Guidebridge MOT Alex Polizzi - The Fixer

Family businesses make up a quarter of the British economy

and employ nearly 10 million people.

But 1,000 small firms are going bust every single month.

-Sorry.

-This business is on a knife edge.

-At some point we're going to have to call it a day.

-For God's sake, do something.

For family firms it's not just profits,

but relationships on the line.

£50,000 now and you'll never see me again.

I don't know if it's ever going to get better.

You must see SOME hope - otherwise, let's not bother with this then.

I'm Alex Polizzi.

I grew up in a family business that expanded from one small cafe

to become an empire worth billions.

Now I'm trying to bring six family firms...

ALL: Hello.

..back from the brink.

This is a business. You're ruining your health, you're ruining your family life.

He's just used to getting his own way, and I'm used to getting mine.

This week, some Mancunian mechanics in need of an overhaul.

Darling, you're working a third of the hours available to work, which is shocking.

As financial trouble...

This is the first month that I've not

been able to pay the rent on this place.

In three months' time, we're not going to be here.

..and family secrets...

You told me something five minutes ago that you've never told me.

We need to know this.

..threaten to run this business off the road.

I look stupid.

Listen, I'm not trying to make you look stupid.

I'm on my way to the outskirts of Manchester to a struggling

family-run MOT garage.

Like most of us, I'm pretty clueless about the internal workings of a combustion engine

but, I have been very unhappy about every service I've ever received

from a garage, so as a consumer, this is going to interest me a lot.

Small independent firms in this industry

have taken a real bashing over the last ten years,

with car dealerships

and large chains taking a bigger slice of the action.

Nearly a third of all small traders have ended up on the scrapheap.

The money coming through is dropping quite dramatically

and I keep thinking, will we get through, will we make it?

Have we got enough money in the bank? How long can we carry on?

And that scares me.

In 2003, Jan and Derek Lord set up their business in Guide Bridge.

What's the registration number?

But in the last two years, profits have tumbled.

When she shows me the computer printout,

what we took last year and the year before and the year before...

it is worrying.

If I don't get this right, there's not just one or two

out of work, it's six, and it's a whole family.

In a bid to combat the financial problems, Jan and Derek

sold their home to provide some cash flow for the company.

They've got all their eggs in one basket.

If this business goes down, it's going to affect them hard.

It's not just their future, but also that of their three children.

Gareth, Nicola and younger son Adam all work at the garage.

But none of them have any idea just how bad things are.

The main business side of it, it's normally me mam

that deal with them, rather than me.

My job description is an MOT tester, so I do the MOTs.

And if there's no MOTs, then...

I don't do a lot.

The more I go into family businesses, the more evident

it appears that not all members of a family carry a same or equal load.

I come in, I do me work, I go home, I get me wages on a Friday.

It seems mum Jan is trying to keep the problems with the place to herself.

I don't know what to do any more.

How do I make people redundant? How, how can I do that?

I can't do it to any of them, let alone me own boys.

There's an awful lot of pressure on me

because if, if it doesn't go right,

I'm going to be forced to make a decision that I just don't want to make.

Sorry.

So, this is Guide Bridge.

And I can see an A-board, Guide Bridge MOT, MOT service,

tyres, exhausts.

If that's the only advertising they're doing,

I'm not surprised they're not getting much passing trade.

So I've got just ten weeks with the Lords

to try and turn this struggling firm around.

Stand there, I'll get the other one off as well.

Don't want you hurting your back.

-Hello.

-Hello!

-Pleased to meet you.

-Very nice to meet you.

-Welcome to Guide Bridge.

-Pleased to meet you.

-Very nice to meet you.

-Are you ready for this?

-I think so.

I'm ready for a new challenge, yeah!

So I, the first thing I want to know is who does what round here.

Right.

Who's the boss?

Are you the boss?

On paper, yes.

Yeah.

Um, but Jan runs the garage.

-I tend to do a lot of the high level stuff now, so...

-Like what?

VAT returns, accounting figures, banking, insurance,

-getting quotes for things.

-Marketing?

Um, we're not good at marketing but that's something that, yes,

you know, that is something that we need to look at.

-OK, can I meet the others?

-Certainly.

This is Adam.

He's what we call the gobby one.

I mean, just look at him. How can you not love him?

I'm going to find it hard to resist, but I'll do my best, OK?

'The baby of the family, and clearly doted on, is Adam.

'He's in charge of the MOT tests.'

How many can you do in a day?

On a busy day, about ten-ish.

-How often does that happen?

-Not very often.

-Have you ever worked anywhere else? You've always worked here?

-I did me prom

and then eight o'clock in the morning, I was here.

-Do you think you get away with murder?

-No.

-No? You think they're tough on you?

-Yeah.

-Do you?

I'm the hard-done-to one.

-Are you? Gosh, you bear it so bravely!

-ALEX LAUGHS

Adam's older, and far less cheeky brother, is Gareth.

Jan persuaded him to join the business five years ago

when times were better.

It's easy work.

It's not like coming to work here.

That, that makes me very nervous.

-It's not, it's not like coming to work.

-Already warning bells, yeah.

It's, you know, you come in and your day's

pretty much balanced out all day, You're left to get on with it.

Because actually you're on a wage,

so it's not your problem too much if the work doesn't keep rolling in.

No, we still get paid at the end of the week.

Sister Nicola is the third sibling on the books.

She runs reception and helps Jan schedule the work.

-What do you think the garage is really good at?

-People do see us as a,

a friendly, honest garage.

Why do you not get more repeat custom then?

-Mmm.

-Mmm.

I've now met the main players, and it's amazing how quickly

I can build up a picture of what's going wrong here.

The engine of this business is obviously Jan, which is fine.

I don't expect everyone to be up and running about town

trying to punt for new business.

Someone actually has to stay here and do the work.

But they do at least have to be involved and interested

in how new work is going to be found.

No-one feels the time pressure very much.

Maybe because they're not as busy as they should be.

And when I ask Jan to look at exactly how many hours

the mechanics ARE working, we both get a shock.

When you take how many hours we've got available to work,

and how many hours we actually charged out...

Darling, you're working a third of the hours available to work.

The garage and all the people and the mechanics in it,

are only working a third of the hours available, which is shocking.

Of course you're struggling.

-But even if we did a, I mean...

-60%.

That's still going to double to what we're doing now.

Dearie me.

-Basically you just have to get more business through that door.

-Yeah.

So, one problem is clear.

They badly need more customers or there could be no business

for Jan's kids to inherit.

Small garages such as this rely heavily on loyal

and local customers.

But if customer service isn't up to scratch,

people simply won't come back.

Right, you can all come in now. Thank you.

I've arranged for a cavalcade of new clients to descend on the garage.

It's going to test their service skills to the limit,

not just under the bonnet, but over the counter too.

Right, does someone tell them where to go and what to do?

That'd be my job.

-You're supposed to be welcoming, make sure people know what to do.

-Morning.

We need a bigger car park.

Do you want to take your keys into reception for me, please?

Well, I just don't understand... If there's a system,

I'm not kind of entirely sure what it is.

Does everyone know how long, more or less, what time they'll be finished?

I've told this lady it's going to be about an hour.

And then you're next, are you?

June'll be first off.

June'll be first off, then this lady.

-Make sure that everyone's told.

-It's, that's being MOT'd now.

Somehow it's not quite the charming experience I want it to be.

Who tells who what to do?

Well, I'll come over and say which one do you want me to do,

and then I'll just go through and see who needs the car back first.

OK, I just want to see high efficiency, extremely efficient.

OK?

It's Nicola's... Do you know, I hope she's not always like this,

because it certainly would put me off coming somewhere.

It's Tuesday morning, I've brought my car in, I want someone to be nice to me.

Is it that much to ask?

Unfortunately, it seems Nicola has overheard my early observations.

What's happened?

She's just a bit upset.

-What?

-Go on, tell Alex.

-I look stupid.

-Listen, I'm not trying to make you look stupid, sweetie.

That's just not in my interest.

I thought she coped well with these people coming in and out,

but you wonder, could we have done something differently and that's what you're looking for.

That's what I'm looking for. I've never run a garage.

I want someone to tell me what and how it should happen.

You need to speak to Alex and tell her how it runs in there.

Darling, get yourself together and then we'll talk, OK?

One thing is obvious. Nicola's role on reception is key

and I need her firing on all cylinders

if we're going to get through the morning.

When everyone came in, it's kind of frustrating

because you expect a hive of activity.

Now, everyone was actually already working on a job.

-Yeah, so I can't give them...

-No, but I think it's important

that that's communicated to the customer.

It's not like we're sitting here and actually ignoring your car,

it's just that everyone's got a job on.

This is the order that you'll be looked after in

and as soon as one job's finished, the next car will go on straight away.

We'll get it done.

Work well under pressure.

It's been a bumpy ride, but with their receptionist recovered,

the mechanics are soon back on track.

Another one done. Bring the next one.

We do get this many jobs on from time to time.

We get on with it, deal with it. Just do it, you know.

It's only busy for so long.

So just crack on.

Ow!

So what did you think of the whole experience?

They didn't give me any idea how long it would take, so I've been waiting for three hours.

I thought it might take an hour and a half but it's taken double that.

But if I'm going to wait three hours,

I'd prefer to be doing something or watching or reading something

and the waiting room's a little bit boring.

There's your invoice for your short service...

What do you think could be done to improve it?

Um, nicer waiting area, and perhaps when you got here

to say exactly what they were doing and how long it would take.

That's a very good point.

It's been an eye-opening morning

and the extent of the problems here are far worse than I first feared.

They'll never generate loyalty from customers

when the way they look after them is this poor.

On top of that, the lack of work

is leaving mechanics standing around idle,

driving overheads through the roof.

Jan is trying, but I think the rest of the family need a boot up the business backside.

It's time to lay down the law with the Lords.

I gave you a challenge today.

I think what was missing and what really struck me,

was that amongst yourselves,

you're a really charming, engaging family.

But that doesn't really translate very well to the customer.

You've got people in your yard, you go up, you say "Hi,

"can I help, do you know where to go?"

"This is the way", you know, "Have you had an all right morning?"

You start engaging with them straight away

and I felt like that was missing.

You, I thought, were going to be the exponent of customer service.

You've got four or five people in that waiting room,

and you didn't say hello to any of them.

It was like they didn't exist.

You've got one chance to make a good impression

and you blow it and they're gone.

You can layer it. You can nuance it.

But that first impression is what counts.

Second thing is, waiting room.

You need to make it so it's somewhere where you could

while away an hour without wanting to slit your wrists in boredom.

And I know you're doing, and you believe you're doing,

a good job, but actually you do not come over as special in any way,

from any other garage that I've been to.

I know that's a hurtful thing to say because you've worked very hard,

but this is in your hands to fix.

You do have some incredible selling points, and I think something

that should be your unique selling point is your status as a family.

But we need to work on customer skills and I'm going to find a way to do that.

We think, as a group, that we portray a good customer service,

but somebody coming in from the outside,

telling us that perhaps we're not that special,

um, yeah, it hurts,

but it can only be good for us.

Having hit the family with some home truths

the first issue I want to address

is their lacklustre customer service.

Just six miles down the road is Manchester City Football Club.

Their clientele includes some of the world's wealthiest,

so when it comes to customer care,

it's got to be pitch perfect every time.

Wow.

Although this seems like a slightly sideways step for them -

I mean, this is a football club and they run a garage -

what I'm really hoping they understand

is the basics of customer service are the same

in whatever business you're in.

And today, head of Man City's hospitality team, Ali Benson-Smith,

is ready to prove precisely that, with a customer service masterclass.

What we're going to start by doing

is we're going to practise with, er, Alex is going to be a guest

and I'm going to be a guest, and you're going to welcome us

into the Mancunian restaurant, which is just behind us here.

-Well, I've never been here before.

-Oh, have you not?

-Well, you are in for a treat, let me tell you that.

-Thank you.

-Can I let you know the washrooms are at either end of the suite?

-Thank you.

First up, it's the boys' turn to show what they can do.

Can I just seat you here?

Certainly, thank you very much.

One of our waiters will be along with you shortly

to take your order for your drinks and your food.

Bar, this side, washrooms through there.

How do I know where my, er, seat is in the stadium?

I don't know.

HE LAUGHS

It was very interesting how the men have all focused on the bar.

That's obviously... "The bar is there, madam..."

So, it's a B minus for the boys, but can Nicola and Jan,

who deal the most with customers, up their game?

The waiter will be over shortly to take your order for any drinks.

You'll be able to go and see the match from outside

and a wine waiter will be with you very shortly.

-Thank you very much indeed, thank you.

-Enjoy your day.

Some nice bits from everybody.

"Enjoy your day", which was very nice from you, Jan,

thank you for that, and again I think the nurturing

qualities in the ladies are coming to the fore and I think...

They did pretty well, I think, certainly better than expected.

But I am quite nervous as to how they will deal with this place

when it's heaving, full of people.

I think they're going to struggle a bit.

It's time to put what they've practised to the test

as they join the staff on match day.

It's a big risk for me, taking five people, brand-new, into my team.

So good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

Very nice to see you all this morning.

'People pay a lot of money to come here and have this experience.'

So we've got to make sure it happens for them.

I hope you all have an absolutely fabulous day.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Have a good one.

ALL: Thank you.

Eh?

It feels odd wearing a tie, because I don't normally wear one.

It's a massive difference to the garage obviously.

That's a little bit, a little bit daunting.

Hello, welcome to the Mancunian Suite.

-If you'd like to come this way.

-It's got us talking to people more,

which is, I'm sure, what it's all about.

Hello. What name are you booked under?

'You know, the way we talk to people

'and just making it that little bit better for them.'

No problem. This way. Follow me, please.

I were nervous first thing but I've settled into it. It's all right.

-Is everything all right for you?

-Yes, thank you.

Brilliant, thank you.

I can see why, for Alex to bring us to somewhere that's corporate,

because it does show you how businesses should be run

and how the attention to detail should be there.

I was facing the morning with a degree of trepidation, I'm not saying that to be rude.

I was thinking, how will they bring themselves out of themselves

and, be able to portray the customer service

we want to give to our guests.

So I was absolutely thrilled that they did as well as they did.

There you go.

-Score?

-4-1.

-4-1?

I've had a good day out at a place that I love,

and learnt something from it. You know, what can be better than that?

Today's been brilliant.

I think it's gone really well, and I think all of us

have been able to take something away from it

that we can go back and put into the garage.

The visit to Man City has been a real eye-opener for the family,

and it's great that Jan can now see

what good customer service is all about.

But before she can put what they've learnt into practice,

I need the family to start taking financial woes more seriously.

-I've actually got nothing to do now.

-Who haven't?

-Me.

-You never have.

I think the younger generation in this business are used

to allowing all the responsibility to rest on Jan and Derek's

shoulders, and that is something that I've swiftly got to change.

Jan and Derek are not enough to drive this business forward

and each of the kids are perfectly capable

of taking on more responsibility than they are at the moment.

More than anything else,

everyone has to be aware about how parlous their finances are

and the fact that everyone's weight

has to be brought to bear on solving the problems.

But if the siblings are to take on more of the burden,

Jan will need to come clean about just how bad their cash flow problem is.

You're covering up a kind of great big hole in the foundations,

which is that you only pay yourself £500 a month.

-I know, it's terrible.

-It's pathetic.

-I know.

I understand that you do it for cash flow reasons.

I mean, you don't actually have to take the money out,

but I think on the books you should be paying yourself properly.

I really always believe that because until you do, you cannot see

whether a business is truly succeeding or failing.

Cos what you're doing is masking a problem.

How long do you think you can go on?

It doesn't bear thinking about.

I'd probably stumble across now for the next few months,

but I don't want that decline to start happening

and for us not to do anything about it.

We need to redress it, all of us, to have sat down together,

and that's something I haven't done.

I haven't sat them in a room and said, "This is what we're taking,

"what we're doing, how much we've got in the bank

"and this is what we need to do." I haven't done that.

-Everyone needs to do a bit more than they've been doing.

-Yeah.

-Um...

-And let's start that today.

-OK.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-Come on then.

This last few months have been quite hard, haven't they?

One thing that has come out of all of it

is I'm thinking we don't talk to each other as a business

as often as what we should do.

Um, the figures that Alex has done with me,

we're actually working at between 30% and 40% capacity,

so that's why we've got money problems,

because yesterday, or today, we've only had six hours' work.

I've got three mechanics. Doesn't take a mathematician to work out we've only got

six hours' work in what could be a potential of 21 hours.

Um, this is the first month

that I've not been able to pay the rent on this place...

in all the time that we've been trading.

We've got to get more people through the door.

Cos otherwise in three months' time, we're not going to be here.

You're all very quiet.

I was going to say, it's late paying it.

We've got to pay it, but it's the first time that we've been late.

-Not, we're NOT paying it.

-All right, I said the wrong thing.

No, I'm not saying you've said the wrong thing.

But we're LATE paying it. We haven't NOT paid it.

-And we're not, NOT going to pay it.

-I'm not saying that...

-But it did come over a bit that way.

-Well, I'm sorry then, I got it wrong.

What can I say?

What can I say?

I just think that was really hard for me to stand there

and say all that, but I've said the wrong thing, so...

If we don't do anything,

three months down the line we could be in trouble.

You keeping it to yourself all the time isn't helping, is it?

We should share the responsibility.

You've kept everything so close to you for so long.

You know, you told me something five minutes ago you've never told me,

that it's something that I believe I should have known.

Like you say, if you want to pass this down to me,

Adam and Nicki, we need to know this.

You know, we've been sat there, blissfully unaware.

I knew the cash turnover wasn't brilliant

but I had no idea how bad it were.

Me mam just, she keeps everything on her own shoulders,

so only she worries about it.

Doesn't bother us lot with it, which is a bit wrong really.

She should keep us in the loop on it, say what's going on.

This is a watershed moment. Everyone now understands the perilous state Guide Bridge is in.

The air has been cleared, and hopefully now the family can

all pull together to get this business back on its feet.

Obviously, key to rescuing any business is increasing the amount of money that it makes.

To address this I need the family to look at every opportunity possible.

Jan's been talking to me a lot about the two revenue streams

that they have here, which are the fleet and the retail side to sales.

The fleet is the customers that have lots of cars in their pool,

all of which come to be serviced and looked after here.

Retail is the customer that has a single car.

Now, currently they have about 35% of their business

that is fleet services and 65% which is retail.

There's room for growth in both those divisions.

I want the garage to stand out from their competition.

One USP is that it's run by women,

which I think makes it attractive to female drivers.

The family tried a car maintenance scheme for women last year, but let it slip.

I think this is an idea worth revisiting.

You came up with the Women At The Wheel course, which is really fantastic.

You've slightly let it slide, which is a big shame.

This should be the most female-friendly garage

in the whole of Greater Manchester,

and I think the Women At The Wheel course is a good way into this.

So I'm amazed that none of you have ever done it.

I obviously haven't done it.

You've never... None of you have ever changed a tyre?

-No.

-Have you?

No, which is why I'm going to do this course with you -

but I don't run a garage,

I just... That's the difference, right?

With 14 million women drivers in the UK, there should be

a large number of local lady customers.

Time to road-test the course, and my leathers.

Ahhh.

THEY LAUGH

-First things first, oil.

-Yes.

Do you want to pull out your dipsticks...and wipe them with the rag provided?

Right.

Stick it back in.

Wiggle it about a bit.

Give it a bit of a wiggle.

And see if it complains.

Take it back out.

The maximum is there.

So you're at the max.

-So I'm at the max. What's yours on?

-I don't know where I'm looking.

-You should be here.

-Yeah.

-And you're here. Your car needs oil.

-Does it?

And if you were to put oil in, where would you put it in?

-In there.

-We can't put it in there, Mother.

-No!

-We put it in here.

Oh, right.

Research shows it's harder for garages to gain women's trust

but once won, they prove to be more loyal customers than men.

-Last one...

-Yes.

-..is brake fluid.

This is the one I'm not sure about.

There's yours, under flap.

I like to be awkward.

OK. So that pretty much rounds up the under-bonnets.

Thank you, sir.

Right, what next?

First of all we're going to change a wheel.

I think this is a brilliant idea, and I'm sure there's

lots of groups that would be really interested in doing this.

I mean, I think this is a great thing to do for a hen day out

or, you know... I'd definitely want my daughter

to do one of these courses before I sent her off in her car.

They've had a really good idea. That's what I've got to encourage.

Did anyone find that useful?

I did. I didn't even know how to open the bonnet.

And I... Once I was shown how to open the bonnet,

I know how to put oil in it.

It's quite a useful thing to know what to do.

'And seeing the Guide Bridge ladies in action, I've realised

'just how unique this opportunity is.'

OK, first of all, I think the Women At The Wheel idea

has great legs and you're just not exploiting it.

So, I'd like you three ladies to teach the Woman At The Wheel course.

I think it would be much more effective to be taught by a woman.

Um... And I want you to start selling the idea again.

I really want this place, I keep on banging on about it but I want this

to be the place that women feel incredibly comfortable.

I think this is a real gap in the market that you guys

are perfectly situated to fill.

The first Women At The Wheel, the ladies, they will be hilarious.

It should be interesting to watch. Apparently we've got to be on hand in case it goes tits up.

Goes wrong!

Just in case it goes wrong, he means.

-Tits up.

-Yeah.

'Next, I want to turn our attention to the garage's corporate custom,

'known in the trade as fleet work.

'It pays less than retail trade but it's steady and guaranteed.'

Philip, I believe.

Alex.

Hello, very nice to meet you.

'The garage faces regular inspection by the company supplying

'this side of the business, and network manager Phil Todd happens to

'be making one of his visits at the same time as me.'

-We've been feeding them with our fleet work now for about 18 months.

-Yeah.

And during that 18 months each of the jobs that we have

-commissioned them to do has been monitored and measured for quality.

-Yeah.

And it's the consistency in that quality that we look for

in customer service levels,

technical capabilities, the technical equipment that they carry.

We can help raise them

to what we call our classic approved status.

Which essentially will bring them

possibly quadruple as much business as they've been doing with us in the last 18 months, in the next year.

Is there any area in which you think that I could help chivvy them along

or encourage them to accomplish something?

Or achieve a certain standard?

What we look for, essentially,

and please excuse the French in this terminology but I er...

I tend to like to use acronyms, but I look for the SHIT in people.

Sincerity, Honesty, Integrity and Trust.

That's what... That's how I can remember it essentially.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Using the acronym. And that's really the first impressions

I look for when I'm inspecting a garage. It's a people business.

So I suppose what you're really saying is you need me to help them get their "SHIT" together.

LAUGHS Yes! In a way! Exactly.

An increase in fleet work could potentially save this business,

and Phil has even laid out exactly what the family need to do

in order to up their status.

The upgrade is really important here.

Of course we've been tackling customer service but we need

to up their game on every level and part of that is the first impression

the customer receives when they arrive at the garage.

I need to help them with this, but it's very important they tackle it.

OK, first things first.

I touched on the report from Phil but I want us to go into it in a bit more detail.

A lot of, of what it contains, has directly to do with Adam and Gareth and the way that the garage works

and I would like you to make sure that you read it, both of you.

Because I would like to try really hard and make sure the accreditation

to the next level for fleet services happens while I'm with you.

This is bloody important for your futures.

So.. These are Phil's words, not mine, yeah?

"Succeeding in business is not rocket science.

"It's about focusing on providing the customer with the best service money can buy.

"The important thing is the general untidiness of the workshop isn't professional enough."

"It could be addressed without major expenditure,

"which would enhance professionalism and create a better working environment.

"Branded workwear and uniforms should always be worn."

So, you've got them, but you don't always all wear them.

There's no uniformity.

At the end of the day this is something that I endorse

but I want everyone to be involved.

I honestly think that the more information you give the boys too,

the more that they understand what's on the line, the more they know

what you have to do to succeed, the more involved everyone feels in it.

Otherwise it is just a job.

I have been guilty of that and I know I've been guilty.

I have shielded them from an awful lot.

What worries me, if they're not capable then of carrying that on,

what's been the point?

So I have just about another month left with you and in that time,

if I can make sure that I can get Phil back to kick you up

that extra gear, to bring you in that extra business,

I will bust a gut to do it.

But I expect that to be responded to by you guys,

by spending every spare minute doing something to improve the place.

If your hands aren't busy with one job they should be busy with another.

# Take out the papers and the trash... #

If the Lords are to receive a fleet status upgrade

and establish themselves as Manchester's most female-friendly garage,

then their filthy workplace is going to need some serious finessing.

# Yakety yak - don't talk back... #

And it's here I want to see Gareth and Adam take the lead.

I don't mind tidying up.

It's just that no-one ever keeps it tidy, so I don't see the point.

If you tidy up and you spend three hours tidying up

and then about five minutes later it's a mess.

It'd be a lot easier if everyone tidied up as they went along.

-Adam.

-What is it?

-That's yours, innit?

-Yeah.

-Does it work?

-Yeah.

-Do you want it?

-Yeah.

Where do you want it putting?

I thought that drawer were a good place, out the way.

It's all good because it means more work.

More work means more money. More money means more money in my pocket.

So Gareth's taking the clean-up seriously. But Adam clearly isn't.

I'm going home.

I started this morning at a quarter past eight.

I didn't technically have a dinner. Technically. I did, but I technically didn't.

I'd been to a customer's house at eight o'clock this morning.

Got here at twenty-ive to.

-Right, do you want a badge?

-Yes.

But for Gareth, his brother's lax attitude is no laughing matter.

The thing that annoys me the most is when I'm busy and he's not.

And he doesn't offer to help.

You know...he'll make his, whatever work he's got last him all day.

And watch us being busy.

But no, he won't offer to give us a lift.

He'll just make his work last him.

He's mastered that. It's down to a fine art.

He comes in here about half past eight, twenty to nine,

and he just walks in when everything's done.

-It does Gareth's head in, that.

-Can I go home?

-No, you can't.

It's in Adam's interest to try and save this business,

and I can't believe he's still not bucking up his ideas.

No, won't work.

I think Jan's little boy is due a serious wake-up call.

MOBILE RINGS

-Hello.

-Hi, naughty, how are you?

'I'm OK. How are you?'

-You a bit nervous about what I'm going to tell you?

-A little bit.

OK. I am going to send you off to the Lowry Hotel in Salford.

-As you know, that's one of my family's hotels, Adam.

-OK.

I'm going to put you in the conference and banqueting division.

OK.

-There's a real Tartar at the head of it who is an absolute perfectionist.

-OK.

Who will look very ill on you if you time-waste or delay.

And who will teach you, I hope, some valuable lessons -

and it's not just a day, it's going to be a whole week of it

'because I'm sure even you can be good for a day.

'I think the real test will be

'whether you can keep it up for seven days.'

Seven?!

-You won't let me down, Adam, will you?

-Would I let you down?

Yes, you might, but I'd rather that you didn't.

The... OK, thanks very much.

OK? All right, darl.

-Oh, no.

-JAN LAUGHS

I think it's brilliant. I think it'll do you the world of good, Adam.

-Yeah, but the guy's a perfectionist.

-Yeah, absolutely.

And he's going to get me and just go sick at me, probably.

Yes! When your dad goes sick at you you just ignore him,

carry on and do whatever you're doing and then think, perhaps I've just been shouted at.

But this is somebody going sick at you from an outside perspective.

It's going out there, being good for a week and then carrying that,

that what you've learnt in that environment, to bring it back here

to make this place better, that's the whole idea of it.

OK.

Ohh...

Adam will spend the next seven days and nights working here,

the first five-star hotel in Manchester.

I want to open his eyes to life in the real world, working for a boss

who's not his mother and who won't stand for any shenanigans.

I've asked the hotel to basically whip him into shape.

It's my version of a boot camp.

-I'm Adam.

-I'm Helen, welcome.

I'm nervous about putting Adam, who is charming but really quite lazy

and manages to weasel out of everything, into my family's hotel.

Oh... I can only hope.

-Adam, I'll introduce you to Robert. He'll work with you this afternoon, put you through your paces.

-My boss.

-He'll be your boss this evening.

-How are you?

Adam, welcome to the Lowry Hotel.

It's quite a military operation.

It's synchronised service, and if it's done right it looks fantastic.

-OK.

-Yeah, and if it's not right, it's...

-Looks a mess.

-It looks a mess.

-Yeah, so no pressure.

-Think of that table as a clock.

-OK.

-OK. So that is obviously your twelve o'clock position.

-Oh, a clock!

-Yeah.

-A clock, I get you, go on.

I'm not trying to turn Adam into a waiter...

-You will have two plates. One plate goes down from the right-hand side. OK?

-Yeah.

..I just want Robert to focus on drumming a work ethic into him.

-So I'm here.

-Yeah.

I do, bang, do.

No, you always put them down from the right. Plate goes down from the right, you move,

plate into your right-hand side and down. OK?

Yes.

Do not leave the kitchen or do not leave this area until I say, "Go."

-OK.

-OK?

It's down in the right, then left. It's all in here.

Silver service, working to your left.

OK? So you're serving your bread here.

Doing this table I would really like it done, Adam, in ten minutes, so, yeah, you need to move yourself.

-There's quite a few glasses, isn't there?

-Two minutes, Adam.

Already? That's the fastest two minutes in the world, that, then.

Jesus Christ.

I'm in no doubt this will be the toughest week's work young Adam

has ever faced.

Adam, you've been here 18 minutes now, I said it was ten.

OK, I'm trying.

We've got another 25 tables to do.

Hopefully it should go all right and I won't get meself fired

on me first day, so...

End up with some guy with soup all over his lap. So...

Just needs an MOT tester's touch, don't it? Perfection in there.

He's a bit cocky, isn't he, do you know what I mean?

I think... I need to sort him out later on.

Whenever we start doing the service, then he'll start to sweat.

Bit of a mark in that glass, Adam. Yeah? Disappointed.

If I was working in the garage I'd be at home by now,

polishing me own glass.

While Adam ponders the polishing...

I'm hitting a local shopping centre with the ladies.

I want us to promote the Women At The Wheel course we'll be

relaunching in two weeks' time.

We're going to get women in the garage, and women are going to show women how to change tyres.

How to change tyres?

Do you think that's something you might be interested in, friends and family?

They always should have leaflets in their bag.

Everywhere they go, each day, they should be handing out leaflets, telling people what they do.

And that's what we're trying to promote, a female-friendly garage to make females feel comfortable.

'I think my outlook has changed since Alex has been here.

'I was probably a bit like Gareth and Adam in the way that

'if we're OK at the minute, why... why do anything?

'The penny's dropped now, I think. I can see why,

'rather than just thinking of us as, like, a little garage,

'I know that if we work then you WILL be better.

'You can't drag people off the street,

'but you can do your damnedest to get them in.'

-Give us a ring and we'll book you in.

-Yeah, definitely.

All right, thank you.

Back at the hotel, a sea of well-heeled guests

are arriving for Adam's first full night in service.

-I'm

-BLEEP

-my pants now.

Let's go.

They've paid for the very best, and will be expecting

even the simplest things to be perfectly presented.

-Would you like a bread roll, sir?

-Er, yes please, white please.

I've not got a...

Use your fingers, I'm not fussed.

-There you go.

-Thank you.

Would you like one, madam?

OK, let's go. Let's make it good.

Adam's clearly having to work hard,

and a week of this should send him back to the garage a better man.

One main, please. OK, one steamed fish, one veg.

'I am knackered, to be honest.'

I'm not used to finishing at 10:30, so after a week I think it'll...

I think it's a few skills that aren't going to go amiss,

and just, you know, following instructions and all that stuff.

I think it'll be worthwhile.

With their youngest in boot camp,

and the push for new punters well under way,

the Lords can now turn their attention to revamping this place.

Mind your back.

I've had three Weetabix this morning, we all have.

We've got a lot of work to do yet. We're not, we're not home and dry yet.

But, um, it's looking good.

I'm really quite pleased with it, getting quite excited about it.

A week later, and Adam's time at my uncle's hotel is up.

I'm here to see if seven days of hard work and discipline

have left their mark on him.

-Hello, hello.

-Hello.

Mr Cousins, how are you? How has he done?

He hasn't done too bad.

I mean, his timekeeping was spot on.

Er, the only... My pet gripe would be

hands in his pockets, you know.

I did catch him one time, er, leaning against the wall,

so that wasn't the best.

And another time we, we caught him eating an apple in the er, in the cloakroom, which is a no-no.

-Yeah.

-But other than that, you know, I think he's done extremely well.

Good!

Hopefully you've learnt a few skills here that are now going to be translatable to Guide Bridge MOT.

Yes, it's been an eye-opener.

-Has it?

-Yeah.

How the real world works.

-Cos I was in a, I was in a nice little bubble.

-Yeah.

At my place.

Well, you got a good report card.

-A-plus? Well, maybe a B-plus, B-plus?

-B-plus, I would suggest.

-Let's not get ahead of ourselves.

-Let's... Exactly darling, well done.

So we now have, hopefully, a new and improved Adam,

but do we also have a new and improved garage to go with him?

To say it's only like a few bits of wood, a floor and,

and paintwork that we've done, it's just transformed it.

Totally different to what it was before.

-I just hope she likes it. I can't wait to see her face.

-Yeah.

Hello!

Wow. Gosh, this is a step up in the world, isn't it?

Very pretty, isn't it?

My goodness, darling, it's so light.

What do you think?

I really, really, really, really, really like it. I love it.

It looks very professional.

'This is great. A very clear price list - reassuring for the customer -

'a clean and comfortable waiting area,

'a family tree proudly marking out this company as a family business.

'There's even a coffee machine. Very appealing.'

Hello, darling!

Mwah. This looks fantastic.

Very good.

-Are you pleased?

-Very pleased.

-Yeah?

Very pleased. It's looking really well.

So smart, and the office looks great,

but the office and this together I think just raises up

the whole game of Guide Bridge MOT, I really do.

I'm really happy with it. You know, let's hope, fingers crossed,

that you get this fleet service upgrade - but even if you do

you'll be periodically checked to whether you can keep it or not. So it's quite important that we...

-Yeah.

-You know, that we do actually, you know, keep on the right course.

-We'll keep it up.

-Yeah?

I've managed this morning.

-Yeah, I know.

-I've done bits of work this morning.

Immaculate, darling. You could eat your dinner off this floor.

This, I think, just makes a huge difference to the first impression you give to people.

-It looks good. It looks a lot more professional.

-Yeah.

All I've got to try and make sure is that you get some more customers now because you are ready for them.

Ready and waiting now.

Let's pray that you've done enough to get your fleet service upgrade.

Bring it on. ALEX LAUGHS

The facelift has been finished in the nick of time,

as Phil Todd from the Fleet Support Group is back to see

if the garage has managed to make the grade.

This was one of the main problems to start with.

There was dirty oil filters and dead batteries lying about

-all over the place and it was, it was, ohh, frightening!

-HE LAUGHS

But major improvement there.

The actual pass will mean probably a rise between two to three times

of business that they have now, so it's quite substantial.

-It is still a bit of a mess, Phil.

-A bit of a mess.

-But we're getting there.

-Yes.

There's a lot of crap in there that needs to be thrown out quickly.

It is an area that can help improve your business,

by managing your stock properly.

At the moment it's a disaster area.

-It's better.

-It's better than it was.

But it's a, it's just a slight disaster area.

-But it doesn't tick all the boxes, not yet.

-No.

They have to perform, though.

There's too much at stake, there's too much to lose.

But the family will have to wait before they find out

whether Phil's impressed enough to upgrade their status.

It's my last day with the Lords.

The family have taken over a local race track and are laying on

a promotional extravaganza for customers old and new.

Coming up in the car I was a little bit feeling sick with nerves.

Um... I think it's because I need to know everything that's going on,

and at the minute there's stuff going on that I'm not too sure about, so I'm totally out of my comfort zone.

It's a huge day for the family,

who are preparing two marquees to showcase the business.

The first will house Jan, Lindsey, and the Women At The Wheel course.

Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

And at the pit stop...

Pit stop!

..Gareth and Adam will be dishing out free winter health checks for all comers.

I am hoping that people will turn up, yeah.

I mean, the weather has been atrocious, so I'm just hoping

that people will make that little bit of an effort and turn up.

Thankfully, I can guarantee the Lords at least one

top-of-the-range customer.

-It's Alex and a Ferrari!

-Whoooooo.

A nice way to arrive, isn't it?

-Hi.

-Hi. Do you all know what you're going to be doing?

-Yes.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-You're confident?

-Yes.

-Yep.

-Are you excited?

-Yes.

-Yes.

-Yeahhhhh!

The driving ambition for the day is to boost the garage's customer base

and proudly show off its all-new female-friendly focus.

And later, I'll be getting the news on whether the family have received

the all important upgrade from the Fleet Support Group inspection.

If they have, it will mean a huge injection of revenue every month.

We've worked really hard over the last couple of months and,

for me now we need to... It's the end of the process

so it's, um... I think we'll get a lot out of it.

But first, I need the family to put everything they've got

into making the track day a huge success.

The fleet work may be crucial, but their bread and butter customers

will keep this company ticking over.

We're ready to do the Women At The Wheel course. So I'll come round and give everybody a clipboard

and explain what we're going to do before we start.

In the Women At The Wheel tent, Lindsey and Jan

are already playing to a packed house, including Ali Benson-Smith

taking a day off from hspitality at Man City to attend.

It's longer than I thought it was going to be.

They're really engaging with all the ladies here, to make sure

that we're understanding every step.

They're not marching on and saying do this, do that.

They're making sure that everybody is up to speed, which is really nice.

Lindsey and Jan are being really charming

and it's very easy to warm to them.

I see even the women who were rather nervous about embarking

on this course, very quickly relaxing.

-Well done! Straight off.

-How easy was that?

You never know when you'll be stranded with no choice but to do it yourself.

Changing the wheel, I got a lot of confidence out of that

cos although I'd done it before, I'm even more confident now

that I know what I'm doing.

It's something that I will definitely consider doing, yeah.

Across the track, Adam and Gareth put their scrubbed-up customer service skills into practice.

Just got the start of your auxiliary belt,

just starting to fray on the edge here.

Today's a great experience for people to come here,

and get their cars checked over, it's fantastic.

-Right, you've done the Women At The Wheel course, where do I put screen wash?

-In there.

-Well done.

-So we take that off...

-You were paying attention.

-I was.

-So I shall leave you one of those and a copy of our leaflet.

-Brilliant.

-And come and see us.

-OK, thank you very much.

-Beautiful.

With 25% off that's even better. Might go and get my next MOT there.

At the end of the day more work coming through the door

is what Alex set out at the start to do.

And she's achieved a better customer service from us all.

So I can't see now why we can't become

a much more successful business, to be honest.

The heavens may have opened

but the weather hasn't dampened their spirits.

The event is going down a storm. The track is buzzing and the whole team are embracing

every opportunity for promotion, from flyers to interviews with the press.

-All right to give you that?

-Yes.

It's running throughout all December. It's 25% off all services,

off all makes and all models.

Jan even finds time between courses to hitch a ride on a hot lap.

ENGINE ROARS

That was awesome! DEREK LAUGHS

Awesome. It was brilliant!

It's been an amazing day,

with lots of potential new customers signed up.

But I've gathered the family together, as the decision on the fleet work upgrade has arrived.

There's so much riding on it, I just hope that it's the news

the family have been waiting for.

Yeahhhh!

Yeahhh, we done it!

'The garage HAS been upgraded to Classic Fleet Work status.

'It will mean a huge increase in their corporate work.'

All those weekends painting, everything, well done all of you.

'Absolutely over the moon.'

We've worked so hard for it, and to get it today,

is just the icing on the cake. I can see Jan's so happy about it.

And owt that keeps her happy keeps her off me back,

so...everything's all right.

HE LAUGHS

-Well done.

-Thank you.

Absolutely brilliant.

It's good your hard work's been recognised, darling. I think that's really encouraging.

-Yeah.

-It does show it's worthwhile going that extra mile, doesn't it?

Mmm.

What a fantastic day. There's been so much support.

There's been a fantastic turnout. Just look at all these cars.

It's a sight to gladden even a non-car enthusiast like me.

Hopefully they'll have got some new business. They've plenty to celebrate too -

not only the makeover of the garage, which is fantastic, but also the amazing news

that they've gone up a gear with their fleet service contract award.

So I feel like my job here is done.

INAUDIBLE

On my first visit to you I said that I thought that

although you were a very nice family, you didn't have anything

really special about your garage and I would like to take that back now.

I think that you do and you are really special,

and you deserve every bit of the success I'm sure is coming your way.

You know, I'm incredibly proud of all of you and you've done a great job,

you've worked really hard and you deserve all of your success.

You brought us up on a ladder, took us up two or three rungs,

and now it's up to us to get the rest of the rungs up the ladder

and I feel that we can achieve that.

-Good.

-Thank you.

-Pleasure darling, it's been an absolute pleasure working with you all.

It's given the kids the standard now of what they need.

It's their, this is their inheritance and now we've given them

the opportunity to really make something for themselves.

-Six weeks on...

-Guide Bridge MOT and Service?

..and the garage seems to have shifted into top gear.

The business has changed in a lot of ways.

We approach and treat customers a lot differently

than what we used to do.

105.95 plus your MOT, which is 145.95.

The menu of servicing's brilliant.

I do like that very much.

We had a lady come in, in between Christmas and New Year,

and her comments were it was nice and clean and fresh and bright and welcoming.

And she said, "I know that by looking at this, you'll look after my car."

And for me that sort of like was the icing on the cake.

Feedback is good on all the improvements...

The garage is running a lot smoother. A lot more communication going on.

Right, do you want to bring it back up for me?

They've got a pride about themselves now.

Even down to - a customer comes in the car park, one of them'll go out.

We all feel a lot more confident now than, than ever before.

Me mam, she does tell us a lot more of what's going on.

Um, you know, week by week what's happening,

what we've done in the week.

To me now, this is the end now.

We've hit that, the foundations are in and we're ready to go.

..and their finances are back on track.

There's been no real worries since Alex has been.

There've been no scares. Everything's getting paid.

We actually finished this year higher than we did last year,

which is quite an achievement because we've been able to pull back the loss.

For me that's an achievement. We're really pleased with that.

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