Episode 2 Babies in the Office

Addison Lee is Britain's biggest minicab firm.

A £200 million company which books 25,000 journeys a day.

Can I take the job number for the booking, please?

Where were you going, please?

The world of taxis used to be a blokes' business.

The cab driver comes off the road, works in the office.

They sit around smoking and talking about football.

But the arrival of women has put children and careers

on a collision course.

I don't want to be stuck in my house all day, every day.

I don't think, just because I have a baby,

I should be shoved into a corner or locked out of sight.

So the company are trialling a radical American scheme...

BABY CRIES

..that allows babies in the office.

Like a lot of ideas at Addison, it's a bit crackers.

We do try a lot of new things, and most work, some don't.

-Victor's sick, sorry.

-Sick?

A one-day trial caused teething troubles.

-Nyla, Mummy's going to work now, OK?

-No.

And 3,500 drivers nearly went unpaid.

I'm not able to do a few things at once

when I have a nearly two-year-old running around screaming for attention.

Now, seven parents must combine their day job...

Oh, after all that, you don't want...

..with being Mummy and Daddy for a whole month.

With this experiment, I really want it to work,

but I don't know if it's going to work.

-From the call centre...

-Shellon speaking.

Can I take passenger's contact number, please?

..to the sales team...

You've all got 25 minutes to get that to green.

..they must train their new recruits...

Ta.

Ohh! All right, you're not having that.

..and prove the doubters wrong.

-Hello!

-Hello!

For one or two days, it's lovely,

but I reckon for every day of your working day, it could never run.

But can the taxi business and babies start a workplace revolution?

Bounce, bounce! Yeah!

It's nice, yeah, but it is kind of a hard-sell environment.

I don't want it too airy fairy in here.

Or will this be one journey that all ends in tears?

I don't...I don't think I could do this full-time.

Can I have my agenda back, please?

Last time, Britain's busiest cab company

allowed babies into the office for a single day.

BABY SHOUTS AND LAUGHS

Before welcoming the new arrivals,

the office was baby-proofed from top to bottom.

Whilst mums and dads with babies suffered some hiccups...

-No, no...!

-OK, sorry. That way round.

-Nyla, Mummy's going to work now, OK?

-No!

..for some, it was a revelation.

I am happy. It feels really good, to be honest,

it feels good to be back.

What can I say? Babies at work. Great idea.

But toddlers caused trouble.

Do you want to come over here? Do you want to come to Mummy?

No? I feel so bad!

And, for one mum, one day was enough.

Let's go. I'm happy actually to go home!

-Bye!

-See you!

Now, MD Liam has extended the trial for an entire month.

Whilst we learnt things from the one day, the novelty factor meant

you're not going to get a true picture of how it affects

how people interact with these kids

once they see them day in, day out. By doing a longer period,

we'll get an idea of people getting more comfortable with them in that environment.

They'll get used to doing the job. Hopefully, productivity will improve

and we'll get a true reflection on what it would be like long-term.

Liam's head of Human Resources, Clare,

wants it to work for her own reasons.

It's probably made me more broody.

It helps that I've got Paul's very cute daughter

who sits just outside my office and she's gorgeous.

It's made me more broody.

Now, everything depends on the next four weeks.

In concept, fantastic idea.

But if it's too chaotic and too disruptive

then it's not something we can persevere with.

Seven parents with seven babies have agreed

to participate in the month-long trial.

If it succeeds, they hope Liam will agree to make it permanent.

One parent keen to make it work is 24-year-old single mum Maria.

She works full-time and has a 15-month-old daughter, Tanisha.

If I could take her to work with me, it would be better for me,

because then I could get more of a quality time with her.

It would make me feel happier if I could see her more often.

I'll feel more involved in her life.

I wouldn't feel like a part-time mother any more.

Maria chose to return to work after having her daughter,

rather than relying on the state.

It's comfortable, isn't it, to rely on benefits?

And you have that time with your child as well,

so if you're getting paid to stay at home with your child,

why not? Who wouldn't, really?

Um, but I had that drive to kind of build on my career

and possibly build a better future for me and my daughter.

For the next four weeks, Maria must prove that she can do her job

and look after Tanisha at the same time.

-Hello!

-Say good morning.

I think it will make me feel more positive, because there's times

I feel quite down at work, I'm much more quiet than I was before,

because sometimes I think about my daughter

and I kind of feel a bit guilty

that she's separated from me, if you see what I mean.

What we need to do is grab some details.

Maria works in the sales department.

It's target-driven and highly competitive,

which means patience will be in short supply.

The sales team is a certain type of guy.

The fourth floor has a reputation

for being very boisterous.

..do go on direct debit, then you get a 5% discount...

They're here to sell, and they all want to be

the best salesman out there. They all want to earn the most money.

BABY CRIES

All right, darling.

You need to have your bottle. Please.

-We have to go in a minute.

-BABY CRIES

Oh, darling! I've got more accounts to open.

The kind of job that Maria's doing here

is very much attention to detail. It's amending people's accounts,

making sure that the right payment details are on their profile.

Yeah, its admin work and you could say it's repetitive

but it is important, cos, you know,

if a customer is phoning to book a taxi

and their details haven't been put on right and they can't get their car,

we're not delivering what we should be delivering.

It's Friday, the busiest day of the week for the sales department.

For Maria, it's an early test of whether she can juggle her job

with looking after her daughter.

GENERAL OFFICE CHATTER

Maria's colleagues have been winning contracts all week.

But unless she can process them by the end of the day,

their commission will be delayed.

She urgently needs to concentrate, but Tanisha has other ideas.

Tanisha. Come here, darling. Come on.

Come here. There you go!

Tanisha, come on. Let's get your nappy changed,

Let's change your nappy. OK...

She's very lively today, but she has been a bit grumpy in the morning.

She's very tired... Bless you.

..and I think she's actually getting a bit of a cold, to be honest.

Ta.

Ohhh! All right, you're not having that.

It's only Day Two, but Maria already has her doubts.

With this experiment, I really want it to work,

but I don't know if it's going to work.

Maria may be struggling...

..but elsewhere in the company, the babies are starting to feel at home.

Things are going really well today, to be honest.

I'm doing all my work and, you know,

having Alina here is just helping me spend more time with her

and not having to think,

"Oh what's she doing at home?" cos I know she's right here.

Call centre agent Zahra has two daughters.

In the one-day trial, she brought both into the office,

but struggled to handle her two-and-a-half-year-old toddler.

Nyla's getting bored, I'm thinking maybe I'm better off

leaving her at nursery cos she does have fun there.

For the last two years, Zahra's been getting up for work at 4am

so she can see her children in the afternoon.

Now, she's trying to make the scheme work

for her 13-month-old baby, Alina.

OK, I've got your number firstly here...

Passenger's name, please?

Yeah, it's eight zero nine zero five three.

I think it will be a really big difference,

not only cutting down costs,

but also spending more time with my youngest.

I miss spending time with her

and I might miss her first steps or something, you know?

At least if she's around me, I can see it and not hear it,

"Oh, she's done this today, she's done that today."

OK, and passenger's name please?

Also in the call centre is mum of six, Shellon.

What about that one, or is that too boring? Oh, no?

Ooh, yeah, you know what that's for, don't you? Hmm?

Pumpkin. Hmm?

I need to get over to chauffeur service...

For the one-day trial, she came back from maternity leave

with her five-month-old daughter Madika.

She's met so many different people already.

She's been passed around the office,

she's getting to know new children.

She's still here with me, so she feels safe.

So I don't see any negatives for her.

Childcare for Madika could cost Shellon hundreds of pounds a month.

With so much money at stake, she's determined to make the trial work.

It's the 21st century. Why can't you do it?

I mean, its very easy to make an office child-friendly.

A cot, a chair, there's fridges in the break room.

Put their formula in there. You can't tell me it can't work.

I could make it work, I could show you it can work.

There we go. Huh, Maddy?

But not everyone in the call centre is keen on the scheme.

A full-time job at Addison Lee is a full-time job.

It's a busy, busy company.

We need to be on the ball all the time

otherwise things could go horribly wrong very quickly.

It can't work, it just can't work.

Children at work. Where's the children?

Where are they? They've all disappeared, see?

There's dummies everywhere, look.

See health hazard, that is. Health hazard.

That's when they're at their best.

Look at that. That is lovely.

I'm surrounded by children.

Whoops, stand up. You haven't been paying attention

to all this good work we've been doing

while we've been minding our children, have you?

Yeah, I can see you taking a booking now!

Doesn't she take up half your time?

Not at all.

Not even now?

Not even a little bit.

Back in the sales department, it's 4pm,

and time is running out for Maria.

If she can't process the contracts,

the sales team won't receive their commission,

and the whole trial could come to an early end.

I feel very stressed out.

I'm struggling, I'm finding it very difficult to handle Tanisha

and my work at the same time.

Usually everything's just completed, everything's up to date,

but Tanisha hasn't given me the time today.

It's mad. An hour ago I should have finished.

That's how crazy it is.

Um, I'm going to get an account number for this.

The clock is ticking and the working day is nearly over.

Everyone, have a good weekend.

I'll see you around anyway, I'll see you later.

BABY CRIES

Maria's colleague Paul steps into the breach,

but Tanisha doesn't want to be apart from her mother.

Where's Mummy? Here we go.

Come here.

Come here. Yeah.

Who's that? You're not going to stay with me, are you?

Go on, are you OK? Is there anything else you need done?

I need to set up this account.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to leave that to you.

In the nick of time, another colleague comes to the rescue.

Today's been the worst day of my life.

And it hasn't just been hard for Maria.

Obviously, I'm going to miss my train. That's the price I'm paying.

Kids, eh?

Eventually, Maria finishes the job, but it's taken its toll.

It just stressed me out too much today.

There was one point I felt like crying, I felt so stressed out.

Mummy!

I thought, "Can't I just drop her to nursery?

"And then I can get on with this and she'll be happy there.

"She'll be looked after."

I don't want to do that

but because it became so hard for me today

I just felt like giving up at one point.

Having both worlds, having Tanisha and my work life in one,

is kind of slipping away.

I just didn't expect it to be this hard to do both at the same time.

Down in the call centre, there's more bad news.

We've had a customer complaint.

A passenger was expecting a vehicle this morning.

Important meeting, six passengers, car's not arrived.

So what we're going to do now is listen to the call.

'Good morning, Shellon speaking.

'Can I take passenger's contact number please?'

-'Yeah.

-OK, hold on.'

BABY SCREAMING

-It's really quite loud, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Hi, Shellon.

-Hello!

Shellon is called into her manager's office.

I know, when I got in this morning,

I did want to log in on time, so I did.

And I was aware that for about five minutes,

ten minutes or so, she was loud.

Is it as simple as you haven't clicked "Confirm"

at the end of the booking?

Exactly. I took the booking correctly

-and in my mind, the call was finished.

-OK.

So I hung up the phone and then I thought,

"Oh, my God, let me get her quiet,"

without realising I didn't confirm it.

We just want to work out how to address it in the future.

If the baby's really loud and really screaming,

I think it would make sense for you to actually say,

"I'm really sorry, we're doing an experiment..."

I didn't... I wasn't sure if I could say that.

I suppose, yes, in a sense,

that would have given the customer that information...

-An explanation, yeah.

-However, would it have changed the outcome?

Maybe, because I was so busy trying to keep her quiet

so that the customer wouldn't say anything,

-where maybe if I could have said to him...

-Give me some more time...

..and then it would have took the pressure off a little bit.

-Definitely.

-OK. That's good.

I feel OK.

And I know that now I'm allowed to say to the customer,

"I'm really sorry, baby's here and, you know, she's a bit agitated,"

where I didn't know I was really able to say it,

so I was trying to really, really hurry up,

get the call over with, so I can get her quiet and take another call,

where now I know that I've got just that little bit of leeway to explain,

and that takes the pressure off of me.

And, um, hopefully no more mistakes.

Thank you!

OK, this has to go back...

See you tomorrow!

It's still early days in the trial, but managing director Liam

is already assessing the parents' performance.

We're a week into the programme now, and we've been able to see

how that affects the different work rates of the different people.

And it's very much dependent on what job they're doing

and what department they're in.

Some people have maintained a reasonable level of productivity.

Others really haven't.

So I'd want to see a turn-around in some of those.

But the up-side is there has been a lot of positivity

around the programme as a whole.

The loyalty and enthusiasm from the other staff

and the morale that's come with it and the uplift in that,

that's had significant benefits.

It's 6am, and single mum Thelma

is getting ready for her second week of the trial

along with her three-month-old baby, Tyler.

I really enjoy being a mum.

I feel like at least now I will never be on my own again.

I'll always have someone there.

I'm glad that I'm able to go to work with Tyler

cos then I could get back to work early

and earn some money as well as have him beside me.

OK, Tyler, we need to be quick today.

She's so determined to make the trial work,

she's prepared to make a two-hour commute on three buses

to get to the office on time.

The one day trial gave call centre agent Thelma

a glimpse of a brighter future.

My day is going great.

I've managed to balance motherhood as well as work

cos it's hard being cooped up in a house with a newborn 24/7,

so it's nice to get out and get some fresh air,

but in this case I'm at work earning some money.

But now, she must handle over 170 calls a day,

every day for a whole month, all whilst caring for baby Tyler.

What day's it for?

Sure. What's the postcode, please?

CR5...

It's not just mums who are keen to make the trial a success.

42-year-old car control manager Paul

had a recent addition to his family -

11-month-old baby Lila.

No-one would have been able to tell me the emotions I feel now, prior to her coming along.

Now I have her, I cherish every minute with her.

Myself and her have a great, great, great relationship.

Paul missed out on seeing his two eldest children grow up.

This is his chance to avoid repeating history.

It's good to be seeing her grow up, her get her little characteristics

and her developing her character, so it's good.

Come on, then. Let's go. Hello, fella.

As car control manager, many of Paul's meetings take place off site.

Today he's visiting an important client, along with daughter Lila.

It's the biggest test yet of whether the scheme can work for him -

and other senior managers.

It's going to be interesting because they'll be thinking,

"Can you put 100% into what we want if you're going to have a baby there?

"Are you going to be able to, in that just one meeting,

"ensure that they know what's going on, you're attention's not taken up."

Come on, then. Let's go.

Are you ready, little girl?

Paul's meeting an events management company

who need to hire over 400 minicabs.

Hi there, how are you? Nice to see you. This is Lila.

Say hi to Emma.

A potentially lucrative deal is at stake.

Come on. Ohhhh!

There. There.

-That's it, you sit here, beside Dad.

-Are you going to sit there?

Like a big girl at the meeting?

What we can do is, like I say,

we're happy to bring people on, you know, joint flights.

Especially people going back to Heathrow, to turn round and say...

I'm going to let you play with a banana and see what you do.

This is going to be so messy.

'When people say "OK, why are you bringing a baby?"'

This is what Addison Lee do.

And people suddenly start thinking, "Wow, that's kind of revolutionary."

'And it becomes a snowball effect.

'You know, people don't think about doing this.

'But the idea's now out,'

people will discuss it and even if they discuss it with other colleagues,

it will get a bit of momentum.

Lovely to meet you, you have a lovely afternoon.

-Thanks ever so much for your time.

-No worries, I'll speak to you soon.

-Take care.

I've never had a business meeting with a baby before, but it was an experience.

I think Paul was pretty good, he handled the situation very well.

I'm not sure everyone would handle it quite as well

and if everybody's allowed to take a child to work,

not everyone would deal with it in the same way.

It don't look right, does it?

He's got his whistle and flute on and his baby. It don't look right.

He's got it hooked over his arm and he's carrying it like it's a rugby ball or something.

Whilst you'd have thought the management team would be

the last place it should have worked, it's proving one of the easier,

because they are a bit more flexible.

It's the ones that have got work to do where they need to sit for longer periods

that are the ones that are struggling to get the continuity to be productive.

Any reference for the booking, Meg?

The company's name, please.

Come on, whining baby.

In the call centre, the pressure is relentless.

The team handle 25,000 calls a day, every day -

and Thelma is starting to feel the strain.

Today, I'm not really achieving my target because Tyler's teething,

so it's making him quite miserable and...

yeah...he's just been in a grumpy mood all day.

He seems...he's been quite restless,

he can't seem to drop off to sleep without me rocking him

and even when I do, he's up within about five, ten minutes.

The most he's slept today has been about 15 minutes,

so, yeah, it hasn't been that much of a great day.

Good afternoon. You're through to Zara. Can I take your phone number, please?

But Zara's learning to make the most of her moments of peace.

Alina's actually been sleeping for an hour and 15 minutes now,

which is really good,

so I'm getting a lot done.

I'm doing as many calls as I can

because I know, when she wakes up, I won't be taking as many calls.

OK, and for the third booking, what time is it for?

And for one of the mums, with last week's error a distant memory,

today is like any other day at the office.

I am in a routine now.

Um...I'm prepared mentally, physically,

everything I need,

and...today is not extremely busy, which always helps.

And she's in a good mood...um... and, yeah, so today's a good day.

GURGLING

That's all done. All four bookings for you confirmed and booked.

We pulled together some statistics for the girls.

The one person that is actually performing

just like another agent is Shellon.

She is reaching her target every day.

OK, all done, thanks, bye-bye.

And in fact exceeded that target, um, which is a struggle for

some of our full-time non-mum agents, so that's pretty impressive.

She is an experienced mum.

Her personality is that she's very, very focused

and she really wants this to work.

But, for the other call centre mums, the situation is less clear cut.

Do you want to get down?

The one thing I would say with Zara,

her adherence, so the amount of time she was logged on for her shift,

was around about 70%, versus a target of 85%.

Um, the last week, I have noticed that drop.

She's averaging out about 50%.

I think a lot of that is to do with how far her daughter's come on.

Where are you going?

So she was sat in the buggy sleeping a lot more,

really quiet, whereas now she wants to be up and about.

You know, she's more active.

So I think in Zara's case we, moving forward, if this was to continue,

we'd probably need to look to adjust her target.

I'll get them to give you a call right now.

That'll be great, yeah.

Moving on to Thelma, she is consistently

only logging on for 50% of her shift, so the target is 85.

So we would definitely need to reduce Thelma's,

probably lower than Zara's, to be fair.

And we would need to monitor it.

Thelma's a new mum, so I don't know whether that is having an impact,

cos the other mums, it's not their first child.

Look what I've got, pudding. Oooooh!

Ooh, monkey.

We benefit from having these mums in the business. If we didn't have this scheme, they wouldn't be here.

Good afternoon, Shellon speaking. Can I take passenger's contact number, please?

BABY GRIZZLES

Meanwhile, sales administrator Maria is on the verge of pulling out.

So far, she's struggled to combine her role with looking after daughter Tanisha.

Today she's meeting with head of HR Clare and sales manager Tyrone to see if they can find a solution.

Just wanted to have a catch-up to make sure everything's going OK.

You can be as honest as you like.

It was a real nightmare, to be honest, last Friday.

We were so busy with e-mails, accounts coming in,

it was very difficult to complete my work and look after Tanisha at the same time, she was very unsettled.

But how are you finding it generally? What are your thoughts at the moment about it?

I'm kind of questioning whether I could do this permanently.

If she's distracting me from my work, I'm just wondering,

does that make me a bad employee?

You know, I don't want to be seen...

I don't want Tyrone to think or my other colleagues to think that I'm slacking with my work.

This is a trial, but we understand the parents maybe aren't

going to be firing on all cylinders in that period,

but we're willing to be flexible with that.

I think Maria needs that reassurance that, you know,

that she's not going to have a cross next to her name

because of this period that she's had Tanisha in

that she maybe hasn't done as much as she usually does.

You don't need to feel worried or stressed out about this in any way.

-That's...yes, that's reassured me actually. Thank you!

-Good.

I didn't want them to think I was taking advantage of the experiment

and just spending time with Tanisha, instead of doing my work.

I can see they fully understand the situation.

So, yeah, I feel much better now.

I'm really glad Maria spoke to me about some of her concerns

cos I think during this time of a trial

we need to know the truth, we need to know exactly

what they're thinking, if they're stressed out, happy, sad, if they're finding it too much,

so I would rather the mums and dads come and speak to us so then we can make adjustments.

CHILDREN SHOUT AND LAUGH

MAN LAUGHS You're not supposed to do that.

Mike is the second dad taking part in the trial.

As a senior manager, work means time is limited with his 15-month-old daughter, Remi.

You hear a lot about working mothers and if you think about working fathers,

I leave home in the morning somewhere about seven

and get home at a pretty similar time

so it's quite a big chunk of the day gone.

This looks nice in here.

-Who made the curtains then?

-I did.

Did you?

Mike and his wife adopted Remi along with two older children,

and it's important for him to be involved in their upbringing.

I think having both parents involved is going to be really quite fundamental to their development,

so definitely they need exposure to me,

and I think when we agreed to take the children on

we wanted to give them a proper upbringing and proper parenting.

It wasn't a case of just making do.

We really wanted them to develop and grow with us really.

It's approaching the halfway point of the trial

and today is the management meeting.

Morning, everyone.

Morning.

It's the most important meeting of the month.

And, for the first time, MD, Liam, is letting two babies attend.

Did you make daddy a bit late, Remi?

LAUGHTER

Hello!

We're obviously having a management meeting with a difference.

Obviously we won't be disrupted at all and we'll just ignore them.

We're going to start off with some serious bits.

We've changed the IVR system now, haven't we?

Yes, the IVR has been changed, lots of work been done. Thanks to Mike as well for his help.

We've got some new music coming as well, which Liam's picked.

Like a lot of ideas at Addison Lee, it's a bit crackers.

We do try a lot of new things and most work, some don't.

Childcare is a constant battle for people.

From a purely commercial point of view,

I think this pilot is certainly worthwhile.

I've worked for a range of organisations

and some have been really positive and helpful

and concerned about family life,

and others have not been interested at all.

With a more balanced view, I feel that I was more productive,

certainly more committed to the organisation,

and I feel that the organisation got a great deal more out of me.

Can I have my agenda back, please? Is that all right? Can I have that?

Thank you!

The babies aren't just lightening the mood,

they're beginning to convince Liam that they could bring benefits.

I think commercially longer term we're building loyalty,

we're building better productivity for that person,

and from an attitude towards people that we can attract to us as a business,

because we do try these things, I think that would have its rewards.

Ladies and gents, you should all be now on the spare cluster.

It's 12.30 on Thursday, and disaster strikes in the call centre.

We have a system outage, we can't take bookings.

You're all working. Why have you got...?

The call centre computers have gone down without warning.

There's an average of 2,000 calls an hour

and everything must now be done by hand.

..Pre-booked for later.

Suddenly two of the mums are facing their biggest challenge.

Shellon's shift begins in the middle of the panic.

Every call centre's worst nightmare, when the system goes down.

OK, let's rock'n'roll. Good morning, Shellon speaking,

can I take passenger's contact telephone number, please?

Where are we going to be picking up from?

We've got 38 account calls waiting, 15 cash customers,

and we've got everyone on the phones taking calls.

There is a hub of activity now and no manager is sat down.

Everyone's on the floor, making sure agents take bookings manually,

and those are passed to our controllers.

Thank you very much.

Sorry, we're having a bit of a system glitch.

I do apologise that you had to hold. When would you like your car?

For Zara, along with daughter Alina, it's also a critical moment.

All the babies must be on their best behaviour.

Good morning, Shellon speaking.

Can I take passenger's contact number, please?

Finally, after five tense minutes, computer power is restored.

Back to normal now, all good.

We've got the queue down to just seven calls waiting on accounts

so we've got everyone on the floor logged on, even team managers.

-So yeah, that was pretty busy, wasn't it?

-It was.

It hasn't happened for a long while. It was out for five minutes, but it's amazing the impact it has.

-Definitely.

-It's all good now.

Both mothers and babies have passed this test with flying colours.

Thank you. There you go.

The mums were really good, they carried on as normal, just got on with it.

They were excellent, Shellon in particular.

Shellon the multitasker! Baby, bookings, manual docking.

Well done, yeah? Good work.

Disaster averted!

This has been the first time since I brought her in

that the system has crashed, so to speak,

and we've had to quickly get back on top of things.

I feel that I responded exactly as I would if I didn't have her here.

Once I'm aware of the situation, I know what I need to do.

I know what I'm up against and the best thing is to get it done

because having a baby will make it ten times harder

so it's best to just focus, do your best, and knock it out.

The next day, Liam visits the call centre.

The benefits for the business are becoming clearer,

but he wants to find out the parents' perspective.

How have you found it generally?

-I haven't had a chance to catch up. How have you found it?

-I'm loving it.

-Are you?

-I am. Me personally, I am absolutely loving it.

You wouldn't know you've got a baby here - your figures are the same and you've just got on with it.

That's my goal, to have as minimal disruption as possible.

-And what about her? How is she?

-You know what? I think she's doing OK.

We are getting some good positive feedback.

There are still a few kinks in there, but if I could, I would.

Yeah. Well I think you're a good example. Thanks, Shellon.

-Hello.

-Hiya!

This has helped me out a lot. I get to spend time with Alina more.

-Yes. Saved you a bit of money?

-Yeah, I have saved, yeah.

-How much?

£200 this month. Yeah, this has actually benefited me a lot.

That's good. You all right, Thelma? He seems like really easy work.

-I wish!

-How has he been?

He's been great. At the minute he's just been at home with me

because I just went on maternity leave about three months ago.

-So this is you coming back off maternity leave with him?

-That's correct, yes.

I've been here for four years with the company

and I would hate to not be able to come back and sort of lose my position

because obviously I haven't been able to find childcare for him

so it's been great getting out of the house and I can come to work,

do work, and I enjoy working here.

Good to hear it's working. Good.

The baby revolution has even hit the sales floor.

Two weeks ago, sales manager Tyrone had his doubts.

And, after Tanisha's tantrum, Maria nearly left the trial.

Now the situation is transformed.

Good girl!

She seems like a different child today.

Last week she was really ill, so she wasn't in the best of moods.

She was very unsettled, but today she's running around everyone,

saying hello, interacting with them.

It's given me time to get on with my work,

and she's been very happy throughout the day as well.

Yeah, it's been good today. It changes the vibe slightly when she comes in,

and some of the guys are commenting this morning that they like the vibe in here as well.

It mellows things down a little bit.

She is like a little mini member of the team, you know?

Everyone has their little moments with her.

HE SINGS

Obviously I don't want it too airy fairy in here,

but...it's nice, the little change is nice.

-Hello!

-Hello!

For the scheme to be made permanent, it has to have the support of the majority of staff

and some of the sceptics are changing their minds.

In general, I love having her here.

It has been good, good fun. Long may it continue.

And if you'd seen me at the beginning, I wouldn't have said that

so it's been a shift in attitude.

What are you doing?

Are you ready? Wooooooh!

'The first day, I didn't like it at all.

'I didn't see any kind of reason or need to have children in the office,'

but now, yeah, I can see it is definitely viable. It can work without a doubt.

The positives outweigh the negatives, definitely. I think everyone is getting enough done

and obviously the parents are getting what they want, and that is to raise their children.

For the company, it's a triumph of teamwork,

whilst Maria is fulfilling her wish of seeing much more of her daughter.

She's really been interacting with all my work colleagues today

so that's given me time to do what I need to do

so I feel more positive today about the experiment and how well it's going,

but I think it has taken Tanisha about three weeks

to kind of get used to everybody in the office.

Can you take that home and do some work?

In the accounts department, the scheme is facing the toddler test.

Monica is working alongside her 22-month-old daughter, Natasha...

..the oldest child taking part.

Going to open it? Shall we read it?

I would love to have another child,

but at the moment, financially, I can't see it working out.

I want Natasha to have brothers and sisters.

I want to continue to build my family.

If this was to work out, of course it would save us money

so yeah, it would push our decision to have a child earlier.

In the one-day trial, having Natasha around

almost prevented Monica from ensuring all the drivers were paid.

I thought I was a good multitasker but I'm not able to do a few things.

It's a lot harder with Natasha being here.

I'm not able to be as efficient in my job as I normally am.

Hello? Who is it?

Three weeks into the one-month trial,

another day hasn't got off to a good start.

I've been here since eight

and basically been at my desk for all of five minutes.

She just won't let me sit down today.

You see what happens? See what happens?

Quickly.

So, yeah, I don't know what's wrong with her today.

SCREAMING

She doesn't want to do anything.

Not the greatest day to have her in. A bit anxious about

the amount of work we've got because we've got to call people off our field today

and plus Monica's not done...

I'm not slagging her off but she hasn't done anything for two hours because of Natasha.

At 22 months, Natasha needs more stimulation and more attention.

Monica's hopes of the trial working and expanding her family are fading.

Actually I feel quite bad for her because she's not really telling me what she wants to do.

She's not doing anything.

I just think everyone's looking at me thinking she can't handle her.

And they all keep coming up to me saying, "Oh, she's not that bad, she's not that bad,"

but in terms of how she normally is, she is that bad today.

And, um...

I don't think I could do this full time.

I think it's just got to the point where everyone can see she's in distress

and it's not fair that I should keep her here like that,

especially because I know all she wants to do is go home.

I don't think it's fair that I should bring Natasha back in tomorrow.

At any point, the parents have the option to leave the office with their children,

and at 4pm, Monica does what any parent would do and takes Natasha home an hour early.

Sorry, see you guys later.

With Natasha being returned to nursery,

Monica's hope is that the trial succeeds and she might benefit in the future.

My niggle, I guess, regarding the older children, is based on

what I've observed so far,

is the older kids are more mobile for a start

so they're running around and the parent is having to watch them

or their co-workers are having to watch them so they don't run out of the door.

That is where I think my issue or my worry comes from with the older kids really.

As the last week of the trial approaches, decision day looms large.

Managing director Liam will make the final call

about whether to make the Babies At Work scheme permanent.

I will give you a form now. Can you fill that out for me?

-It's about the Babies At Work trial.

-OK.

-And what you thought.

-OK.

-Thank you.

First, head of HR, Clare, and Liam's PA, Vicky, canvass the company's 300 daytime staff.

Without a majority in favour, the company's babies will have to leave.

This is just a little straw poll - what is the general feeling?

-General ideas, general vibe.

-I liked it. I enjoyed it, I loved it.

-You know, screaming babies I don't want.

-Sheila, I can't really say...

I can't really say, "Yours screams, you can't bring them in!"

With the staff surveys in,

the fate of the scheme is one step closer to being sealed.

I think people have got involved in it, people who thought they'd have no interest in it

have got involved in it and have got an opinion on it,

and a lot of people's opinions might have changed as well.

Some people thought it was a ridiculous idea at first and now think it's really good.

-There you go.

-Thank you.

Britain's first-ever Babies At Work trial is nearing its end.

-Come here and give me five.

-No.

-No?!

Seven small babies have made a huge impact.

And, as decision day approaches,

even the fiercest critics are thinking twice.

When the car is on its way, you're going to get a text message to your phone.

Oh!

OK, I know on trial day you came over to me

and you basically said, "This is going to be a disaster."

OK, give me, honestly, your opinion.

I think it's been positive, I really do think it's been positive.

I was very, very concerned

and it seems to have been a very positive thing for the children,

-positive for the mothers.

-Yes.

I don't think it's been as bad as I ever dreamt it would be.

And it has been great fun really.

Even I love children, everyone loves children. It's been good.

-The nursery is £943 a month for her.

-£943?

-And 45 pence!

I hope it does work for everyone, I really do

because if it does make a significant saving, like you say, that's great.

That's really huge.

And you know what, money aside, I'm not missing anything.

She's here with me.

I don't have to be running off on my breaks, "How is she today? Is she OK today?"

Come on then. You've been in here all day, all morning. Yeah!

After a month of babies in the office,

today is the final day of the trial.

Nobody knows if they will see them again.

Hello, Tanisha. It's your last day today and we are going to miss you.

Oh, yes, doggie, we'll miss Tanisha lots.

I think I might cry when she goes.

After a sticky start, Tanisha has proved

a hit in the sales department. The team are meeting their targets

and mother and daughter are bonding more closely.

I think I've got to know her a little bit more,

which sounds a bit wrong

because I'm her mother, I should know everything about Tanisha,

but I don't really spend

that much time with her in reality.

She's at nursery all day, I just bring her home for dinner time,

bath time and sleep time, really.

I don't get that good quality play time, do we?

No. So it's been great. Yum-yum!

Hi, girls.

Head of HR, Clare, is more convinced than ever the scheme should be made permanent.

It just seems normal to me now.

Yeah, that just seems the norm, to have a little baby there.

It just seems what you do. It's no problem.

They can sleep there, they are fine. No problems.

Especially at this age, I think it's really easy.

It's going to be really sad actually for them not to be around, really.

Come here. Hello!

Aw, you're so cute!

Get him on the phones next.

Are you laughing? Get you on the phones?

Yeah. Yeah.

For Shellon, the trial has been a lifeline.

They've actually given us the executive toilet

and made it baby friendly.

When I applied for the job, I knew it was reputable.

This makes me know that I've definitely made the right decision.

And to be honest, I won't be going anywhere,

not for the foreseeable future, unless I get the sack,

which I have no intention of doing. I will be here until retirement.

This day and age, you need all that you can get

because this might not be cash from them

but it's an equivalent to

because the amount that I'm saving

in childcare alone makes a huge difference.

So, thank you, Addison Lee, much appreciated.

That's the end of our day. See you!

And it's not just the parents the trial has affected.

I'm going to miss you. Say "Bye, Vicky, bye, Alicia."

I'm upset, I'm really upset. I'm going to miss them a lot.

Bye-bye! I think it's brought everyone closer, not just the mums and babies.

It brought everyone - the agents, the managers here,

and everyone just got so involved in everything, it was really nice.

It's a really good experience.

In the last month,

one taxi cab firm has gone where no British company has gone before.

With the trial over, the babies have left the office

and life has returned to normal.

Shellon and Thelma are back to being mums at home.

-Have a kiss.

-Aw!

Let go, let go.

Maria comes to work without Tanisha.

And Paul drops baby Lila off at nursery before work.

-LILA CRIES

-Sweetie pie.

See you later.

Daddy's coming back, he's coming back.

Can I have the account number, please?

Now, managing director Liam must make a decision.

Will his company become the first in Britain

to run a permanent Babies At Work scheme?

Vicki, Jane and I have done the research you asked us to do.

What was the feedback?

What was the reaction from the survey?

We did a very quick traffic-light form. 116 people were amber

and said they didn't mind either way.

We had 24 red, saying no,

they definitely don't think they want to do it.

But then, we had 76 green saying 100%, please, can we do it.

And, actually, a lot of the reds came from the Finance Department.

-Right.

-Where Monica was based.

And Monica's little girl was that little bit older

-and Finance is a quieter floor.

-Yeah.

-Compared to this.

I would've thought you'd have had a few more greens, to be honest.

The issue with toddlers has thrown up an additional option.

If we do put a nursery in place, I know, you know, Monica

and Maria have both said to me that it would be life-changing for them.

But they've struggled having them at the desk.

Yeah, because they're a bit too old.

So they're the age now, both over one,

that they'd be down in the nursery and they've both said,

if we had a nursery, it would be amazing.

But they don't feel that, if we continue the babies at work

for any age, it would work for them cos they're too old.

This is the serious bit.

Decisions that we do make now, people are going to make

longer-term, life decisions about

whether they do or don't have kids, what they do.

So we've got to be 100% sure from this point forwards

that whatever we decide, we're prepared to honour, stick to,

and it has got to work for us.

It's been a month since the babies left the company

and, after much deliberation, it's the moment of truth.

For everyone involved,

it's a decision that will have a profound impact

on the way they live, work and parent.

I am feeling a bit, you know, what's going to happen?

If they did decide that, then

me and Peter would definitely consider,

you know, maybe having another child.

If they come back and say it's not going to be done, sorry,

you know, too chaotic, then I will be very disappointed.

If they go ahead with it, that'll be great because I've got myself into a routine, I come into work

and, all of a sudden, I'm not doing it any more,

so... I don't know, I feel a bit lost.

If we're going to do this, then it's a really massive, massive decision.

I think it's a bigger decision

than I initially thought it was going to be.

You know, it's changing the whole culture of the company.

Liam gathers everyone together to make the announcement.

Afternoon, everybody.

ALL: Afternoon.

Thank you, everyone.

It's been an interesting experiment, you know,

it's not been without its challenges.

It's had its highs and its lows and, you know, we've had to adapt

and we've had to work our way through this.

We appreciate that whatever we decide today,

will affect people's lives for the future,

will affect people deciding to have families.

So it's not a decision that we've taken lightly.

And the decision is...

..that we WILL be allowing babies at work.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

And there's more good news for the parents.

We have also decided to introduce a nursery as well.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Basically, we think the idea should be that the babies up to a year,

until they become mobile, will be at the desks and in the workplace.

And, after that, then we'll put them down into the nurseries.

EXCITED CHATTER

So, you know, the hope is that, as we grow old

and we're looking at grandchildren, that this will be commonplace.

So thanks again, and look forward to seeing your babies back at work.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

Wow, I am ecstatic. I think it's a great idea,

I'm still in shock, I can't believe he decided to go ahead with it.

I am so happy with the announcement.

Basically, for the next two-and-a-half years,

I have no childcare issues at all.

-Thanks ever so much. It should be good.

-It will be good.

Being able to bring Lila here to work with me by my desk,

that's going to have a profound impact on mine and her relationship.

I know, certainly, a few people on our floor

would be up for bringing their babies in. I certainly would.

We didn't really think it would work initially.

Woo-doo-be-do!

-We miss Tanisha, actually.

-We do.

-We miss her.

-Maybe time for another?

-It'll definitely push our decision!

It'll definitely push our decision, Clare, honestly.

There are many components to having staff.

There's what you pay them, there's what you get out of them.

And it's that productivity that you want to try and strive to create,

not over, like, one year or six months.

It's expensive to recruit so, therefore,

if we can keep somebody here for ten years,

the idea that they had six months to look after a child, you know,

that pays for itself ten times over.

They've proved this scheme can work in Britain,

but will other companies follow in the footsteps

of Addison Lee's babies?

We know, from our experience,

that setting up an on-site nursery

was a radical idea in its time.

But it just shows, in terms of the benefits for the employees,

how it soon becomes an accepted way of working.

Whilst new ideas, like bringing your baby to work, seem radical,

who knows what the future will bring,

in terms of that becoming an accepted working practice.

I feel really proud of where we've come to.

I feel really proud that we have taken this on board,

we've given it a go, we've trialled it, it's worked.

I feel really proud that we're going to be the first company doing this.

I almost think, a lot of companies, how can you not?

If we can do it, you know, I don't understand really

why a lot of companies can't adopt it in some way, shape or form.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd