Episode 3 Christmas City

It's that magical time of year. It's Christmas!

Up and down the UK in towns and cities,

families are gearing up for that big special day.

They're buying presents, eating and drinking and generally making merry.

But, as we know, Christmas is a major undertaking that takes

planning, organisation and a lot of hard work.

But for some people it can be a pretty challenging time too.

I'm very scared.

I should've used nails.

Still got Christmas trees to be delivered.

So we're in the heart of Britain's biggest Christmas market in Manchester

to show you just what it takes to get that festive season on track.

If we didn't do our job, the city would come to a standstill.

Our priority is to get the motorway open and get these people moving again.

Somebody's fallen over getting into a taxi. The ambulance has already been called.

We're going to be meeting stallholders, police officers

and organisers who all work tirelessly behind the scenes

to make this special time of year safe and joyful for us all.

It really does feel like the start of Christmas

because everyone's getting together and having a good time.

BOTH: Welcome to Christmas City!

It's going to be a good Christmas.

On today's show, I'm out with the Street Angels.

Now, they're a group of volunteers who patrol the streets of Manchester

on Friday night to make sure that your Christmas celebrations end up

with nothing more serious than a bit of a sore head in the morning.

We've got a guy just on the right. Do you want to just check he's all right?

And I'll be travelling up north to follow the journey

of a Christmas tree from the Scottish Borders,

via the Christmas markets, to our very own front rooms.

BOTH: Cheers!

Manchester Christmas markets are in full swing.

Over six weeks, nine million visits will be made to stalls

selling the whole range of seasonal staples from gluhwein

to handmade wooden decorations, and of course Christmas trees.

For many of us the festive season really begins

when we haul the Christmas tree through the front door,

put it in our living room and decorate it with baubles and tinsel.

So I've come up to Galloway in the Scottish Borders

to find out more about where our Christmas trees come from.

Here on the Garrocher Tree Farm,

there's around three quarters of a million of them on over 300 acres.

Farm manager Martin McKenzie

has been growing Christmas trees for 30 years.

Wow!

So Christmas must be a bit of a big deal for you?

How many Christmas trees do you get through during that period?

-For this season we'll be doing between 30,000 and 40,000.

-Wow!

And we have to do that largely within a two to three week period.

So with all these trees to choose from,

how do you decide which one gets the chop?

It's largely in the eye of the beholder to be honest.

I could show you two or three different trees which you might think are perfect,

-I might think are not perfect.

-Right, OK.

This looks perfect to me because you could put a star on top, you could get your baubles on here.

How do you get to that stage?

We prune every single tree on the farm to contain its width

so the tree doesn't get too wide

and also to bulk up the density of the tree.

-So you shape them as it's growing?

-Yes.

-So it gets thicker and you can fit more baubles on...

-Exactly

-..the more stems you get.

But producing the perfect Christmas tree is a long-term project.

We grow the tree for seven to ten years at least.

The bigger trees we are looking at behind you are 15 plus years.

With 40,000 trees to cut down they'd better get chopping!

-Do you think I'd be allowed a go, Martin?

-Yes, I'm sure you can.

-OK.

He makes it look so easy.

The size is the colour, so blue is a six-foot,

the white tag is the grade of the tree, so it's a premium grade tree.

We need 17 of these at the moment.

Right, I'm on it. I can feel the tree. Here we go.

Timber! Look at that!

-How did I do Martin? Was that all right?

-Perfect.

-Was it a clean cut?

-Nice and close to the ground. Perfect.

Right, there's another 16 to do.

So have I got a job then, Martin?

-A little more practice yet!

-It's not as easy as it looks actually.

-It's not.

-It's quite a heavy machine.

But it's a lot easier than using a chainsaw or a handsaw to cut them down.

-I bet.

-And a lot safer.

Over the years, Martin has earned a number of celebrity Christmas tree clients.

One in particular we're quite proud of that we've supplied

-for the last seven years is the Ritz hotel in London.

-Wow!

Which tree is theirs then?

-This tree we're just looking at right here.

-That is a good tree.

It's a very good tree. I see what you're talking about.

It's very even. It's huge though. Absolutely huge.

It's 23 feet from butt to tip.

We have to send photographs of the tree from various directions

and ensure them they've got the tree that they want.

And did you know when it was a young sapling that it was going to be the tree for the Ritz?

Of course I did!

It's obviously a labour of love for Martin but it's also a business

and, like any farmer, he's always at the mercy of the weather.

We're out in the middle of a beautiful day today but if there's a storm,

if there's weather problems, does it affect your yield?

It could affect our ability to extract the trees

or if the roads become blocked there is always the possibility of snow.

Four or five years ago we had snowdrifts on the road up to the farm

which were six or seven feet deep.

If we'd had that at Christmas time it would have been a disaster for sure,

so fingers crossed on that one.

After being cut down, the tree is left for three days to enable

the sap to firm up, helping to prevent the needles from dropping.

I need your help with the lift. There we go.

The trees are then netted up ready for shipping.

-Here comes the arm.

-Wait there, just wait.

I see what you mean. That's scary.

-OK.

-Right, so now do we inch it forward?

Ram it in the middle. One, two, three.

I see. So it's grabbed it nice and firm. Hold it up so it's central.

Wow! That's a strong thing.

And look at that, it's now half the size as it went in.

I could do with one of these slimming machines!

I'm getting a pretty good workout loading up these trees.

-Potentially 4,000 trees in a day we'll move out.

-4,000 in a day!

I'm shattered after seven!

There we have it.

It's taken eight years for these trees to get to this point

but now they're starting their journey to wholesalers and shops across the whole of the UK

and we're going to catch up with them in Manchester.

In Britain there are over 270,000 licensed taxis

and private hire vehicles.

The run-up to Christmas is one of the busiest times

in a cab driver's calendar and that means it's just as hectic

for the licensing team whose job it is

to ensure the taxi-travelling public are kept safe.

Today, the Tameside licensing team will be conducting

spot checks on taxis in their area.

Council officer Dave Smith is in charge of operations

back at the testing centre.

That's your foot, Ray!

The reason we do these spot checks is because the vehicles are obviously out all the time,

they're very busy vehicles, there's a lot of mileage on those vehicles.

Today one of our officers is out with the Greater Manchester Police.

They'll be pulling vehicles into the garage.

When they come into the garage they will be tested mechanically

and myself and my colleague will look at the driver to make sure

they're licensed and make sure they are insured to drive that vehicle.

While Dave waits at the garage, his colleague, Mike Robinson,

is out on patrol with two police officers hunting for taxis.

We'll pull him over and we'll ask him to go straight down

to Tame Street to the garage.

With no shortage of cabbies on the roads, a wintry Friday morning

is the perfect time for the council to be conducting these spot checks.

There's one there.

We're just doing a spot check operation this morning.

They'll just do a quick spot check of the vehicle. A compliance test.

OK? Thank you very much.

-Head down to Tame Street after you drop your fare off.

-No problem.

Thanks very much. Cheers.

Mike takes a photo of each vehicle's taxi licence,

which he sends to his colleagues at the garage.

If any of the vehicles he's pulled over fails the test

then the driver will automatically lose their right

to carry paying passengers.

Back at the depot, the spot checks are now flooding in.

What you need to do is you need to go and get yourself a tariff sheet.

And you also need to go home and get your first aid kit.

That needs to be in the vehicle.

I'm just going to check your seatbelts guys, all right?

-In the event of a crash...

-Yes, sometimes.

But that needs to lock so that type of movement...

..needs to be locking it.

Not once every six or seven attempts. The first time.

The driver wants to hold-off getting the faulty seatbelt repaired until

the vehicle's next MOT, but there's no way that Dave is going to

let a vehicle with this safety issue out on the snowy Christmas streets.

The taxi will be unable to pick up fares until the seatbelt is fixed.

I know you're gutted and probably angry about the seat belt issue and I get that,

I understand that and it's not that we're trying to stop you working,

but if I get in your taxi tonight and I had a member of my family sat in that seat

and you were involved in a bump and that seatbelt didn't work,

do you know what I mean?

It doesn't bear thinking about.

Back out on the icy streets,

Mike and the police patrol are really hitting their stride.

Have you got your badge on? That's great. I'm Mike from licensing.

Hopefully you should be on your way as soon as possible.

All right, thanks very much.

-Are you able to take the vehicle down to Tame Street.

-Right now?

Yes, if you could please.

And for this Tameside taxi driver he could be losing fares

not just today, but over the festive season too

if his vehicle is proven to be unroadworthy.

Bing Crosby's White Christmas is the bestselling Christmas single ever,

selling over 50 million copies worldwide since 1942.

Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas without some festive tunes.

For businesses, creating that perfect ambience during the festive season is crucial

and that's exactly what's brought together

one of the city's oldest businesses with one of its newest.

There are few names as famous as Forsyths

in the grand world of the piano.

From their Manchester base they sell, restore and tune

one of the widest ranges of instruments in the country.

The shop itself houses a show-stopping display of pianos,

ranging from £400 to a concert grand that will set you back over £100,000.

And over the festive period these pianos will be dispatched

to the homes of the rich and famous...

..or take their place on international stages.

Today, fifth-generation piano connoisseur Simon Loat runs the business.

Almost like we've done it before!

We started in 1857 when Charles Halle was invited

to come to Manchester to start the orchestra.

He was delighted to come up but he didn't know how to run a business, run an orchestra.

So he invited his friends the Forsyth brothers to help him run the orchestra

and he suggested they could open a music shop at the same time.

Nowadays their customers include Gary Barlow and David Beckham, to name a few.

But at Christmas time they attract an even wider clientele.

We don't always get the same type of customers we get during the rest of the year.

We normally get a musician buying for themselves,

but at Christmas we get family members buying for another family member

or buying for a musical friend and they're not necessarily musical themselves.

-Have you got it, Chris?

-Yes.

But today they're awaiting a slightly different type of customer.

So this is the workshop.

This is where we'll put the piano on its feet, unwrap it and check it out.

One of Manchester's newest and most luxurious five-star hotels

wants one of their pianos to form a Christmas centrepiece in their restaurant.

They were wondering about the possibility of being able to have a piano for Christmas.

They want it in the restaurant area and they thought it would be nice for creating a good mood.

His customer has arrived. Mario is the manager of the Gotham Hotel.

He wants to add a Christmas sparkle to this year's festivities

in his upmarket restaurant.

Christmas is coming to town, as we know,

and it's high time to get ready and be as Christmassy as possible.

So I'm here because I'm looking to get a nice baby grand piano

for the festive season.

I put the order in about four weeks ago and I haven't seen the piano yet

so that's why I'm excited today.

-Hello.

-I'm Mario. Good to see you.

So we just got it out of our basement this morning.

It looks lovely. It looks perfect.

The £15,000 piano has travelled from China by boat

to take centre stage at the hotel.

But it's next journey to the sixth floor restaurant

could be its most perilous.

The only route is via the customer lift.

Everybody told me there's no way you'll get a piano in that lift.

He was walking around with a tape measure so...

-Two centimetres at each end.

-Yes.

Maybe it won't fit!

But the only plan B will be a crane.

Let's hope we don't have to resort to that.

I would be much happier if Simon gets it in the lift

and set up in half an hour, as he promises.

Where's the tape measure?!

We're back in the garage with licensing officers

from Tameside Borough Council.

The stuff in the windows needs to come off.

This blue taxi has been sent in for testing

by a team out patrolling the streets.

That means the driver is losing business

during the busiest time of the week and he's not happy about it.

Why couldn't they do this on a Tuesday when it's dead? Or a Monday?

Because vehicles don't come out because it's dead and

we need to be able to get to vehicles to bring them in.

Dave has gone through the disgruntled driver's documents

and everything is in order.

Yeah, I know.

Now it's his vehicle's turn for the once-over.

Is that in reverse? And your hazard lights.

And it doesn't take the mechanic long to unearth a problem.

We're going to have to do an emissions test on it.

At the far end of the garage licensing officer Gemma Lee

is giving another cabbie a clean bill of health.

He's got his cheque book filled in,

he's doing the vehicle maintenance checks regularly,

he's got all his credentials with him, insurance certificate,

logbook, everything, all in a little wallet in his glove box.

That's how we want it, really.

But now it's the moment of truth for the blue minivan.

Fail the emission test and its taxi plates will be temporarily removed,

resulting in an unwelcome weekend off for its driver.

It's clearly failed the emissions test.

It seems to be that it's failed that bad it's done something

to the computer so we can't even print off the document.

It looks like Gemma is going to be the bearer of some bad news.

-We've just done the emissions test and unfortunately the vehicle has failed.

-OK.

It seems to be that we're not able to get a reading off it

because of the amount of smoke it was giving off,

so unfortunately it's going to be your plates taken off today.

I'm going to instruct you not to do anything.

-Don't have any repairs done yet. I'll give you a copy of this...

-Why can't I have any repairs done?

Because we're going to check the test history of the vehicle

and then obviously make a decision then.

So this afternoon or latest Monday I'll be in touch with you or Dave will

and obviously we can take it from there because the plates are going to be off the vehicle.

OK. Not a problem.

At first the cabbie takes it on the chin but as the council workers

complete their duties, his mood takes a definite turn for the worse.

It failed and I haven't got a problem with that.

That's the way it is and it's better it's failed to be honest

-because something will get done about it.

-Exactly.

But why leave the engine on? Why leave the engine on when it's failed?

-Let's just calm down.

-What we need to do is...

I come in for a test and I'm normally here half an hour or 20 minutes.

Unfortunately when it's a spot check it is like this.

Unfortunately we have to get vehicles in and it's a bit like a conveyor belt.

-I am sorry you feel aggrieved you've been waiting quite long.

-I am a little bit to be honest with you.

I understand that but unfortunately that's the way it is.

When we're out doing spot checks and that's how it will be.

Whenever you're involved in a spot check again you will have to wait unfortunately.

But it isn't acceptable to speak to somebody in that manner.

-You know that as well as I do.

-I do, yes.

-OK, thank you.

Eventually, Gemma is able to calm him down but the cabbie is still

struggling to come to terms with an enforced weekend off the road.

They've took this off which is a good idea.

If it's not right, it shouldn't be on and I agree with that.

From that point of view, everything's right. I haven't got a problem with that.

What I've got a problem with is why not do this on a Monday or Tuesday when it's quieter?

Friday or Saturday are our busiest days.

It's not a case of we think, "Oh, great, it's a Friday, let's target a Friday."

We do do these operations throughout the year on various different days.

It's just unfortunate for him now obviously,

his plates are off, he's going to be like that over the weekend.

We can't be having a vehicle driving round that isn't roadworthy to do so.

The licensing team are winding up their operation for the day.

Two potentially dangerous cabs have been taken off the road

for repairs and Dave can reflect on a job well done.

The operation this morning has been quite a success really.

Unfortunately we've had vehicles that have failed.

But we've caught them.

They have been taken off the road which is always a positive.

It's important the vehicles, certainly around the Christmas

period, are in top nick because they are going to be extremely busy.

It's the beginning of an anxious day for Manchester's oldest music shop.

After a week in the workshop being tuned, they're due to deliver

a £15,000 piano to a luxury hotel in the city centre.

Come on then. Let's get started.

It's a delicate operation and shop owner Simon

is travelling with it every step of the way.

Slightly concerned that the lift is very tight.

I had a look at it yesterday and the lift was smaller than I remembered.

Oh, no.

It's very hard to tell because of the curve of the piano.

We were slightly worried it's going to be just a bit too long.

When the lift doors close then I'll be able to relax.

It's a nervous wait for Hotel Gotham's manager, Mario,

who's pinning his hopes on the piano becoming

a real show stopper in his sixth floor restaurant.

But the practicalities of running a hotel in a listed building

are a constant challenge.

The plan for the piano is to come through our main guest lift.

This is a listed building and everything in it

had to be made to fit the building.

So what I'm hoping really is that the actual piano

is not much bigger than me.

Back at the shop, the baby grand is on the move.

So we have our best piano movers here today.

They're the Gilbert brothers, Wayne and Neil. They're absolutely fantastic.

They've been moving pianos all their working lives.

If anybody can get the piano in there, they can.

So we're all loaded now and then we find out if it fits.

At the hotel, Mario is anxious to cover all bases

and has a plan B in place, but it's an expensive last resort.

If the piano doesn't fit into our guest lift we would have to

hire a crane, probably stop the traffic around the building

as well, and then lift the piano seven floors up and then physically

carry it one flight of stairs down into the restaurant

on the sixth floor.

I'm desperate for that not to happen.

-Hi, Mario.

-Hello. Welcome. Nice to see.

-Good to see you. Yes.

We've just finished an exceptionally busy breakfast service.

We are on a very tight time schedule to turn the room around for lunch

and the piano has to be fully in place in time for that.

So time is of the premium. I'm very scared.

Come on then Wayne, let's have a look.

I actually woke up at 4:30am this morning thinking,

will it fit in the lift?

The problem is, that's where the door is wider.

They've done this before.

To Simon's relief, they've made it with less than a millimetre to spare.

Can you press the button?

That's the only problem!

Where are we going? Six?

It's on its way up.

The piano might have made it to the sixth floor,

but until it's set up and working they're not out of the woods.

It's a lot heavier than it looks, I promise you.

And there's bad news. There's something wrong with the piano.

It's fallen out, hasn't it?

The rod that lifts the damper tray that lifts all the dampers up

when you push the pedal down has come out of position when we

turned the piano on its side.

There's only one thing for it.

Simon will have to strip the piano down, and it's a race against time.

Right, we have exactly an hour until the first lunch table arrives.

-Is that it?

-No.

It doesn't seem to be jamming on anything.

There we go. Is that it?

At last there's some news.

Wayne tells me we've managed to get it located back in.

Watch your fingers.

So now, it's doing what it's supposed to do.

But the show is not over yet.

This is no ordinary piano and Simon has a final trick up his sleeve.

This is something somebody at work recorded earlier.

Was it you at 4:00am this morning?

PIANO PLAYS WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS

Christmas at Gotham.

The piano has a library of built-in music that it can play by itself.

I think it's a difficult job well done. So thank you very much.

-You're welcome. Have a Merry Christmas.

-Thank you. You too.

That's a relief.

A staggering 300,000 tonnes of card and paper are generated

by UK households every festive season.

That's enough to wrap around Big Ben 260,000 times.

Thankfully, a dedicated team working behind-the-scenes

clear that rubbish, to keep our cities clean.

But it's not just households that generate plenty of trash.

Businesses and restaurants in our towns and cities also add to the waste.

Rubbish collectors Stuart and Alex do their bit

to make sure Manchester scrubs up well for the festive season.

Yes, that's cool.

It's the busiest time of the year.

Restaurants especially, we do food and glass vehicles.

The restaurants especially get really busy

and then obviously the amount that we collect pretty much doubles.

They've had a few early-morning surprises in their time.

I've moved a bin and a homeless guy has jumped out of the bin

and gone running off.

And you're like, yeah, I'm glad you didn't go in.

They're out and about collecting waste from hotels and restaurants

across the city, ready to be recycled.

We've actually got to do a site clearance at the Hilton.

-They told you earlier?

-Yeah, because it was flooded yesterday.

The furthest one out we've got to go to is Malmaison.

Some customers over the Christmas period will phone up for extra bins,

knowing they're going to get a rush.

Some people will just pile the bins high so the lids are up here

and obviously we end up with a mess everywhere

when the bins are trying to be emptied and stuff falls out.

I'd say the most difficult thing for my job is getting into the tight alleyways

because when people are driving their cars they don't realise

how difficult it is to get a vehicle that size in a little alleyway.

Come on. You can move a bit more over please.

You need somebody looking in the blind spots all the time

because I've been turning when there's somebody on the phone

or there's a bloke, I've not seen him for a bit,

he'd walk around with a book in front of his face like that,

walking around and it's just like, come on.

On an average day I'll collect say 18 tonnes of waste.

Unless you see how much waste that is you don't actually realise

how much there is lying around.

Whose idea was this?

I think if we didn't do our job, the city would come to a standstill.

It's six in the morning and these Christmas trees

have just arrived at New Smithfield Wholesale Market in Manchester

after a 200 mile journey from Garrocher Tree Farm in Scotland.

It's a very good growing area where they come from.

If I could buy all my trees from Scotland I would do.

Keith Lowry runs a company supplying businesses with fruit and veg,

but over the festive season Keith swaps pineapples for pine needles.

Christmas trees are only two months of the year.

We're a catering company that runs 12 months of the year.

You're out of condition, Martin!

You're out of condition!

And you are!

I would say we're the main supplier in Manchester, yes.

We go all over the country as well.

We'll deliver 7,000 trees out over the next five or six days.

In the 47 years he's been supplying Manchester with trees,

Keith has seen a change in consumer habits.

At one time we sold double what we are selling now

but now it's just coming back again.

The trees went too expensive

so people did move onto artificial trees.

But now they're moving back to the old trees again.

It's only once a year and it's different than an artificial one.

You get the smell of a real Christmas tree.

New Smithfield Market is now open for business

and florist Anthony Cox is on the hunt for Christmas trees.

-Morning.

-Morning. Anthony. Nice to meet you.

What are you looking for today?

I need a big 14 footer, eight footers

and then I just need six six footers to start with

-and then we'll go from there.

-OK.

Anthony is not only looking to pick up trees to sell on his flower stall,

but he also needs one very special tree

that he wants to donate to a city centre church.

It's for the big St Ann's Church. They've got masses of room to fill.

If we can just have a quick gander.

This whopping 15 foot Nordmann fir that's taken 20 years to grow

could be just what Anthony is looking for.

Put it down, I can tell you now I'll have that. We'll have that.

I just want to see you drag it to the van.

That would be the funniest thing.

And when it comes to Christmas trees, size really does matter.

Last year it was really difficult to get hold of a good tree like that.

That's unbelievable.

We could only get a 12 footer last year but that's 15 foot.

St Ann's is like the first church of Manchester

and it's the centre of Manchester as well

so everybody goes every year to see their Christmas tree,

so it's important we put a good one on.

That will keep me in the good books for another year.

Anthony might be in the good books thanks to his very large donation,

but will he be able to balance the books

and make a profit from the other trees?

For the last five years he's been running a flower stall

next to St Ann's Church in Manchester.

There has been a flower stall here since 1892.

It was in one family for 112 years. The Fitzgeralds.

As the new owner of the flower stall,

Anthony is keen to keep up old traditions.

We provide the church basically because it's just the right thing to do.

It's what we like to do and it keeps up traditions.

It's what's always happened here.

So we provide the tree and obviously if it's been a tradition,

we always want it to be the biggest tree they've ever had and the best tree they've ever had.

And this year is no exception.

Thanks to Anthony's generous donation this magnificent tree

will take pride of place at St Ann's Church,

once they get it through the front doors.

But the hard work doesn't end with this enormous tree.

The big challenge for Anthony will be to shift the other six

six foot Christmas trees on his stall.

And with only one in five of us opting to buy a real tree,

this could be difficult.

But Anthony thinks he's found the solution.

He might be located in one of the oldest parts of the city

but he's going to use one of the newest of technologies to drum up business.

We try and do things slightly different.

We almost want to keep the concept that we are a traditional

old-school market, because that's where my upbringing was.

That's what I've come from. So it's trying to do it in a modern way.

We'll get it out on Facebook, straight out on Twitter

and we'll see by the end of the day if we've sold any.

New media might have helped to pull the punters in, but it's going

to take a bit of old-fashioned hard sell from Anthony to seal the deal.

That one has been out since this morning.

That has still probably another five or six hours to rest.

So you'll get all them to come down. That will come down a bit more.

That's a really nice one, isn't it?

The only reason why I pulled that out of there was I know it's the best one I've got.

If you want that tree it can go back to our warehouse

and I can look after it.

-It's beautiful.

-It's always the way with a tree.

Once you've seen one, you never want any other one.

I'm saying nothing but I know what tree you're going to be buying

because you always go back to your first one.

But perhaps it hasn't worked this time. Anthony is still confident.

I'll give her ten minutes until she's back buying that tree.

That's why we pulled that one out.

You know from the weight of it instantly it's the perfect tree.

And a good market trader knows his customer.

Sold. Sorry, just sold now to that young lady over there.

What was it? Two hours? Three hours? Two hours?

That's not a bad start. It's been here for two hours.

It will go on the van and within half an hour someone will be having tinsel on it.

It will be lovely.

This beautiful Nordmann fir that started life on the Scottish hillside

will now end its journey in a Manchester living room,

where it will be decorated and enjoyed throughout the Christmas celebrations.

It's good. It means I can get up now in the morning and buy some more

and get them out tomorrow because we'll sell a lot of trees, fingers crossed.

So yeah, it's good.

For many of us, Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a drink.

In fact, during December

we Brits spend a staggering £2.3 billion on booze alone.

As Christmas kicks off, millions of us will be enjoying ourselves

by partying in city centres up and down the country.

And although most of us will be enjoying ourselves responsibly,

there are some who will take it to excess.

And when that happens it puts a massive amount of strain

on the emergency services.

So who do they turn to when they need an extra bit of help?

Manchester Street Angels is a voluntary organisation

who patrol the city centre streets.

Similar initiatives operate all over the country.

They help people who have found themselves in trouble during a night out.

By day, Andy Poyser works in accounts.

By night, he patrols the streets of Manchester.

Andy, this is it,

you're about to go out on your first patrol of the night.

You're going to let me come with you.

What are you expecting to find tonight?

We're going to see some people that maybe have already started

drinking, had too much to drink, we're going to help them out,

we're going to look out for people that are on their own,

that are lost or vulnerable.

But the first step tonight is actually a briefing

with the police, who you obviously work quite closely with.

-What's that going to involve?

-Yeah, basically, we attend

the police briefing before we go out each night and they'll

tell us anything, any major events, that are happening

in the city centre, anything to look out for in particular.

And the briefing's happening shortly? So, let's go.

Sure. We need to go.

The volunteers work very closely with Greater Manchester Police.

Inspector Christopher Hadfield is in charge

of policing the city's streets tonight.

Right, evening everyone, OK,

for those who have done it before and haven't, Zone One staff,

that's the Northern Quarter, The Printworks and Deansgate.

Zone Two, the Locks, Peter Street and Castlefield

and Zone Three is the village, Piccadilly and Piccadilly Gardens.

OK, what events have we got on tonight?

We've got the Warehouse Project at Store Street,

1,800 capacity dance venue,

as we say, we've got four officers deployed to that already.

Billy Connolly is performing,

that finishes at 11 o'clock. England and Scotland...

-Anyone got the final score on that?

-3-0.

-3-0. So that's OK.

We've got the Manchester Street Angels, welcome.

You guys have had First Aid and conflict training.

Manchester Street Angels is a charity that was set up following

the death of Adam Pickup, a young lad from Bramhall

who went out one night,

sadly, with a group of friends and didn't come home.

On the back of that,

lots of people got together and as a movement of people they decided to

do something to try and help other people that may be in that position.

All the Manchester Street Angels are volunteers.

They all give their time freely.

We all have the common aim of helping people to get home

safely after having a night out in Manchester.

So Andy, we've just had the briefing.

Quite a lot of information there to take in.

Yeah, there's a lot of information and obviously, this weekend

is the first weekend of the Christmas markets

so there's a lot more people coming into Manchester.

And we also heard from the inspector that was giving the briefing there

how the officers were already stretched going out to calls

all over the place before the briefing had even started,

so to know that he's got you on the ground, you and your team as an

extra pair of eyes and ears must really be a good thing for the police.

Yeah, we work very closely with the police.

We work alongside them so we're there for their eyes and ears

a lot of the time, really.

OK, well, the briefing's done so let's get on with it, Andy.

-I'm in your hands.

-Thank you. OK, this way.

Here in Manchester, there are over 2,000 licensed premises.

That's a pretty big pub crawl. And with the Christmas market

bringing in the crowds we could be in for a busy night.

So, just already coming out, do you get the feel that it is

a little bit busier now that it is coming into the festive season?

You can immediately see as we're walking out that there's two

lines of cars which are not usually in place.

We've got groups of people over here on the right-hand side

that are congregating near a cash machine.

Immediately, we can see more people on the street

than what we usually see.

Alcohol-related situations account for much of the work they do.

And in a city of busy roads, the dangers are everywhere.

Some of the... The speed that some people are driving down here,

it's all a bit of bravado and showing off, I'm sure, but if

someone has had too much to drink and they're staggering

across the road, that could be serious.

Really serious. This potential for people staggering off the curb...

-Yeah, it happens, doesn't it?

-It happens, yes, it happens.

Within 30 minutes of patrolling the streets, the Angels

get their first call for help.

Someone who's fallen over getting into a taxi here.

-Right.

-The ambulance has already been called.

Had the ambulance not been here, this is something that you would...

We would definitely have picked this up here. We would definitely have

helped that person. Given them initial First Aid and called an ambulance straight away for them.

The volunteers come from all walks of life and have all sorts of

reasons for giving up their evenings to look out for others.

But for Andy, it's personal.

Why did you become a Street Angel?

A younger colleague of mine had too much to drink.

He was in a bad way and because he'd been sick and there was lots

of people that were just walking past him and weren't looking

after him so I started off by getting him...

by helping him really and getting him,

making sure that you know, he was in a safe...

-safe enough to get home.

-Right.

It's so reassuring to know for loved ones that there's

somebody there that at least will be looking out for them.

Team, we're going to turn right at these lights, so,

we've got a guy just on the right-hand side here, guys. OK.

This gentleman, if you want to just check he's all right.

What made you think he needs looking after?

So, basically, he was bent over facing the ground.

He looked like he was unsteady on his feet,

he was leaning against the wall...

From the position he was in, it looked like he could have

possibly been sick, he might have been unwell,

he could have been attacked, it could have been anything, couldn't it,

-from a distance?

-We don't know until we approach them. So that's why we're there.

But you can see, he's having a bit of a laugh and a joke with your team.

So, what will do now is I'll probably call the team back

and we'll move on.

I reckon just cross over, we'll just...

There's a nightclub just on the right, the next one,

just have a quick look at 42s.

Thankfully, it's been a quiet night for the volunteers

but the countdown to Christmas is only just beginning.

So, Andy, we're just finishing the shift now. Although there was

lots of people out and about, in your terms,

-you think this was a quiet shift?

-Very quiet shift, really.

We're really there to reassure people

and smile and laugh and joke with people.

We want people to enjoy themselves,

we want people to get home safely and tonight it's a job well done.

Well, it's a cold night, it's Christmas, I think it's time

-to get the kettle on, don't you?

-Fantastic. Let's go, let's go, team.

Andy's just said he's going to make everyone a cup of tea.

ANGELS CHEER AND LAUGH

Thanks, Andy!

After weeks of hard work, Gotham Hotel is adding the final

touches to their Christmas preparations.

Two nutcracker statues take pride of place outside the hotel.

Inside, the piece de resistance is their £15,000 baby grand piano.

The piano's in place, the wines are ready,

the decorations are in place, toy soldiers are outside.

So, hopefully,

fingers crossed, tonight is the night when it all comes together.

Tonight, Mario, the hotel manager, will be hosting

Gotham's first Christmas party.

And he's invited a VIP guest to the celebrations.

Local businessman, Simon Loat.

Hi, it's my favourite piano man, good evening,

you all right? Good to see you, Simon, welcome back.

-Thank you very much.

-Shall we...

-Looking forward to seeing the piano.

-Yeah, let's have a quick look.

Simon owns an independent music shop in the heart of the city

and has supplied the expensive piano

for their Christmas festivities.

Yes, the Christmas has officially arrived.

Our first Christmas party is this evening.

-Yes, tonight is going to be an exceptional night, I think.

-Yes.

Mario is hoping that it was money well spent, but will this beautiful

instrument hit the right note with the hotel's discerning clientele?

It's lovely that they've got a nice grand piano

playing nice Christmas music, great ambience for a nice dinner.

It was lovely to see Mario so happy with the piano.

The piano fitting in perfectly with his Christmas decorations.

The fact that he's using it by itself and with the pianist,

I think he's getting the most benefit out of it.

So yeah, he's happy, I'm happy.

Well, what a lovely show today has been and it's been great to see

you out with a bunch of volunteers, doing so much at this time of year.

Yeah, the Street Angels were great,

giving up so much of their time and tomorrow I'm out with another

group of people whose aim is to keep us all safe - the police -

as I patrol with them the busy Christmas city centre.

And we'll be joining the pupils of St Trinity's high school as they

prepare for the Christmas carol service where they're blessing

the Manchester crib at St Ann's Church.

-So, we'll see you then.

-See you then.