line must be modernised

to make freezers more efficiently.

And she has to persuade the public to abandon the foreign brands

they already trust and buy her freezers.

Pam's hoping to be stocked in shops by Christmas

in just six weeks' time.

Diversifying into new products is one way

for British manufacturers to compete in the global market.

In an attempt to ensure Ebac's expansion succeeds,

Pam's called on Digby's help.

'Hello.'

-Hello, Pamela. It's Digby Jones.

-'Good morning. How are you?'

Good morning. I'm very well and I'm very excited, actually...

Digby is a passionate supporter of British manufacturing.

In the 1970s,

manufacturing contributed to 30% of the country's wealth.

Now, it's around 10%.

He believes helping Pam pull off her plan

could benefit the entire region.

We're on the way to Ebac. It's in Newton Aycliffe,

right in the northeast of England, almost into Scotland, not quite,

and a region that's had its enormous challenges over the past few years.

The demise of ship building, coal, steel, all the commodity stuff,

where you had lots and lots of unskilled labour

but guaranteed a job.

And, of course, now that's all gone and how do you get a region

to create wealth, employ people and succeed and have the morale up?

It'll be interesting to see how they deal with that.

Pam's diversification from a core business

into a new sector, white goods, is risky.

Some companies, like Virgin,

who diversified from music to an airline, make millions,

but bad diversification decisions can ruin companies too.

So, Pam can be sure of one thing - Digby won't be pulling his punches.

Coming in to work this morning,

I think I actually took a conscious decision.

Just, you know it, girl,

when he comes in, he's going to ask you some questions

and just answer them.

Will he start gently or go straight for the jugular?

-Hello!

-Hello.

-I'm Digby.

-Good morning to you.

-And to you.

-I've just been sampling one of yours.

-And?

I thought... Oh, it's fine. The water's great.

No, no, no. It all worked really well.

Digby wants to know if Pam can make freezers

and if she can sell freezers.

But first, he wants a feel for how she runs her existing business.

-Oh, you can smell the manufacturing.

-Yes, I love it.

-It's making things.

-Yeah, making things, seeing things happen.

The spine of any factory is its production line.

It's crucial Digby thinks this is in good order.

So, the products that we currently make, we make them all here.

All of the dehumidifiers

and all of the water coolers all come down this production track.

Pretty much, in my view, everybody that works in this factory

is here to serve this production line.

So, they're here to make sure the materials are here on time,

and their responsibility is to make sure

that one comes off the end - the line doesn't stop.

The factory makes 100,000 units a year,

selling in 43 overseas markets,

but does that expertise translate to making chest freezers?

-Right. So, this is the...

-Engineering workshop.

This is where we'll test things out, try different products.

-Right.

-These are the products that we already make

and probably the key thing with these is that they work in the same way.

There's the compressor. We've got the same set-up in here.

Slightly different type of compressor.

And so this is dehumidifier?

These are dehumidifiers, with their outers taken off.

-This is a water cooler...

-This is a water cooler.

..with a compressor again. We move on to the chest freezers.

So, we've got one here. That's exactly the same.

One of the key things with a chest freezer,

that most people probably won't realise,

-is we don't put cold into a chest freezer. We take heat out...

-Yeah.

..until it gets really, really cold and freezes things.

So, you just keep taking the temperature out.

So, the concept is much the same as what we've been doing down there.

Exactly the same as those. So, that technology is right up our street.

But in business, understanding the technology is just the start.

If Pam's new freezer factory is to compete with powerful, established

overseas operations, it's important her plant is as good as it can be.

Here we go. We're off to the...

-Yes, let's go look at...

-The new factory.

-..what we've started.

Ebac has invested nearly £3 million

just to get the site operational, which is money going out

of the business before any coming in.

-So, this is it?

-Yes, this is it.

-Looks like a set off The Sweeney.

SHE LAUGHS

-Wow! This is pretty big!

-Yes.

Hello, hello, hello...

-So, you've taken a lease of the whole lot.

-Yeah.

So, your vision is that this will eventually become freezer kingdom.

Yes. Yeah. Fridges and freezers.

Until there's money being earned from freezers,

the company has to find £3,000 a day to cover running costs

including rent and wages.

What is your time frame for having your first freezer out of that door?

First freezer out of that door, that could be in four weeks' time,

four to six weeks' time, we're able to hit the button

and start making chest freezers.

A poor factory layout will affect future profits.

And with the clock ticking to launch,

Digby wants to meet the staff in charge of setting up.

-John.

-How are you?

-Thanks for giving me some time. Digby Jones.

-And Jeff's here.

-There you are, Jeff.

So, you're the guy who's been pushing all this,

-making sure it all is in the right layout.

-Yeah.

And you're the one who's going to get the freezers out the door.

Hopefully, yes.

What's the big, big challenge that you're having a problem with?

The biggest one is probably to get it up and running.

With a six-week deadline looming, Digby's already sensing problems.

How you lay it out at the start is one of the key movers

to getting productivity out of your facility.

You get more efficiency.

You two right now are making an investment of your talent

and your time, the rewards of which will be reaped

in five, ten years' time.

Digby's worry about the production line ties into his next concern -

selling the freezers.

Considering Britain imports nearly £2 billion-worth

of white goods a year, how does Pam plan to get a share in a market

dominated by powerful foreign companies?

-Jo, yeah?

-Yes, it is.

Product manager Joanne Vipond needs to have some answers.

-You're moving into freezers.

-Mm-hm.

-Everybody makes freezers.

They do indeed.

Big, big companies, multinational businesses make freezers.

How is, with respect, little Ebac going to take those people on

in getting their product to market?

One of the biggest things we're spending most of our time on

is creating a brand website for Norfrost

and really getting out there the brand name,

telling them all about Norfrost,

who they are, how we're going to now take this and move it forward.

And presumably at some point, you're going to have to work out

who's your normal customer.

-Yeah.

-Male, female, what age.

Market research for that. Get some surveys out there as well.

-What economic bracket and all of that.

-Yeah.

-Will you be doing that?

-Yeah, we'll have to.

-When?

I would say it's going to be within the year.

-Um...

-But how do you know that you're pitching that website

at the ideal customer if you don't know who your ideal customer is?

-We don't.

-Right.

-So, what are you going to do about it?

-Do the research.

Some challenges.

I don't think they're on the marketing piece enough.

I really want them to major on that.

I am concerned about the fact that

they don't know what sort of person's

going to buy a chest freezer.

A lot of work to be done there and quickly.

They've set themselves a very, very tight time schedule

to get all the stuff down from Scotland,

get it well installed, get the first one out.

Tough call, but on the other hand, they are a class act.

Digby's revolution starts here.

But he has to work quickly.

With just six weeks to get freezers in shops for Christmas,

the marketing strategy needs sharpening

and Pam's team needs a masterclass in production-line efficiency.

We've come to one of the great places

of modern championing British manufacturing.

This is the most productive car plant in Europe

and one of the top two or three in the world.

525,000 cars come out of here every year -

one every 37 seconds.

80% of them are exported away from our shores.

You think of the overseas currency that's earning for our nation.

That's what is so special about Britain

as a home for inward investment and a home for generating wealth.

British manufacturing needs firms like Ebac to adopt the most

competitive production methods.

Today, Pam's got a chance to learn from a world leader.

Absolutely massive plant...

but one day,

perhaps, we'll have something this size - an appliance city,

just like we've got a car city here.

Well, good morning.

Digby wants Pam to learn new production methods for her factory.

Every robot and every worker in this factory is constantly

monitored to ensure they work to maximum efficiency.

The key is, it's the staff themselves who do it.

It's a little-known Japanese technique called kaizen.

One of the secrets to the way in which these cars

are so productively made has been kaizen,

the Japanese philosophy of constant, continuous improvement

in what you do, and I'm particularly impressed with this seat.

Because they had this idea, didn't they?

We came up with the idea to improve things for the operator,

because we're getting injuries,

discomfort through the way that they did the job previously.

So, by putting these seat shuttles in,

the operator can now get inside the car,

his parts, his tools and everything goes in with him,

so it increases efficiency, as well as...

-DRILLING DROWNS SPEECH

-It kills two birds with one stone.

And are the guys themselves involved in...?

Very much, yeah. They're building 500 cars a day.

They know best where things should be,

what's the best way for them to have it.

Kaizen empowers workers to instigate improvements

to their production line.

It seems everybody here gets involved and I keep asking,

"Do they do this? Do they do that?"

You're not forcing people to be involved

but, actually, they want to be involved.

It's improving their lot.

But if we look at it at a higher level, this is a business making

cars to sell in a competitive environment,

and we maintain our job security by being competitive.

So, what can small British businesses

learn from multinational corporations?

The great destroyers of productivity is a human being having to walk

around, and if he's walking over there with something in his hand,

he's going to walk back empty-handed,

so that's waste - wasted time, wasted effort.

So, what you do is you cut a second, just work on cutting a second

out of how long it takes somebody to do something, because you ask them

to do it in a different way or go a different route, or don't go

at all, because something else is going to happen.

You multiply that second by a business as big as this,

we are talking millions of pounds a year of saved money.

Thank you, Richard. I'm sure I'll be in touch.

Thank you, Pamela. All the best.

-Bye-bye.

-Bye-bye.

-Well done.

'Amazing, actually, seeing something like that.'

What I keep linking is...

Half a million cars - in three years' time, we could be making

half a million appliances.

-And that is kind of like a bit, "whoa".

-Scary. Scary.

-It's exciting. It's not scary.

-Exciting.

-It's exciting.

I want two or three killer conclusions from today

that what gets measured gets done, so what have you learnt,

and what are you going to do differently?

Before Pam's project can even try to apply the principles of kaizen,

her team have to ship 1,000 tonnes of production kit

and 6,000 existing freezers over 400 miles

from the site near John o'Groats to County Durham.

Do you know what he's dropping off, Darren?

As Pam's team prepare the factory floor...

-All right?

-..back in Scotland, former Norfrost workers

are stripping their old factory to its bare bones.

It's... It's sad to see it sitting in the state it is,

because everything just seems to have gone downhill really fast.

Buried inside the story of Norfrost's rise and fall

is a cautionary tale for British companies hoping to compete

in today's white goods sector.

In its '80s heyday,

Norfrost epitomised white goods manufacturing in Britain.

Its success was based on a simple formula -

quality goods at affordable prices.

At its peak, it made 12,000 units a week

and had Coca-Cola and Mars as customers.

You have the advertisement for the Coca-Cola freezers that they used to

make for the Olympics.

It was a big contract to have - an Olympic freezer,

to go out and to bring Norfrost into the limelight.

But across the white goods sector, foreign brands,

either made here or imported, came to dominate the market,

with names including Beko from Turkey and Indesit from Italy

leading the way.

When white goods retailer Comet went into administration in 2012,

Norfrost soon followed.

Like many British companies, Pam runs a business that can't

compete on price with cheaper imports.

So, she has to think of a new unique selling point, or USP,

to create consumer demand. This will encourage

her customers - the retailers - to stock her product.

Digby believes the answer lies in knowing what consumers want.

The problem is, Pam doesn't agree.

Fundamentally, because we've always said

that we're going to take what Norfrost did

and pick that up and replicate it, we haven't paid much attention

to the market research, the quite specific, detailed market research

of what consumers want.

Rightly or wrongly, we've taken that what Norfrost were doing was right,

because they were selling tens of thousands of chest freezers.

But Pam's marketing strategy is based on Norfrost's,

and Digby's insisting Pam and Jo need new consumer research

to create fresh demand for the freezers.

With just five weeks to the launch,

he's returning to see if they've done it.

-Now, last time, I gave you a challenge, didn't I?

-You did.

-All right.

-We've looked down the avenue of market research, consumer

market research, and I think, you know, we hadn't done that

for a particular reason, and we hadn't done it.

And we may do it in the future, but we already know,

at this present time, who we're going to sell to.

How do you know that?

Because it's a current Norfrost brand customer.

There is already a market out there,

and we just literally want to take that market back.

Jo and Pam are confident consumers already exist

and will return to the brand when the freezers launch.

But if Pam doesn't don't know what consumers want,

how can she be sure they'll buy her freezers?

The whole issue of this was...

You say they're a Norfrost customer -

fine, but what do they look like?

And I think right now...

I don't think that's necessarily important to us.

So, how do you go to market if you don't know that?

Because we know what they value.

Things... People love to shout about what they like about the product,

and if you read a review, people tend to say, "It does exactly

"what you need it to do - it's a freezer, and that's what we wanted."

We're reasonably satisfied that there are Norfrost people

out there, people who want to buy Norfrost chest freezers.

What I'm asking you is, prove it to me.

Prove it to me.

Will Pam come clean and tell Digby she thinks he's wrong?

The one thing that really was clear to me when you were here last time

was that we've kind of taken our focus off how we are going to sell,

and we talked about different ways to achieve that,

and then we said, "Right, what will we do differently

"once we've got that information?"

And in terms of taking this product to market, we said,

"Actually, probably nothing."

Economic reality is staring Pam in the face.

There's five weeks to launch.

Established brands dominate the market.

And she doesn't have a retail stockist yet.

Is her current plan fast-tracking her to failure?

Earlier, Digby sent the team to learn about kaizen -

a Japanese system that empowers workers to initiate improvements

to their production line.

Well, good morning, good morning. This is a little bit different...

Now he wants to see if they've decided to implement

what they learnt.

This is a couple of press tools that actually form the lids.

Jeff's showing Digby a press that will make freezer lids.

This is what we call the hinge plate.

It goes into here and is made on this press here.

These two presses were in a press shop

which was 100 yards away from the main lines,

and then they transported the parts...

So, you've brought this from Scotland, and this action -

-dum, dum, to there - was 100 yards in Scotland.

-100 yards, yeah.

In Nissan, it would have been 3ft, wouldn't it?

-And because this is brand-new for us...

-Brand-new layout, yeah.

-..you can design it to take cost out of the business.

-Exactly.

-Exactly.

Digby's involvement in the production line set-up

is paying dividends.

But with just three weeks to the launch,

up at the old factory near John o'Groats,

there's an unexpected problem.

METALLIC CLATTERING

While dismantling a crucial piece of kit, asbestos has been found,

and until it's safely removed, the kit can't leave the site.

The kit Pam needs is called foaming equipment.

It's made up of three parts -

huge tunnels that hold freezers in place,

these industrial guns that fire insulating foam into the freezers,

and tanks that store the chemicals mixed to make the foam.

It's the foaming process that keeps freezers cold,

and without this kit, Pam can't make freezers.

The freezer launch is now hanging by a thread.

Jeff, so where are we at with the foaming tunnels?

-Up in Scotland?

-The asbestos will be removed on the 7th of December...

Pam's sister, manufacturing director Amanda,

is heading a meeting to plan the next move.

And that's going to us a week to take that out?

Two weeks. Two weeks to take it down, and maybe a week to get

down here, so probably no longer than three weeks.

Not only are the foamers quarantined,

the team don't know if the foam-mixing tanks actually work.

If we get these down, Amanda, and it fails,

then we're looking for a new one as backup, aren't we?

Well, that's another problem that we've got, isn't it?

The team has to choose between buying new kit

or gambling on the old kit working when it arrives.

Either way, there's a three-month wait.

The Christmas launch is off.

So, who's going to tell Pam?

I'll get her drunk first.

So, what date is it now?

-It's...

-Production start?

Well, we've said 18 weeks from now.

-Right.

-It's disappointing,

but I think it does give us a better control, but we are where we are.

Right.

Good stuff. I need a date. I want to put it up on the board.

The mission to create 200 jobs in the region by reviving a dormant

brand is on hold until the new kit arrives.

The sisters are taking stock before Digby's next visit.

I think that our whole project planning was naive

right from the beginning. On hindsight, there was no way

we were going to be able to move, physically,

all of the manufacturing plant in the time that we had.

Probably didn't give too much thought at that stage on,

how are we going to pull this whole thing off?

For one thing, we hadn't actually seen the equipment.

We'd seen some photographs of it and we'd seen some specifications.

Digby's driving north to advise Pam on the next move.

I hope he doesn't ask me too many challenging questions.

A couple of weeks ago, Pam said to me that in eight weeks' time,

she would have this all ready to rock'n'roll.

I've now heard that they've got big issues with their foam-mixing plant.

So, there's a few things I want to know. Firstly, how did this happen?

I mean, did they get up to Scotland and did they look at this plant,

properly inspect it, have it surveyed, see if it's fit for purpose?

Every day this is delayed, that's more money lost for ever.

We can't have that. I'm going to find out why.

It's taken Pam's team nine months after agreeing the deal

to check if the kit they bought works.

Why has this basic error occurred?

How much did you pay for this business?

All in all, just over a million.

So, you're going to part with a million quid...

Including the stock. There's a...

Right. So, how much would you apportion for these machines?

-About a quarter of it.

-Right.

So, you're going to pay a quarter of a million pounds for some gear

that you're not certain is going to survive the journey

-in an operational way?

-Yeah.

And you didn't bother to go and find out if someone could tell you

whether it would or not?

No.

Hand.

Dear me!

DIGBY STUTTERS

Digby's blaming production, but is that right?

Was it a resource issue?

Were you so busy that you didn't think of it?

-Well, I did think about it, but...

-Did you scream it from the rooftops?

No, I didn't. Probably should have.

I probably should have made my thoughts more sort of louder...

Does Jeff's admission point to communication issues

caused by the company's family structure?

Do you think there's anybody here

who thinks, "I'm just going to leave it to her?"

Erm..

-No.

-Sure?

-No, I...

-Cos the one issue, especially with family owners...

How do you enable an environment in which they know

they can't leave it to you?

I'd like to think that we do have that kind of environment.

Whether this could have come out sooner if we had had

more of an environment, but I think it's...

-I think that's where I'm taking you.

-Yeah.

-Could this issue have been, ding-dong, alarm...

-Yeah.

Weeks earlier, if you had an environment where people

felt more empowered to do so?

I think people are empowered and do it with a passion

-and do it with a drive.

-Challenge you?

-Erm...yes.

-Yeah, definitely challenge me.

-Tell you you're wrong?

Yeah.

-Which obviously isn't very often.

-Oh, quite!

Is Pam willing to reform Ebac's family structure to help expansion?

One of the challenges of family businesses is,

how do you accommodate growth?

Because it can't all be managed by the family,

and at some point, you have to have

very senior positions brought in from outside.

Big answer today was they fessed up, they faced up,

they analysed it, and they're dealing with it.

I think they need to get some more people and quite quickly,

but good people, and they've now got to really deliver.

Big stuff in there for the next few weeks.

Digby's first appraisal of Pam's project was that she had to focus

on marketing the freezers

and building an efficient production line.

Now he's discovered a deeper issue the company must address

as it expands.

It's a problem many family companies face -

how to nurture a professional team

within a pre-existing family hierarchy.

He's sent Pam and sister Amanda to Bolton, Lancashire,

the home town of family bakers Warburtons,

to get ideas on giving non-family members real power in the company.

We can smell the bread already, so my tummy's rumbling anyway.

One family has run this company for five generations.

-Hello, Dad.

-Why don't you just say...?

Since current boss Jonathan took over from his father in 1991,

it's been his signature on every loaf.

Like Pam and Amanda,

he grew up living in his family's business.

I've been coming in here for 50 years.

My sister and I used to have judo lessons in the flour room.

I don't think health and safety would let us do that now.

Like Pam and Amanda,

his passion for his product pushes him to innovate.

You'll see it has four different pieces,

and then it goes through a series of cutters,

which turns, basically, one and three, and two and four...

around against each other, and that affects the mouth feel and the eat.

Unlike Pam and Amanda, he knows a business secret

that has helped his company grow into a household name.

-Yes, thanks, Jonathan.

-Very welcome.

That was really interesting to see that.

It's now up to the sisters to listen to his frank advice.

One of the things you have to remember is that this business,

on a day-to-day basis, is run by professionals.

It's too big a business for us to do it and, quite frankly,

we've had 30 years at it,

and we've got an excellent of team senior managers.

And how was that process?

Because as you grow, your structure has to change.

We know that we have to make some changes

to that middle management and senior management structure,

and it's kind of hard to let go.

It is, but if I could give you one little piece of advice,

is surround yourself with people who are better than you.

-Just don't tell them.

-Yeah!

My dad was never a great advice-giver,

but that's one of the things he said -

make sure you surround yourself with people who are better.

Now, to run an organisation like this, that's a big ship to steer,

and so there's got to be a captain, there's got to be somebody in charge.

Yeah, I mean, I think that you have to have...

Inevitably, a business our size, you have to at some stage realise

that you are just a small cog in it.

-Yes.

-And you have to let the quality people run the business

on a day-to-day basis, and it's a bit back to my point,

you know - they know who owns the business.

You can afford to employ people who are better than you,

because they're not going to do you out of a job,

and in which case, common sense says,

well, why wouldn't I seek the very best?

The biggest tip for me from Jonathan was when he said about

recruiting people who are better than you. You kind of think,

"That can't be right," but actually, it makes complete sense.

We can't do it with the structure that we have, so we've got to

bring in new talent and make sure that we get the best from them,

and bring in the best of the best.

Will Pam and Amanda take the advice and hire,

and then give non-family members

the power to make meaningful decisions in the company?

With the freezer launch on hold until the new kit arrives,

Digby's trying to turn the delay to Pam's advantage.

So far, Pam's remained steadfast.

She doesn't need new consumer research to sell freezers.

Digby's making a final attempt to change her mind.

We're in trendy Clerkenwell.

This is where creative types come to work.

In there is one of Britain's greatest brand experts,

a woman called Rita Clifton.

Rita has worked on brand campaigns for Yorkie,

British Airways and Andrex.

Digby's hoping her expertise will show Pam

it's not advisable to market a product

without knowing your consumer.

This is quite a clash of cultures, really,

because we've got London, the Southeast,

we've got this new trendiness, if you like,

and then we've got hard-nosed,

quality, common sense Northeast grit.

-Well, good morning, good morning.

-Good morning.

To make them think about what consumers want,

they've been asked to pitch

why they'd buy Norfrost freezers over the competition.

-Rita. Meet Pam.

-Hello.

-Hello, Rita.

-Meet Jo.

-Nice to meet you.

Digby's putting Pam's DIY marketing strategy

under the microscope of an industry pro.

And Rita's already done her homework on the company.

Their marketing maybe isn't as sophisticated

as many other competitors.

That hasn't necessarily been a problem

in the markets they've been in so far,

but obviously they're entering markets

that are much more sophisticated, much more competitive.

So, this is going to be a challenge for them in how they up their game.

So, ladies, the floor is yours.

So, Norfrost brand values.

We've got a small, little mood board here

just to go through these values slightly with you.

Good value. It's good quality,

it's a product that is made well and is made to last.

It's essentially British manufacturing at its best.

Reliability. You've got to have a product you can depend on.

Pam and Jo have pitched quality and reliability

as values consumers want in a freezer.

What's the professional's verdict?

You had a list of brand values there.

-They are a bit generic.

-Yep, they are.

So, value for money, reliability.

I don't know whether there's a consumer anxiety out there going,

"Oh, dear, it's going to break down."

I don't know if that's ever surfaced,

so I think doing your consumer research

will be really, really important there.

In one observation, Rita's exposed how poor consumer research

could lead Pam to incorrectly position her product

in one of the most competitive markets in the UK.

What solutions can Rita offer?

If we think about the important characteristics of any strong brand,

number one is clarity, clarity of what you stand for,

and how you're different from your competitors.

If you can capture something about this brand

in a few words or phrases...

How do you make a chest freezer distinct?

Well, I'm not sure what the answer is yet,

but I'm damn sure you've got to really try to do that,

because you need a clear message about

how your brand is somehow different and better.

Secondly, in this new digital age,

even if don't have a big marketing budget,

if you've got really powerful, passionate fans...

-You can do a lot with it.

-..you can do an awful lot with it.

-Social media is made for you.

-It could well be.

'I was half hoping for a magic wand and a secret answer

'that gets you where you want to be with the brand.'

I do pick up the point that perhaps we're a little generic

-and we've got to be a little bit more specific.

-Same as everybody, aren't they?

I would take away from this that we need to go away

and do a huge brainstorming session, of the ways we can make...

It's a boring product, and Rita touched on that quite a lot,

but go away and think of the quirky things

that we could possibly do with this.

They're doing this on gut instinct.

Because they've been so good with dehumidifiers

and water coolers, they actually think they can do it again.

Now, maybe I'm going to be proved wrong,

but I think they should be going to market with more hard data,

so that Rita's advice on brand can link in

to some hard consumer data, more than gut instinct.

Pam isn't doing the research

because she thinks her brand already has loyal consumers.

Even if she's right, if there are no freezers in shops,

those consumers will look elsewhere.

So, they must start making freezers as soon as possible.

Now there's renewed hope.

The asbestos has been safely dealt with

and the foaming kit has finally arrived.

-These are foamers?

-These are the foamers, yeah.

-The infamous!

-The infamous foamers, yeah.

Today, Digby's back to push for a new launch date.

At some point, given that these have been a bit of a source of delay,

I'm going to come back here

and see a freezer coming down the old track, am I?

-Hopefully.

-Hello?!

Can I hear words like "yes"?!

Well, the plan tells us that we should be ready

to do some hundred-litre by March.

-Back end of March.

-That is six weeks from now.

I am going to come back on the March of 31st, on the day,

to see a freezer coming down the line,

-and you two guys are saying, yeah, that's on. Are you?

-Yeah. Yeah.

Well, good luck, chaps.

We're going to need it! THEY LAUGH

Now the freezer launch is imminent,

there's renewed pressure on Pam and Jo

to come up with that USP

that will create demand for Norfrost freezers.

It's our family giving to your family.

How can we help your family?

Inspired by Rita Clifton's advice to develop a stronger selling point

than reliability, Pam and Jo are planning cooking videos

that position their freezers as a family friend.

And Jo has clear ideas on getting this message out.

We've got to get social media working for us.

We've got to get blogs going, we've got to get PR working with us.

Because I think we could really use it,

and if we miss something, we could miss the whole boat with it.

All she has to do now is persuade Pam.

Getting videos on social media is...

-They get the biggest clickthroughs.

-Yeah.

You can have the recipe linked to the YouTube video.

You can have the recipe on the Norfrost website...

Do people just look through YouTube for things to look at?

I mean, my kids do.

Yeah, I think there's a lot of people that tend to.

But what do they look for?

Having been advised to let others take the initiative,

will Pam trust Jo's internet expertise?

Is it maybe a good idea to just get the recipes onto the website,

you then start using social media to get those recipes out as well,

that then lifts our ranking anyway, because we're using social media

to get those out as well, and all that in turn

should generate us traffic,

-which should then generate us enquiries and sales.

-OK.

Sounds like a plan. Smashing.

It's a significant shift.

At last, Pam is letting the expertise of others

benefit the company.

When the foamers arrived,

John and Jeff told Digby freezers would be ready in six weeks.

The problem is, they don't yet know how the foaming guns work.

Another missed deadline will lose Ebac more consumers and more money.

So, Pam's sister Amanda has persuaded commercial fridge makers

Carter International to share freezer foaming secrets.

We've never used them before, we're learning as we go,

and it'll be nice to get some insights

from people who actually use it.

It may not be a household name,

but nearly all of us will have used a Carter product.

And we'll probably do so again very soon.

When you pull food from a supermarket fridge or freezer,

the chances are it's been made by Carter.

Today, the team are hoping to have their questions

about foaming kits answered.

This is the brains of the operation.

You can't have an inexperienced operator on here,

purely because of the health and safety issues.

Not only are the chemicals hazardous,

they must be mixed at the point of injection,

and at an exact ratio.

The chemical reaction is only when it's fired.

That's the only time it mixes.

The only time it can touch is right at the end of the nozzle.

If the mixture is wrong,

the foam won't do its job and freezers won't stay cold.

You want it clean, you want it sharp,

you don't want an overspill.

Cos every time you overshot or you overspill, it's costing you money.

This is a huge step forward for the team.

They've found the missing piece to the jigsaw.

It's so critical that these are well-maintained. It's so obvious,

I know, but it's things that tend to be missed,

because it's out of the way.

-If this goes down, you stop production, don't you?

-Exactly.

It's up to the kit to arrive and for these two to make sure

they do their jobs properly

putting the procedures and the controls in place.

So, with everything in order,

it's up to Pam and her team to be ready for the deadline.

Over six months, Digby has shown Ebac how it must evolve

when attempting its risky diversification into white goods.

There are lessons for all British manufacturers.

In the run-up to his final visit,

they've been trying to apply the difficult changes he's suggested.

They've tried overhauling the brand to stand out in a crowded market.

..cold water.

And they've tried setting up a production line

based on cutting-edge efficiency principles.

Now it's results day.

So, are Ebac making freezers?

Well, where are my chest freezers, then?

-Where? Where? You promised me, did you not?

-I did.

So, where are they?

OK, Digby, I could have had a chest freezer here,

but it wouldn't have been one that we've made the whole thing for.

I respect you for that, I respect you for that.

It's not good enough, though.

Listen, I'm... I'm with you on that one.

So, who in that process, since I was last here...?

Where is the blockage?

-There was a bad decision on how long it would take.

-Yep.

And that's where?

See, I would always say that that falls to here.

-Yeah.

-That that's where the blame lies.

-So would I.

You know, so... And not getting into the detail enough.

Yeah. You're the boss, and that's where it lies, really.

Pam's admitted her big mistake.

There are no freezers yet

because she underestimated the timescale of setting up.

But she wasn't in this alone.

-Hello!

-Hello. All right?

-Good to see you.

What have John and Jeff learnt?

You guys said to me

there'll be a chest freezer coming down there on the March of 31st.

-Yes, we did.

-Yes, exactly.

But it ain't good enough, gentlemen.

So, what one thing could you have done that you haven't?

It would have been that we started planning the project

a little bit earlier, instead of halfway through.

I also think it's the order

that we brought the equipment down from Scotland.

I think if we'd started with the foamers first,

we'd have realised we were probably going to have some problems.

Despite the lack of finished freezers,

the team have made huge progress.

They've installed presses to turn metal into freezer cabinets,

and robots to do the intricate work of assembly,

all using the principles of efficiency they saw earlier.

This is the final assembly here.

So, when, last time, I saw those bits of kit that were...

-creating the cabinet.

-Yes.

-And then they were coming this way.

-Yes.

-And then they go into the foamer.

-Yeah.

-Then they were going to come down here for final assembly.

-That's exactly right.

-And what you're telling me,

good thing, is you've planned this

so you're going to be doing all of that movement of it

-in a more compact space than was happening in John o'Groats.

-Yes.

Oh, totally more. We've got loads of this track left over.

-And fewer people.

-And fewer people, yeah.

-Yeah.

-Keep your overheads down.

-Yeah.

-Get more efficient, more productive.

-Yeah.

Now, if that takes a bit longer to get that planned well,

that's time well spent, I'm happy with that.

But there's one more issue to resolve.

Has Pam been convinced by Digby's views on consumer research?

So, almost the first time I met you,

I was talking to you about what does your consumer look like

and I asked you, you know, are you going to do any research?

And you did seem a bit reluctant towards that.

It's probably fair to say that we thought we knew everything.

We thought we knew how we would take this to market and we thought

that our biggest mistake was that

probably the retailers would welcome us with open arms

and almost be... "We've been waiting for you."

-That kind of...

-And that's not happened?

-No.

So, we've done some market research, we carried out some market research,

which led us to finding out

that a significant amount of people actually own a chest freezer,

which was great news for us.

It did solidify that we know people want these,

because people have already got them,

and it brought to us a little insight into the fact

that we'd missed a group of people. The allotment growers.

People who own allotments love chest freezers.

Armed with consumer research,

they've applied Rita's branding advice to their product,

and put recipes online.

'So, I am the proud owner of a chest freezer business

'and a proud owner of a chest freezer.'

It's not really about selling the product,

it's about building that brand and giving it depth

and creating a chest freezing community.

Because it actually understands how, as families,

we'll get benefits from our chest freezers.

To get traffic to your website, you've got to get interest.

Not everybody searches for chest freezers every day.

-Is that right(?)

-Believe it or not!

-There's a surprise(!)

-Believe it or not, it's a fact.

But people do search for recipes every single day.

If this means we can funnel traffic to the website

that may then come back one day and want a freezer,

-they'll remember us because they've been to our site.

-Sure.

Because of these. It's a great way of just simple interaction.

But, actually, you stay in someone's memory.

That'll be a marvellous tool.

MAN: 'And there we have the meat done. And now for the veg.'

Six months ago, Pam assumed her track record of achievement

in a niche industry would bring success

in the white goods market.

How does she feel now?

We're moving into the whole diversification,

the whole growth thing.

-We're moving out of our comfort zone...

-Yeah.

..of making something that we've made for years, we understand the market,

we understand how to make them, and we've had to learn

some very quick things here.

And, yes, about this particular project, but more than that,

about how as a business we need to develop and grow

and make sure that we're ready to do the next project

-and the next project.

-Spot on!

I felt really disappointed when I pitched up here this afternoon,

and frankly...

well, I did tell them off, and they deserved it.

I always knew this was going to be a tough conversation with Digby

so, you know, that's kind of over and done with.

But mostly, I'm ready for the challenge.

The best way of getting people to change isn't to tell them,

and it isn't to force them.

It's to get them to buy into it because they understand it,

because they've come to their own decision.

That's exactly what's happened here.

He's given me something that I think will have real longevity for me,

and to be honest, I think sometimes

I won't even realise that's where I got it from,

because I've just changed now

and I'm different and I look at things differently.

So, I won't think, "Oh, Digby would have done this or said this,"

I'll just do it differently.

I think the change will be sustainable and beneficial

because they have come to terms with it

and they have made the decision what to do.

I take my hat off to them. It's been a privilege to come here

and learn and understand. I hope I've helped them

and I wish them all the best in the world

and I thank them from the bottom of my heart.