Denver Mill Alex Polizzi - The Fixer

'Family businesses make up a quarter of the British economy,

'turning over more than a trillion pounds a year.

'But a thousand small firms are going bust every single month.'

Sorry.

For God's sake, do something.

'For family firms, it's not just profits

'but relationships on the line.'

This family business has actually ruined our family.

You know, I can't imagine how you feel about it, because I feel sick.

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

You must see some hope,

otherwise let's not bother with this.

'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.'

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

'This week, a family that's spinning out of control...'

We'll have to call it a day.

.'.need my help to start making some serious dough...'

It's all so worthy. it's all so bloody flour, isn't it?

Forget about the windmill, think of what's working or we'll go bankrupt.

If the site turns into a tea room, I don't want to work here.

'..before their windmill dream is ground to dust.'

I feel a bit like everything we've done there has been wrong.

This isn't your life. This isn't your family.

This isn't your home.

Just stop behaving as if it is.

I'm on my way to a historical tourist business in Norfolk

that has hit rock bottom.

Three years ago, Mark and Lindsey Able sold their house

and sank their life savings into a dream -

to run Denver Mill, Norfolk's last working windmill.

This is the biggest machine you'll ever go in.

And it is a machine, we are inside a machine.

Their ambition was to mill flour

and turn it into bread they could sell on site.

It sounds a bit, you know, hippy,

but I think this windmill found us, not that we found the windmill.

But their utopian dream has turned into a nightmare.

There's something going dreadfully wrong.

We have no life. I used to have one, apparently,

but I can't remember it. It's now just this.

Everything we have in the world is here.

We have nothing. Nothing in the bank. Everything's here.

Despite not paying themselves a wage,

Mark and Lindsey's future now hangs by a thread.

If we fail to make a living here, this will go.

And when it's gone, that's the end of it.

And just when it seemed it couldn't get any worse,

disaster struck.

There was just bits of sail and things falling. We just looked up

and shook our heads and said "Well, that's it.

"That's the end. The end of the business, the end of everything."

Nothing would be here if the mill wasn't here.

The tea shop, the shop couldn't survive. It's all the same thing.

It is like a loss of something.

'The unique selling point of Denver Mill has always been

'that it was Norfolk's last working windmill.'

Three weeks ago, that was true.

However, it's going to cost a lot of money to replace them

and at the moment, the family don't know if it's possible.

'But the business was broken before the sails came off.

'Despite three years of hard graft, they haven't made a penny.

'If that doesn't change,

'then this place could close in a matter of months.'

'Having spent years working in the voluntary sector,

'Lindsey is now in overall control of the site.'

Hiya, I'm looking for Lindsey.

-Hello, hello.

-Lovely to meet you.

And you. We're very pleased you're here.

Thank you. I'm very pleased I'm here.

I'll just come round.

So how many people can you serve at a time here?

At busy times, probably about 25 to 30 at the most.

We have an outside area as well and quite often, in the summer

that's a good area cos it gets people outside.

You also sell your own bread here, you make sandwiches

from your own bakery bread, I see.

Well, the idea is that we mill the flour here.

-Yeah.

-We make our bread.

-Yeah.

-And then people can take a loaf home

or they can use it to cut up for the sandwiches,

so people can actually get to taste the mill, so to speak.

-OK.

-Let me take you to see Mark.

# What goes up, must come down... #

'Lindsey's husband Mark has a background

'in mechanical engineering,

'but now spends all his time milling flour.'

-Hello.

-Mark, this is Alex.

-Hello.

-What are you up to in here?

This is referred to as my other woman. I spend too much time here.

I thought she was the engine round the back.

-You've got two other women?

-I have.

'With the main mill out of action,

'Mark has only two small motorised mills

'on which to pursue his love affair with flour.'

-How do you know about this stuff?

-As far as the engineering side goes,

-I've worked with this sort of equipment all my life.

-Yeah.

As far as the milling side goes,

it's trial and error, inspiration and sheer raw skill.

-Mostly error!

-Not to puff yourself up!

-Well, no.

OK, so this is your arena and obviously your passion.

You have that slightly crazed look

of a man who's in his element.

But I'm here to make sure your business makes money.

So what we need to quickly identify is which bit of this business,

of the varied aspects of this business, should we concentrate on.

Hopefully your objectivity will identify which strings they are.

Does that mean you're not sure?

LAUGHTER

'Charming as they are, Mark and Lindsey

'don't strike me as natural entrepreneurs.'

Let's go. So I'm allowed to go and have a look about, am I?

-Yes, yes. Help yourself.

-And then I'll come back.

I want to ask you lots of questions about money.

OK. Oh, dear!

You are the person to ask about that, are you not?

-Well...

-I believe you're the managing director?

-Oh, absolutely.

Good, good. Fantastic.

'My first stop the windmill itself, that the family charge

'a couple of quid to enter.

'Quite interesting if you're interested in that kind of thing

'which, despite owning a bakery, I'm not.

'Next door, they run something I would be interested in though.

'Baking classes. But the room is far from what I'd expect.'

Ah!

# Madness, madness

# They call it madness...#

I'm not entirely sure why

there's a bicycle or a scooter in here.

And I definitely don't think there's anything witty or amusing...

..about that.

Urgh!

'Worse still, it's grubby.'

Why would you do that? Why have someone see

that you keep your stuff like this? I hate the whole disordered aspect.

I can already tell this isn't a professional outfit.

The onsite gift shop takes the chaotic approach

to a new extreme.

'I find it very confusing in here.'

'The family's home-milled flour

'sits side by side with tourist tat of the lower sort.'

I find it all a bit depressing.

I would love to know who does the buying for this.

They're very confused about what they're trying to achieve.

Really unattractive and generic, notelets and name stuff,

which I honestly I don't think has any place here.

'These cheap toys retail for peanuts and the mark-up is tiny,

'but they're filling up almost all of the shelf space.

'Rural food businesses all over Britain

'are making money because the customers are prepared

'to pay a premium for locally sourced goods.

'All this plastic is just bad business.'

Monogrammed cufflinks next to clotted cream fudge.

How is that a good sales technique?

'One person who should know how things are run

'is daughter Sally, who came to the mill a year ago

'to develop the business

'but has caught the milling bug from her dad.'

What's your gut feeling about what's wrong with it here?

What needs to be improved more than anything else?

Finance-wise, I feel like we're not looking

to make large amounts of profit here.

I don't think it's easy to make large amounts of profit.

That's not been the plan. We're looking at smaller figures

and because we don't control the books closely enough,

it's very easy just to fritter these, you know, little bits.

When you're only looking for a small sum of money,

-it's very easy for it to disappear.

-But why?

-Why do you think that?

-That's what Mum and Dad told me.

When they came in, their business plan didn't involve

making a large amount of money...

It probably didn't involve spending all their money either.

-No, it certainly didn't.

-Do you have any handle at all

where you're making money in this business and where you're losing it?

SHE SIGHS

Not effectively, no.

Spoons and cutlery, just help yourself there.

'On paper, the only bit of the business showing any potential

'is the tea room, run by Sally's boyfriend Duncan.'

What do you think you're doing right here?

I don't know. A bit right, but there's a lot to work on.

So tell me your strengths, what you think the strengths are?

The strengths are the quality of the ingredients we actually use.

We try to go for quality not quantity

to get people to come back again.

Do you know how much you spend?

How much a cake takes to make and what you cost it for?

-We have our costings, yeah.

-Yeah.

-Costings are all done upstairs.

-So you're pretty confident

about your costings? That's what I'm asking.

-I wouldn't say I'm confident. They could probably be done better.

-Yeah.

But whether it's by me or somebody else, I don't know.

Sorry, don't let me stop you serving this lady.

Even if Duncan runs the tea room well, he'll always struggle

if he doesn't get more involved in the books.

The family are juggling a lot of balls. A shop, a cafe,

a mill, a bakery as well as events and holiday cottages.

Every part of the business has its problems,

but they're made even worse by another fatal flaw.

The biggest thing, as far as I can see, the elephant in the room

that everyone knows is there and no-one is discussing,

is the fact that no-one seems to know what's making the money,

where the money's being spent on,

whether the profit margins are right on every item they sell,

and why they're not making more of a profit.

There has to be an answer buried deep in those figures somewhere

and I just need someone to lead me to the answer.

'And that's a trail that leads directly to Lindsey.'

I've got tea room sales, tea room purchases there,

which would seem to suggest that you've made 40,

-more or less, 40 grand.

-Yes.

But then here, I've got a different price on tea room purchases.

Well, that is peculiar.

And then, if you include the wages that shows the tea room,

over the course of a whole year, didn't make you a penny.

Yeah, but that doesn't actually surprise me.

-Doesn't it?

-No, it doesn't.

How is the pricing worked out in the tea shop?

The pricing, I...

So let me see, purchases.

Yeah, again...

Er, I'm afraid I don't understand those...at all.

'I don't know whether they take it all as a game.

'I think they won't find it a game'

when they are walking away from there

with £100,000 less of their own money

and nothing to show for it.

I think it'll all be pretty depressing actually.

-Hello, love.

-Hello.

-You got out.

-I did, yeah.

-In one bit?

-I did, yeah.

-And?

-It was...

It was quite tough. It was quite tough.

I do feel a bit "Urgh!" now. I just want to burst into tears

-and have a little cry.

-I can see.

All right.

'I stick my head in the sand about the figures,'

because I think if I know them and realise what a mess we're in,

then we'll have to get out.

'You know, we've put a lot into this place and the thought of finding out

'that it's not sustainable is a scary thing.

We may have to say, "Well, that's it. We'll have to call it a day."

After a difficult evening, I've called the family together.

Their ethics are getting in the way of their existence.

If the Ables are going to find a way out of this mess,

it's their heads and not their hearts they need to start following.

The first thing I have to draw your attention to

is that however worthy

and however admirable your ethos is,

what it's meant is you're living very hand to mouth.

-Mm, absolutely.

-Which is not a comfortable situation.

No.

It isn't enough, just good will

and love and effort and hours put in.

You need to be professional about this stuff.

What I want you to understand is there is something very admirable

about doing something well and making money out of it.

I'm challenging you to do lots of things differently.

Let's work from the black and white, from the facts and figures.

It takes the sting out of discussion,

because once you have the facts in front of you,

-they're quite hard to argue.

-Yeah.

-Yes?

There's a lot to do,

but first I need to take this family back to basics,

to see if they know which bit of the business is actually making money.

I need to confront them with their wilful lack of knowledge

about the financial state of this project.

I want to do that in a very immediate way,

have an impact visually

'and that will hopefully shock them into changing their ways.'

What we have is ten bags of flour, each representing 10% of turnover.

I would like you to put bags into each segment

to represent the percentage of the overall turnover.

-OK.

-OK?

-We've got to have at least one bag in every section.

-Right, yeah.

So we'll put one in each section then.

-That one wants to go in.

-Right.

Put at least two more in cafe.

-That one goes in the mill as well.

-That shouldn't be there.

Duncan, are you happy with this?

Personally, I'd put that one into the cafe.

Go on then.

I'm reasonably happy with that.

You're reasonably happy? What would you change?

-Reasonably happy isn't enough.

-I think...

One, two, four... No, OK. That's right. No, I'm happy.

'There isn't much money sloshing about at all.

'I don't think that that's anything to admire.'

I just think that's stupid.

Well, none of you are really aware

of how the situation stands then.

-54% of your turnover comes from the tea room.

-Right.

26% of your turnover comes from the shop.

10% comes from the cottages,

and the mill and the events share 10%.

Can I just say, depressing as it is, you two are spending

a lot of time on something that's the tiniest part of the business.

I don't think it is. If we didn't have the flour,

the tea room wouldn't be making so much money. They have to have

-the flour to make the bread and cakes.

-We have to look at why

aren't we getting a better margin coming out of the mill?

There's two of us spending a lot of time in the mill. It's the backbone.

I agree that it's the backbone, but it's a backbone

that's not going to be supported.

'The family are more about the mill than the money.

'I just hope they can see they have to change

'to stop this site going under.'

I want to say that I didn't realise until now

how important it is to me, the milling side of it here.

What we all agreed on, on what we were going to do before Alex came

was not to compromise on using our own product wherever we can,

because we feel that's really important,

I feel that like, if we're on this site, we have a responsibility to use it as a mill.

If not, we might as well go get a tea room somewhere else.

To be honest, I would rather just make enough money

for us all to make a living and not have a lot of money

and still be able to stone mill than have extra money.

If the site turns into a tea room and a gift shop

and the administration side of it, I don't want to work here

because I've other things I can do.

'That meeting this morning, a joke. Complete and utter joke.

'They're still concentrating on something

'that is never going to work.'

Everybody likes to work in the mill, but it's a luxury, isn't it?

It's a three quarter of a million pound luxury

that's broken. They're playing millers.

Mills went out 200 years ago.

If you can get it working, it's an added bonus.

But it's not something to depend on.

It's like depending on the wind blowing every day.

Is that not a business strategy that's ready just to collapse?

Forget the windmill. Think about what's working or we'll go bankrupt.

I didn't travel 600 miles for that.

'Everything they say is so uncommercial.

'I mean, Lindsey, Sally, Mark... I mean, I'm amazed.'

The only person who's got a healthy business bone in his body is Duncan

and that's only so long as he doesn't have to use a computer.

So, you know, I've got a few... I've got a struggle ahead

to make sure that everyone understands what's involved here

but it's a struggle I will win.

'The financials couldn't be any clearer. Although their hearts

'are in the mill, the bread and butter of this business

'isn't in the flour.

This is a difficult message I've got to give them.

They think they're achieving a very high standard,

but that's in one solitary aspect of the business.

As they keep going on about it,

it's in the flour.

And that is really all they've been focused on.

I've got to get them to see the rest of the business

and what it means for them for it all to be a success.

'So what I want you to now think about is the unthinkable.'

Right? I'm going to say it blankly.

How important is the milling of flour?

-Extremely.

-For what?

For your vision of yourself or the success of the business?

The vision of ourselves.

A lot of our customers come because of the quality of our flour,

-which we don't have at the moment...

-And you still have customers coming

and people will still eat in the cafe and the coffee shop

cos you're doing something very good here.

I'm afraid your sense of self-worth is so wrapped up

in the flour milling that you are really ignoring, at your peril,

what is the bit of the business that makes money - the cafe.

But if we didn't have our flour which we use in our products,

our breads and our cakes, which is what makes them so nice,

I don't think we'd necessarily...

If we were selling the same thing as everybody else...

Darling, do you honestly think if you go to Hayworth's

or Marriages or, you know, there are lots of other... Norfolk is a...

-The flour doesn't taste the same there.

-No, it doesn't, of course.

But a lot of it is in the skill of the baker.

Oh, no. You see, I... You see, I think the...

I don't think that's right, cos the flavour of our...

of stone-ground flour is very different from the flavour

of roller-milled flour.

-Sweetheart, I have a bakery, I know this.

-I know you do.

-Exactly. So, I'm saying...

-I think...

I know, darling, but you have to start thinking commercially.

You have a very tough decision here.

-You have no money in the bank.

-Mm-hm.

You have a bit of the business that's working. You're managing to...

you know, to do a little bit of milling in the setup that you've got now,

but is it enough to be the raison d'etre of this business?

This isn't your life. This isn't your family. This isn't your home.

Just stop behaving as if it is.

This is a business, guys.

You've got to make it work so that you have money to feed and clothe

and shelter yourselves.

I would like to do something with the branding.

I would like to do something with the marketing.

But I can't even start that until you decide what you are.

Running a family business should be a pleasure.

It has become a chore, and that ain't great.

Can I give you words of advice from my grandfather,

which I live my life by?

Never look at the bigger picture, because there's no point.

Solve one problem at a time, with a very clear-sighted view,

because otherwise you dissipate your energies,

so you have to do one thing, you do that one thing,

tick it off, and you move quickly to the next one.

I suddenly realised

that what...I have felt over this mill

is almost like bereavement and I have refused to acknowledge it.

I'm still refusing to acknowledge it

cos if I do I, shall be really upset.

I didn't realise that it affected me as much as that.

This is why Sally was so defensive

of Alex's comments about the mill and the flour.

At the end of the day,

if Denver Mill is going to survive,

they just have to be more commercially minded.

They have to be more focused, they have to concentrate.

They all have to be pulling in the same direction

and they have to start now.

# It's a new dawn, it's a new day

# It's a new life for me, yeah

# And I'm feeling good... #

So after last night's frank discussion,

have the family woken up to the idea of a new way forward.

It would be a terrible shame just to scrap everything

and make us just a tearoom, a cafe,

but having said that, we need to make money somehow, so I think we...

the feeling I have is that we've somehow got to get the rest of it

running well enough to support us being able to mill here

cos it's really important that that happens on this site.

It looks like I'm slowly getting through to Sally,

but is the rest of the family ready for a new direction at Denver?

What we ought to do this morning is what we talked about last night,

which was how we were feeling about what Alex said about the windmill.

Don't know if it's a big deal to you, Duncan.

It is, but it's not my first priority, is it?

My first priority is thinking...

are we throwing too much time at something we can't get to work?

We know that we've got to get this business working

and from what Alex said last night,

gave us confidence we can get it working without the windmill.

So, let's get the business working, get these other bits working well

in order for us to be able to be paid

and for us to continue to indulge ourselves

being able to use the windmill

and having that sense of responsibility.

So, almost the windmill becomes a bit of a hobby

that's attached to the business.

We've been very focused in one direction

and that direction is very much tied in with the milling

and the product and all the rest of it.

I think we need to do some more market research

cos there's no point going in the direction we want to go into if our customers don't want it.

A very good afternoon to you all.

Thank you so much for coming to help me with some market research.

It looks like the family are coming round to my way of thinking

and if it's feedback they want then I'm very happy to oblige.

How are you set up for a coach load of people?

Oh, my goodness.

How is Dunc...? Duncan! Duncan.

-Duncan?

-Yes.

Can you handle a coach load of people at the moment?

-Ah, bring it on. No bother.

-Bring it on!

Be as detailed as you can.

Don't worry about hurting anyone's feelings. It's anonymous.

Is there any changes you'd make to the venue, would you make any change...

how the pricing is?

-That kind of stuff really interests me.

-Do they sell their own jam?

-Yes. Yeah, they do.

-Cos that's what I would focus on.

I'm hoping that this sample focus group

can help me understand what are Denver Mill trying to achieve.

Is it more important for them to be milling flour that they use in their own bakery?

Are they trying to be a very well established and popular cafe?

Can I give you questionnaires?

I want to know what people like here

so I can help the family decide which way to push their business.

The more information you give me, the better.

This quick straw poll showed that customers liked the food

and the mill products, once they found them.

When people come to stay with me,

they like to look for locally produced....

-Right.

-..things and locally made things.

-Right.

There is a very rich tourist clientele that come to Norfolk.

It's very highly regarded.

There's a lot of money washing about here

and I'm not sure that they're attracting their fair share of it at Denver Mill.

With the Norfolk tourist industry worth £2.5 billion a year,

I think they could make more money from their merchandise.

It's time I took the mill up-market.

Forman & Son, a century-old family smokehouse,

developed a luxury hamper range ten years ago

and haven't looked back since.

It's a market that's worth a staggering £75 million a year

in the UK alone.

I want the family to realise they CAN keep their heritage

AND turn a healthy profit too.

First of all, why are hampers a good idea?

We're very much a fresh food company.

That's the heritage of our family business.

Lots of people would buy a packet of smoked salmon from us, some cheese, fresh meat,

they'll buy something for their dinner party

but they wouldn't necessarily come to us for gifts.

So hampers gives you an extra element that you can...

you can supply to people, particularly at Christmas time

but, you know, throughout the year as well, where they're looking for,

you know, a gift offering, something that's ready-made,

they can just buy it off the shelf or out of a catalogue

and, you know, it's all there complete.

The key to all this, I would suggest,

is sourcing stuff that people cannot find so easily independently.

So, stuff that you just couldn't go to the supermarket

and pick off the shelf, because any idiot can do that for themselves.

What you're trying to do is offer a very indulgent gift experience.

You've brought us one of your...

-Yeah.

-..jam...jam baskets.

Just some local pickle... It's pickles, actually, in this one.

I don't think presentation is necessarily one of their skills

and it's something that they all have to work on.

If you're going to do a hamper, you have to do it bloody well. Otherwise, don't bother.

The hamper challenge.

We've got whole load of your products on that table over there,

so I just want to see what you think

-makes a good hamper out of your products.

-I know.

They've got a crate - it's getting 12 bottles of beer. That's it!

-That's a man's hamper!

-LAUGHTER

Last year, Forman & Son sold 10,000 hampers.

I'd love to see the mill selling their own hampers on their site

and wholesaling them around Norfolk before I leave in just over a month's time.

I'm interested in seeing what they think goes together,

whether they have a theme, whether they can explain that theme to me,

whether they've thought about the cost of the goods

and what kind of mark-up they can put on it.

I need them to prove they can think commercially.

Contents, £25. Box, don't know the price of.

Have to roll me sleeves up, it's no good.

Typically, they're being very random.

Toast and honey, beer and clotted cream - there you go.

Apart from Sally who, unusually, is very focused

on what customers might be willing pay for.

I was trying to do something different

and do more of a hamper just with our baking products.

We've only got a strange selection of baking stuff with us

so I've tried to make it representative.

If I got given that on Christmas morning, I'd eat and drink the lot.

Let's have a look, then.

I think this is a bit confused as an idea.

I think this basically tells you what Duncan just said.

This is what he'd like for breakfast

and it just looks like it's all the things I like thrown in a tray and that's it.

-OK.

-What do you think...?

Have you costed this out in your head?

No.

OK, cos I think that's also quite important.

Remember, the whole... You know...

Let's not mince words here - one does things to make money.

Absolutely.

-You next, darling.

-Yeah.

-What was the thinking behind yours?

Mine was an attempt to find our most premium products we have in our shop.

-That isn't luxury food.

-No, it's not.

-And I don't....

It's in a luxury box and it's not luxury food.

The stuff they built their business on is what they should be showcasing, and that's not it.

OK. Thanks.

So, your thinking was here?

It's a showcase of our products and if somebody wants a sort of, like,

you know, start-up kit to try and start

making their own bread with our products, this would be it.

I love it. I mean, to me, this really, you know, this...

this sells your brand, you know.

You know these products are excellent products

cos you're producing them yourself, and part of the reason for doing hampers is to promote what you do.

I was worried that Sally would let her values get in the way

of creating a hamper you could make a healthy profit on,

but her bread-making kit captures the essence of the mill

and passes muster with the experts.

That looks like something you'd spend money on.

-That looks worth plenty, yeah.

-It does.

It's very natural looking and it says something about you,

and I think that that's... you know, that is great.

Looking at someone that has obviously expanded

and taken it to the next level,

but still being able to stay so grounded and rooted in what they believe in

made me realise that you can progress and you can make money

and you can look a little bit higher, reach a little bit higher, but still...

hold these values and still stand by your values

and still be based on what you believe in.

So, yeah, it was a real eye-opener for me.

With Sally now seeing the value in adding value,

she's getting stuck into some mass production with her mother.

And we need to collect together tea, coffee...

By creating hampers, they can expect to make 25% more money

than they would if they sold the products separately.

-You all right, Sal?

-Mm-hm.

Don't forget to put loads of that stuff in. That's what they said.

Make sure you've got plenty of stuffing in.

-Would that be better?

-Yes.

No, not like that. Stop. Right, who won the hamper competition?

The hampers are unique to the mill, as they showcase their own flour.

But by grouping this with other products,

Sally is really tapping into the home baking market that's currently never been bigger.

-That's it.

-It's what I do on mill tours.

Dad's glamorous assistant!

This is the beginning

of what is going to soon be a huge warehouse-style factory, making hampers.

-Mm!

-This is the miniature version.

Looks great. I mean, fantastic.

-This is your, obviously, alcoholic version.

-Mm-hm.

Which looks very nice.

As well as selling in their own shop,

these hampers could be sold in bulk to big food outlets all over the county,

making the mill much less reliant on passing trade.

I want us to take some of these hampers

to find out if anyone would stock them in future.

Also, once we've got the costings

and we work out what kind of margins we're making on them,

if someone does say they want wholesale, you give them a discount.

I've managed to line up two meetings with Norfolk retailers

that specialise in high quality local produce, perfect for the mill.

Now the family have to convince them to buy.

I've never seen Lindsey, Sally and Duncan having to sell their product

and it's quite important that I see them in the field.

Hopefully I'll see them very confident.

I know they have full faith in their products.

Fingers crossed they've heeded my advice

and thought seriously about their pricing.

-We did two sorts, OK? We did this one in a basket and this one in a crate.

-Right.

-What would this retail to me at?

-This one at the moment...

-Wholesale.

-Wholesale.

-We haven't got wholesale prices yet.

I would just need to know what it was going to cost us

to work out what I could reasonably retail it at,

or perhaps you might think about doing a sale or return.

Lovely family, obviously trying really hard to push their product.

They probably need to be a little bit more prepared

when they come into a selling situation like...like just now.

They didn't know the price they were going to sell the hamper at,

which is obviously important to me because I need to know how I'm...

how much I'm going to sell it for.

The lack of prices means they can't close what might have been a deal.

The last thing I said before we left the mill to Sally, and to Lindsey,

was to make sure that they had the costings,

to at least have the raw good cost

and then we could work out, as it were, a retail price

and a wholesale price - we knew we were going to be asked this.

They came very unprepared in this regard.

Here we go.

With one pitch left, they need to get their figures straight

or today will be a write-off.

This family have got to get a grip.

We need those numbers and we need them now.

Hello, Dad. We need prices for those hampers now.

The prices on those hampers now.

16.50...

and 23.50.

In this next shop,

I'd like you to go in on your own, because I think

that it's good that you learn to introduce yourself,

to ask for the person you should be seeing.

Then you engage with them rather than me.

-Luke is it?

-Hello.

Hello Luke, I'm Duncan from Denver, this is Lindsey and this is Sally.

-Hello.

-Hi there, how are you?

-Nice to meet you.

We've brought some of our products in today.

-So what do we get in here? We get yeast.

-You get yeast.

-The flour.

The bread making flour, the oil, the tin,

and there will be a recipe card in there.

Lovely. So the retail price is...?

These will wholesale at about 21.

OK and then retail at...?

About 27, 28.

So far on what you've said you're ticking a lot of boxes

which the greengrocers' business philosophy adheres to. Well done.

Right, seeing your range of products,

I would say hamper on the shelf tomorrow.

I would say your flour on the shelf tomorrow.

This is just one store and they need to pitch to others

but it clearly shows they have a market beyond the mill itself.

I thought it was very important to show them they do have the skills

to do their own sales and marketing and they just have to be brave

and make some new contacts,

make the effort to go on making new contacts wherever they go.

Realising their product could look good on other people's shelves,

Lindsey is finally making sense of her own shop.

Yeah, we need to get all those units out of the way, I'm not sure where.

I want that cupboard where you're standing.

Hopefully, and I don't know whether this will work,

there'll be a fantastic feeling of space and it will look lovely, tidy and neat.

Just move it into the middle for now.

You'll be moving something there to bring it there to move it back there.

But this is the only way we can do it,

short of taking everything out of the shop,

standing it in the back garden and bringing it all back in again.

And Sally and Duncan are tackling the terrible function room.

If I scream it's because there's a spider, so don't panic.

We'll be concentrating on baking classes.

We're trying to make them a bit more professional.

So we need to make the area they'll use more professional.

Thank you. I tell you, there's all sorts of treasures up here.

Just going to put things in here now that are relevant to baking.

We found that in the bottom of the cupboard. A pickled albino bat.

Looks quite cool. In a gross kind of way.

Never enough hours in a day, is there?

Not for all the things we've got to do.

So I better get on. Chin up and all that!

In just a few weeks' time I want to help the Ables

relaunch Denver Mill as a must-see destination,

not just for fans of flour, but for foodies far and wide.

So I'm back to see how well they've scrubbed up.

Ha ha!

Ooh, very different.

Oh, I like it.

I love this. That looks amazing. All your produce.

Instead of hiding behind cheap toys, the mill products

take pride of place alongside the best of Norfolk food

and it's exactly what I would hope a rural food shop would look like.

I think you're adding value to your goods

by displaying them like this. It really looks fabulous.

Well, this does look very different.

It looks fantastic. I'm really thrilled with this.

-Good.

-I really am. Thank you so much.

This is definitely now somewhere I would like to do a bakery course.

-Right.

-I think it gives a very good impression

of the professionalism here.

I particularly like the aprons.

They look fantastic.

We'd always planned to do that

but never found a space on the wall to put them.

I was really pleased to be able to get those out.

If this site is going to have a successful relaunch,

the business must send out a coherent message.

The mill needs a unified brand.

Right, first thing I need to tackle you with.

What on earth...

is this?

-A delightful selection of publicity.

-Exactly.

What does it say about your brand?

Does anyone know?

We're trying to send a lot of different messages

to a lot of different people?

-Yeah. We need to tackle marketing.

-Yes.

-But we can't tackle marketing until we've tackled branding.

-No.

You know, are you kind of little cosy?

Are you kind of funky and, you know, bright and a bit more modern?

You know, traditional?

I don't really know what you want to be.

And I think this is a central question

you have to answer for me.

I think they're very confused.

There isn't one thing Denver Mill stands for and that's important.

We've got a gift shop, a cafe, a heritage site

and we've got the milled flour.

All those things have to be marketed much more cohesively,

much more powerfully, so people know what they're getting

when they come to Denver Mill.

-Sally, Duncan?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

Alex has asked us to find five things

that represent Denver Windmill.

I need the family to be on the same page

when it comes to who and what they are.

I'm going for what everybody comes here for.

I'm looking for something that represents friendly, happy

and family but I can't find anything so I'll find a mixing bowl.

The aim of this exercise is to get the family

to focus on the values they feel lie at the heart of this business

because tomorrow I want them to decide on a brand image.

I've brought the bowl cos of the baking courses.

People come here for the bread, the flavour. That's one of mine.

I brought a sheaf of wheat, and it's magister,

which is our main wheat that we use, so that's kind of good.

Spelt, as it comes off the field. Ten thousand years old.

There's a shared passion for the plough to plate ethos

of this business, home milled wheat turned into great bread.

Agreeing a clear vision together will make deciding on branding a lot easier.

Oh, we're good, aren't we?

-Look at that, I'm quite pleased with that.

-I'm very pleased with it.

-So are we all agreed?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Yep, yep, yep.

Cool. That'll be that, then.

With the new day comes a new direction

for the image of Denver Mill.

To help the family I'm introducing them to David Revell,

who has created brand identities for heritage sites

like the Roman Walls at Chester.

He's been working on a selection of logos for the mill.

We've come up with three different looks and feels for you.

The first one is our classic and we were thinking the National Trust,

English Heritage, those sort of things and there's a middle ground,

which is a little bit more contemporary, it's a bit more real,

it's a bit more authentic.

And then there's another look and feel,

which is about being a bit more artisan.

The most important thing is to identify,

of these three points of view, what we're most comfortable with.

I must say this is really exciting. These are like the dark arts

that we mere mortals are not really sure of

but it's suddenly becoming very obvious.

I'm amazed that I find all three

have got tremendous appeal, which I hadn't seen.

Brought something out for me straight away.

I think this looks too classy for us.

I don't think we're quite... As much as I like them,

I think we're more rough round the edges.

This is fine dining, isn't it? We're not there.

And I think this is a sort of image that you could use on a sack,

-you could block print it.

-You imagine it being a stamp.

-You could.

-Which I love.

-Yeah.

-And how it can be manifested

is so much part of the brand, and it can be stickers.

You can be folding your flour bags down and putting the sticker on it.

-Yes.

-They work really well in packaging.

Good, it seems to me - I mean, not to pre-empt anybody -

but you all seem to be more or less on the same page about that.

I think the main thing, which is very appealing,

is that it has so many uses.

I mean, that shape, that format, is too easy to transfer onto.

So, do we have a winner?

-I think it's got to be this one.

-Yeah, that one.

Yeah.

Duncan.

Ready to derail the process.

-Good choice.

-Hooray.

Honestly, I'm relieved that they came

so quickly to a decision about a logo that they all agreed on.

I wasn't going to let them leave the room until it was hammered out.

What I really wanted them to be aware of was once they'd left this room the bridges are burnt,

there is no turning back and so they had to commit to it wholeheartedly.

And actually, I think, overall they did.

'The family know I want to relaunch this business

'in just a fortnight but I haven't told them how.

'I'm ready to let them in on an idea I've been working on.'

We do only have a very short time together now,

so I'm going to push you once more.

-I want you to put on a farmers' market.

-OK.

And we're going to try and put on an event that really showcases Denver Mill.

I'll make sure that I do as much as I possibly can

to make sure that the farmers' market goes with an absolute swing.

'With a clear sense of their brand identity

'the family make good and mend

'to give the whole site a much more unified feel.'

I think they're really, really nice.

-I like that.

-Yeah, it's nice.

That's an eye catcher.

Yeah, that's good, that's good.

It goes with our characters.

What worries me is the fact that it says 9am so we're going to all have to get up earlier now.

Well, these are our new leaflets.

And don't they look nice?

I don't want to put them out in case the public take them.

These are mine!

We've put the prices up a little bit. Not much,

but 10p here and there.

It might only be a small increase but at least their prices

are now based on fact, not fiction.

They've gone up and we might make a little bit of profit on it now,

which is what business is all about in my eyes.

And I hope their business can now also be about farmers' markets.

With over 500 regular markets in Britain,

this food movement is raking in £65 million a year

and I want the mill to grab a slice of this action.

As well as charging stallholders a £20 pitch fee,

they plan to sell their own flour, hampers and a range of speciality breads.

It should also firmly place them as a centre for good food,

but only if people know about it.

So, the once very unbusiness-minded Sally and Lindsey

are about to come over all commercial.

There we go, this is studio two.

-We've got a microphone set up for you both.

-OK.

Let's see if we can make this commercial.

When you do read it, smile.

-So do it with a smile.

-With a smile, yes.

A new winter farmers' market for the family is arriving

at Denver Mills this December.

It's more than just the finest in local produce.

Children's bread making, horse and cart rides,

with lots of fun for the whole family.

There's even hot food with a warming glass of mulled wine too.

-GLASSES CLINK

-BOTH: Cheers. It's a real country winter treat.

But back at the mill, all is not well.

You can hear they've come up nicely, lovely,

but they don't taste right, so they go in the bin and that's all there is to it, I'm afraid.

There's a bit of a rumpus going on at the moment because...

the bread isn't very good.

The bread the family wanted to sell at their event isn't up to scratch.

Some of those are quite big probably.

There's too much yeast in that, I think. This hasn't worked fully.

That's not good enough.

I would not be happy buying that. I'd say yeah, well...

I know it's important to the site,

but once again, we've got a situation

where the flour and the spelt or whatever we've done today,

has taken over from what we really should be concentrating on.

What appears to be happening is we're running off on tangents.

Are you suggesting that spelt may be a tangent?

What we should be concentrating on is getting this farmers' market ready

and lots of things for sale and making money.

I know they're tired and tense, but I don't want them to slip into their bad old ways.

-Look, no.

-I can't come with him tomorrow.

-Another conversation about flour. Anyway...

-There's a time...

-No, it's not anyway, Mum.

We're talking about getting stocks for your shop.

-It doesn't matter what Dad...

-As long as we haven't got to spend all our time on flour.

-It's part of my job. You're not having a discussion about flour.

-OK, I'm not.

-We're having a discussion about flour.

-OK, right.

-That's fine, go.

-I won't have any discussions about flour.

You can if you like. I'm just trying to work out what we're doing then send Dad off to do it

-so we can get on with what WE'VE got to do.

-OK, right.

Was that appropriate?

I want to go home. I've had enough.

Whatever happens, I need them to be ready for their relaunch.

Frustration today

has been about bread. The quality of the bread,

the quality of the flour that's coming out.

If we haven't got a good-quality product then we can't set ourselves up as a high-quality site.

We'll get there.

After a long night the family's big day is here

and, I'm delighted to say, so is their bread.

Look at this.

It's fab,

the first sign there's been really significant change at Denver Mills.

It's important to show they're becoming a more professional outfit,

that they're really thinking about their branding,

their face to the world.

'With food producers coming from all over the county

'there's a lot to do to ensure today's event goes without a hitch.'

We have to sort out where we're going to have the hampers.

We haven't finished the hampers yet, that's what's worrying me.

'If they can draw a crowd this could become a regular fixture,

'where people come from far and wide to sample the very best of Norfolk's food.'

All the names on there need to go in that marquee.

'It's great marketing, great for their product sales and should fill their tea room regularly.'

Right, is this yours, this one?

There's about an hour before the official opening

and we've got a long way to go yet before we're ready.

-We need some flour for Wendy.

-Yeah, we haven't got any.

What none? We haven't got any flour for the baker bakes.

It's just really ironic that of all the things we haven't got, we haven't got any flour.

Lindsey seems to be running around trying to do everything.

I've got to do labels for the spelt biscuits.

See if he knows where the side of the gazebo is.

Duncan's trying to do that.

Lunacy, lunacy.

Have you any idea what's going on?

Right.

Which way round we are now?

Um... I'd better see what I can do.

So £7.99 and £9.99.

£7.99 and £9.99.

Yeah.

Never used a pricing gun but it can't be that hard.

Yeah, that's rubbish.

The family are hoping to take £1,500 today,

which is a lot given they only made £7,000 profit last year.

So, seeing a crowd is encouraging.

Smoke after bonfire night. That sort of taste.

The variety of products is a real draw for adults.

From fudge to chillies and coffee to cider.

Whilst the kids are entertained with baking courses...

Little bread crumbs.

..and pony cart rides.

My husband is a... is a pork pie nut.

Is he?

Yes, so I'll have one of them.

'The site really feels like a hub for good food,

'but to make this a regular occurrence for the family

'then it needs to have been profitable for their stall holders.'

-How have you done?

-Very good.

-Yes?

-I think we have sold quite a lot.

So it's been worth coming.

Yes. We've had a good afternoon, which is very pleasing.

Good, I'm so pleased.

Really nice. Nice setting here as well.

It's quite magical, so definitely worthwhile, we'd do it again.

-I wanted to come and support Denver and...

-I'm really pleased.

..when they're trying to do something new and exciting

so we've all got to stick together, all us food producers.

What they offer their customers

is actually sensationally good.

As long as they keep that up I think they'll succeed in the long term.

This event is only the start,

but the family did manage to beat their £1,500 target tonight.

And better still, they're no longer ashamed to say they've made money.

It is about profit, although it sounds like an awful thing.

I don't believe that any more, I don't believe it is an awful thing to say.

Of course it's about making profit, we won't survive if you don't make profit.

We've come a very long way in these last two months.

We acknowledge now that

we probably would have given up.

None of us want that to happen.

You've achieved a lot, I think.

You've understood how important it is

to combine every aspect of the business.

I'm very happy with how there's such consistency of branding.

I do think that makes you look much more professional

and I think that's what you needed.

I think you mustn't bury your head in the sand

about your financial parts of the business

and if there's nothing else that I've reminded you

it's about the fact that successful businesses are built on the bricks and mortar

of making sure you make a profit on every item you sell.

I mean it's, you know, it's not rocket science, is it?

You've got, you know, you've really come a long way

and I'm not trying to pretend that it's all going to be plain sailing from here on in, you know.

But I do hope that I've kind of energised you and given you hope for the future.

I'm completely powered up about it, to be...

I know, you're very bullish, darling.

I'm completely powered out about it. I mean, the boost that

you've actually given me personally, speaking for myself,

is massive.

For whatever job you do, the people that are paying your wages,

they're always your boss.

But I think maybe over the last few weeks

they're not so much as my boss as we're a unit trying to do something.

I think we've got a much better chance now

than we certainly had before Alex came

and I'm looking, you know,

I'm looking forward to putting some of the things

into practice that she's taught us.

We have got a very positive future.

We've got a lot of hard work to do

and this is never going to be easy,

it's always going to be hard work on a job like this.

But whilst we find it rewarding and satisfying

and whilst the public want to come here,

they want to buy and eat our products,

I can't think of a much better life, really.

Six weeks' later and the family's optimism about the future of the mill continues to grow.

If this can produce enough to pay the people who work here

enough to live and enjoy doing it, what more can you ask for?

It was the feeling we weren't alone any more.

The feeling there was Alex who was interested in our business, giving us support.

That has been tremendously useful, having that support.

I think that taking me out of the windmill

and putting me back behind my desk

means that I've started to use some of my development skills,

and I don't think I'll forget that now.

And that's started to make a difference.

There are more farmers' markets scheduled

and a new website to sell hampers nationwide.

With regards to my place in the family

and the actual family business

I have definitely got more of a voice

and they listen to me a bit more and they ask my opinions.

I think we've all really benefitted.

I think Duncan's felt now that he's in a better position to step in and have his voice heard.

We'll, they've got to since I asked Sally to marry me and she said yes!

How pleased we are that Alex turned up

can best be summarised by a simple fact

that I think if she hadn't we wouldn't still be here.

I think it's that simple.

I still believe that Denver Mills should still be here at the end of this century,

which is what this whole idea was always about.

# To my friends in New York, I say hello

# My friends in LA, they don't know

# Where I've been for the past few years or so

# Paris to China to Col-or-ado

# Sometimes there's airplanes I can't jump out

# Sometimes it's bullshit that don't work now

# We are god of stories but please tell me-e-e-e... #