Hunter's Brewery Alex Polizzi - The Fixer

'Small firms form the backbone of Britain.

'They turn over annually £1,600 billion. If they fail...'

-I can't do it!

-'..Britain would be on its knees.'

-Death is my exit plan.

-'But these firms face big challenges.'

It's not easy.

The shop's going downhill and we'll be closed in a year's time.

'Almost a third of all small firms go bust within three years.'

If we don't make those payments, the house goes.

'I'm Alex Polizzi, a small business owner myself,

'and I'm spending this year trying to find fixes for the critical

'issues that kill so many companies...'

You should be thinking on your feet.

Ah, come on. We don't have long to prepare.

'..home truths...'

I hate your shop window!

You should not be in business!

'..and tough times lie ahead.'

All I have heard about is you bitching and moaning!

-You've ripped my

-BLEEP

-heart out!

'If small businesses succeed...'

It's not just my business you've given me back, it's my confidence.

'..then Britain can boom.

'This time, exporting.'

This business is an animal. We threw £50,000 worth of beer down the drain.

-'Can I show a small firm...'

-That's crap, innit?

'..how to shape up...'

He's not allowed to spend one more penny.

'..in order to ship out?'

If I fail, I'm letting the kids down.

He's physically in pieces and I don't know how long that can go on.

This is a kick right in between the legs.

We're up a certain creek without a paddle.

'Last year, the UK exported over £300 billion worth of goods,

'helping to make Britain the fourth most valuable national brand.

'For some small businesses,

'exporting can mean success and growth,

'but, for others, it can be an extremely risky move.'

British products have always been popular throughout the world and

are ever more so with the success of the Olympics and the royal wedding.

Lots of small businesses already export, but for the newcomer,

there are many challenges to confront during that process.

I've got the Pheasant Plucker, Half Bore...

One struggling microbrewery in Devon thinks jumping on the export

bandwagon is their only hope of survival.

What countries do you think you might want to export to?

-I don't know.

-I don't know where to start.

Six years ago, owner Paul Walker gave up a high-flying

corporate career to turn his passion for beer into a business.

I used to work in pharmaceuticals, as a professional relations manager.

I'd had a bad week at work,

so I wrote a business plan on an aeroplane on how to set

a microbrewery up, as a bit of fun cos I was bored.

But then it sort of dawned on me this is what I should be doing.

Paul found his slice of country life in some old farm sheds

and set about making a living from producing good beer for local pubs.

This is the best bit.

That's hot worts coming out, nice extract.

I come from a very working-class background.

So microbrewing I wouldn't say is in my blood, but working hard is.

Ah! That is good!

But without any experience of brewing,

Paul was quickly out of his depth.

It's the first business I've set up myself.

It's a bit of a shocker how much you have to learn.

I've made many mistakes. All went wrong.

I'd bought the wrong kit, it wasn't fit for purpose.

So, we had to spend a lot of money putting the brewery right.

And it became a habit to throw money at every problem he faced.

Instead of being in profit,

I've spent half a million pounds on the brewery.

Paul remortgaged the house and spent his savings on the brewery,

but the huge spend came with even bigger problems.

It just sort of snowballed, it carried on snowballing.

It was just every time you have to invest to put problems right,

it meant that the only thing you could do was sell more beer

and grow, and every time you grew, it needed more investment.

To try and arrest the financial meltdown, Paul's wife Eline,

gave up her job as a nursery nurse to join the business,

but she was also in over her head.

What are the supplier invoices? How far are we behind?

-Got about three and a half thousand there.

-Can you pay them?

Not today, no. I don't really understand finances.

I haven't come from this kind of background at all

and it's been a massive learning curve.

Even now, I don't fully know what I'm supposed to be looking at

when these numbers churn out at the end of every month.

Their financial naivety and Paul's excessive spending has

caused the business to balloon out of control.

And six years in, despite brewing nine beers

and supplying 200 local pubs, they're not making a penny's profit.

I'll take you to the cinema IF we can go for a bike ride.

Paul's family have followed him with his dream,

but now, their future is on the line.

Our investment now is linked to the house.

Not only will the business go, the house will go.

If I fail, I'm not just letting Eline down, I'm letting the kids down.

At work, he'll just carry on and do the job and keep everyone going.

But the dad you see at home, who is a dad to four kids...

-SHE SOBS

-..I don't want him to be doing stuff.

He's physically in pieces and I don't know how long that can go on.

They're desperate to turn the business around,

and with 48% of their turnover taxed at source in the UK,

they see export as their last chance of a future.

If our exporting ideas don't work, I think there is

limited time before it is unworkable and the cash flow is completely gone.

Hm. It is tough.

Paul really needs my help.

But sending beers abroad now could land the brewery in deep water.

I see business owners again and again who make massive

decisions just cos their gut instinct tells them to do so.

As with anything else,

exporting is not a decision that should be taken lightly.

With Alex, I'm just hoping that she's got some good ideas to help us

cos if we don't get some help now and we don't sort this out,

we lose everything.

I suspect that Paul doesn't really understand where he's going

wrong and I'm not going to make any decisions about how to take

the brewery forward until I know he's got the business basics right.

-Hello, hello!

-Hello there. Hello, Alex!

-Hello. How are you?

-Nice to meet you, Alex.

-So nice to be here.

Welcome to Hunter's Brewery.

-So, how many pints does one of these hold?

-72 pints.

So, how much is in here at the moment?

At the moment, there's about 400 casks in here.

-So, we're getting low, actually.

-I'm just wondering,

I don't know you well enough to accuse you of arrogance quite

yet, but I'm wondering why you didn't get someone who was

incredibly expert right at the beginning.

Well...when we got the brewery in, it was in January,

and you can make beer very easily when it's cold,

so we did the first one and it came out so nice...

-This is easy!

-We thought, "This is easy."

I really did. So I thought I could manage it, but I was wrong.

This isn't critical, but this has been clearly a process that

has involved an enormous amount of trial and error.

Yeah, we've served our apprenticeship in how to do it wrong.

'I think he's made mistakes cos he's very confident.

'He obviously thinks he can turn his hand to anything,

'and I like that can do attitude in some ways.

'In others, it's very dangerous cos actually experience does

'count for a lot.

'But moving from the corporate world to the country with no

'experience of brewing, it's easy to see how Paul got into trouble.

'Many small businesses dream of becoming bigger enterprises

'and expand too quickly.

'Paul's dream has snowballed into half a million pound

'expenditure on kit.'

This vessel here is the hot liquor tank.

Liquor in the brewing industry is water.

And we need to bring water up to the boil. This tank, we bought on eBay.

Transfer your hot liquor, or hot water, into the mash tun...

Into that, yeah.

You add in your barley and your ingredients, stir it...

Secret ingredients!

You make it look like a porridge and that tricks out the natural

sugar and that's called wort and that's the base of your beer.

We picked up a massive tank from eBay...

I'm sure your wife hates your internet auction site obsession.

Look at the money that's gone down here!

She does panic cos she's wondering what I'm going to buy next.

I know. Darling, I mean, men have a lot of perverted desires,

but yours is possibly the sickest!

-Stainless steel! That's what I want!

-That is sexy, though.

'It's clearly a labour of love, but this investment is enough to

'cripple his business if he's not selling enough beer.'

-OK. So this is a perfect fermentation.

-And it's very pretty.

'95% of the ale brewed in these tanks is sold in casks to pubs

'and over half of all pubs carry cask ale.

'But the cask business alone doesn't bring in enough money to sustain

'Hunter's Brewery, so Paul's turning his attention to bottling beers.'

Ah, the merry bottling crew! Ho-ho!

-You're still smiling?

-Still smiling!

-Gosh, through the pain!

'Paul can get more money selling bottles than he gets selling casks.

'If I do decide he's ready to export, there's big

'opportunities for bottled beers abroad and no excise duty to pay.

'But this method of bottling is unworkable!'

We won a contract last year for 25,000 bottles

and we did 5,000 bottles a week. Took us five weeks.

Ah! And did you make money from that?

Unfortunately, no, because we put four members of staff on it.

-Yeah.

-So, no.

'Last year, Paul took a massive gamble

'and spent £45,000 on a bottling machine.

'But as yet, there's no sign of it

'and it's left a huge gaping hole in the business.

'If this doesn't turn up, he's blown an extraordinary amount of money.'

So this is where the new automated bottling machine will be.

Tell me, when is this supposed to come?

-September 2013.

-Yes. So, we're now almost six months over.

Yes. I spoke to them on Friday and they reassured me

they are making the machine.

I believe in people and I believe we're going to get it.

And you didn't build in any penalties for late delivery,

-or anything? Obviously!

-No.

Stupidity. My own naivety.

How does Eline feel?

She's furious about the machine cos we've paid the money.

She's losing a bit of confidence in the business itself.

She's asked me would I seriously sell the business.

-But what are you going to sell it for?

-It's not worth anything.

-It's not worth anything until you turn a profit.

-Yeah.

'I think it will be a disaster

'for the business if that bottling machine'

doesn't appear because it's a huge financial commitment that he can ill

afford, but at the moment, he needs to go back to basics.

He needs to concentrate on his original dream,

he needs to make that work for him, and only then, maybe, if this

bloody thing ever appears, will be able to take the next step.

'Before I can make a plan for Hunter's, I've asked Paul to work

'out precisely how much it cost to

'run the company and produce his product.

'It's something all small business owners should be doing.'

-Oh,

-BLEEP.

'I leave Paul to start number crunching.

'Eline's had no choice but to get involved in the business,

'so I want to find out from her how it's affecting their family.'

So let me talk to you about that mythical thing -

-the work-life balance.

-The work-life balance!

-How is it?

There have been times when it's just been completely ridiculous.

The hours that you've put in this office used to be at home.

Well, then, you never ever switch off.

The phone's ringing all day.

You've still got a toddler round by your legs. It was awful!

Our family life and our lives as people,

that's not right at the moment. Far, far from right. And he knows that.

His health is telling him that.

He's a shell of the guy that he used to be at home.

He is! That's the truth!

When he quit his job, they were almost mortgage-free.

Now, their house is over 50% mortgaged again.

This business can't go on losing them money, can't go on limping from

one month to the next, one year to the next,

by taking out their equity in their house. They have four kids!

He's got to get serious at some point!

Eline admits she doesn't have the skills to manage the figures

and Paul is allowing his passion for the product to cloud

the business realities

and it's driving Hunter's and his marriage into the ground.

Paul has had to refocus

and work out how much beer he needs to sell a week just to break even.

-So what have you discovered?

-OK, this is my old spreadsheet.

-Yeah.

We were looking at a 68 barrels for break even.

-Yeah.

-However, now I've put the correct figures in...

-Hm.

..we are now 106 casks. I'm a bit gutted at that.

And that doesn't factor in repaying any loans.

Er...no. it doesn't actually.

So just put that in and just see what difference...

That is a good point.

-Pushes it to 110.

-That is if you do not spend another penny.

-Yeah.

-On anything.

-Yes.

-I can learn this.

-I know you can.

-I can learn this.

It's just being willing to.

'No wonder Hunter's hasn't been turning a profit.

'Paul needs to sell £90,000 more beer a year just to cover

'the costs of the brewery.'

I've had my eye on the production itself and the customers, rather

than the business and I think I've got to get better at the business.

'It's becoming clear that to improve this small business,

'I need to dramatically increase sales.

'There could be opportunities for Hunter's to start exporting abroad,

'but first I need to make sure there is a solid UK distribution strategy.

'Paul must also do his part and become more frugal with

'the finances, or risk getting the brewery deeper into trouble.

'But first, we're heading to the

'pub for a pint of Devon Dreamer, Paul's own bestselling beer.'

Are you glad you did this?

I know that on paper it looks crap, but what we've achieved is amazing.

-Our family are all very proud of it, you know.

-Yeah.

They all want it to work.

Lovely.

Cheers.

-Look at me with a pint of real ale!

-And I've got my old man's glass.

I'm very conscious of the fact that I was asked to come here cos

you were interested in me helping you bring your product to export.

-Yes.

-I would love, before we approach the whole export dilemma,

to consider exporting beyond Devon's borders.

-But even that is problematic until we have a bottling plant.

-Yes.

-I think you have to do a trip down to...your machine makers.

-Yes.

I think you need to see for your own eyes.

I think that as soon as you get this bottling plant that you will

get an automatic spring in your step again.

You'll get your mojo back and I want to make sure that it's kind of...

I'm losing it, I'm sorry.

-Why?

-I don't know. I'm sorry.

-Oh, it's fine.

It's just, you know, you've got to find it...

-You've got to find it again.

-Mm.

-I have. OK.

-Yeah?

-I'll take it fully on board.

I think what Paul's going through is probably

the experience of a lot of small business owners.

You have a dream and then translating that into reality

is incredibly hard.

I just think that he's kind of lost faith in himself

and that must be very hard for him and I'm sure very hard for his wife.

I did get choked up. This means so much to us. Yeah.

It's not been easy.

We've got to succeed.

To ready the Hunter's brand for UK distribution, I'm going

to look at everything, from taste and branding

to their sales strategy, but before I can move forward,

I need Paul to get this bottling machine.

Alex has given me a kick in the bum, so before Alex comes to see me

next, I want to get that machine in.

His whole strategy has been posited on having that machine.

Without it, we're up a certain creek without a paddle.

There is a lot of pressure on me now to get bottling.

It's important we sort this out today.

I would give any small business the advice to get some proper

references from anyone that you're thinking of buying machinery from.

Check them out in person and not to commit your money

until you're absolutely sure that they're on the up and up.

'I've asked Paul to meet

'the manufacturers at their headquarters 200 miles away.'

We're here.

'But our cameras have been refused permission to film,

'so he's going in alone.'

OK.

I've got a posh pen as well to make myself look professional.

I know Alex said I'm not allowed to spend any money,

but I thought I'd get away with three quid.

Right.

Wish me luck.

Two hours later, Paul emerges from the meeting.

Not good. I'm not happy.

I'm not happy at all.

Not happy. Unbelievable.

Unbelievable.

The coding machine is not there. The capping machine they've...

-I just can't explain it. It's a bag of

-BLEEP.

This is a kick right in between the legs.

Hard.

Erm...

It's not funny.

Hello, Alex. It's Paul.

'Hi, darling. What's happened?'

This is a machine that should be doing 3,000 bottles an hour

and it's just Mickey Mouse.

'I'm just so cross for you, darling. I really am.

-'I'm really, really sorry.'

-What do we do for the best here?

'Well, I don't know.

'Do nothing kneejerk until you have a really good long think.'

-Yeah.

-'Because I think there's been lots of kneejerk reaction.'

-Mm.

'There's always, always, a solution. There really is. We'll find one.'

-Mm. Absolutely. I agree.

-'All right, my darling.

'Thank you for calling me. I really appreciate it.'

No worries. Have a good day.

She's right.

I'd like to have my kneejerk reaction,

just to make myself feel better, but that's not business, is it?

The saga of the bottling machine is emotionally draining.

You've got no reason to think that this would have happened.

For Paul, it has definitely been setback after setback.

He bottles it up, which means that every now and again,

the stress level does get too much.

And I think just it means that generally,

he gets just emotionally and physically very exhausted, actually.

This is a huge blow.

The best that can happen is that the machine eventually turns up

and works! The worst is that he's thrown £45,000 down the drain.

Any hope of exporting bottled beer has now vanished

and I need to think quickly about how I keep this business afloat.

My only choice is to focus on increasing the sale of Paul's

cask ales and getting them further afield than Devon.

Sharp's in Cornwall also started as a small hobby brew, like Hunter's,

and now sell their flagship beer in 7,000 outlets across Britain.

Look at that! They're big, aren't they?

'I think small firms can learn a lot from larger ones

'and I want to tap into Sharp's strategy for growing their

'beer across the UK, so I've asked the brand manager James for help.'

So you've seen the ripple effect.

-You started here and presumably, you started with local free pubs.

-Yeah.

But then the next big move was moving outside Cornwall.

-Yes.

-So, how did that happen?

Well, kind of word of mouth, I think.

There was obviously not big sort of advertising or above the line

kind of marketing campaigns.

Grew to Exeter, but by bit, just opened it up, account by account.

So I'd be out there in my little hire car with my Burton's suit

and my briefcase, knocking on doors and trying to open up that

business and fortunately, it was sort of successful.

What was the kind of thinking behind it?

It was almost dictated to us,

we had to be able to deliver to Land's End.

To get to Land's End, it takes and hour and a half.

I think we knew that Exeter has the farthest range in that direction.

-Draw a little radius.

-Exactly that.

We started the distribution from Bristol,

we then worked back to Exeter.

So our Bristol depot could service everything on the kind of

east side, and then the Rock obviously on the west side of that.

And the strategy at that point was to really make

Doom Bar a kind of top ten, if not top five, national brand.

This is a lesson to all small businesses.

The reason big companies get bigger and more successful

is because they strategise.

Sharp's distribution strategy was to get one flagship brand

put on the road.

They chose which brand by rigorous testing.

Paul's beers have won awards

but out of competition he relies on his own palate and instinct.

He needs expert impartial input.

So I've asked Sharp's master brewer to help us

decide which beer to get behind.

I've brought Paul's best beers to test, including Devon Dreamer -

the ale HE'S banking on.

-I don't do beer tastings.

-Right.

-I do lots of wine tastings.

So tell me what I'm looking for, when I taste a beer.

Beer tasting is much more about excluding things

which customers don't enjoy.

So you're looking for off flavours

like butterscotch or rotten eggs, or kind of green apple,

those kind of unpleasant flavours.

The first thing you want to do is smell and sniff the beer.

It is important to swill it.

That basically allows the CO2 to come off

and pushes all the volatiles, all the fragrance from the beer.

And then take a good sniff. And then it's down to the palate test.

The whole of your mouth senses all the flavours that are in it -

the bitterness, the astringency, the sweetness

and the dryness that is there.

Are there certain characteristics that successful beers share?

Cleanness, crispness and a refreshing characteristic

is something which a successful beer always has.

-So, do you want go and get yours, then?

-Yes.

A bit nervous actually for him, with this connoisseur here.

-I'm known for speaking my mind, so...

-Yeah?

-Oh, I love that.

-We like that, don't we? We like that.

-We might.

-I don't know that Paul will.

-THEY CHUCKLE

What do you think of the labels?

I'm not in love with the labels, to be honest with you.

They do not have the touch of a marketeer about them.

They look a little bit... the same as everyone else's.

ALEX GASPS

-Half Bore is a honey beer.

-Right.

-Critique on this one, please?

-Um, for me it's a little bit bitter.

If it's offering honey, there's not a lot of honey coming through.

All you get is quite a lot of hop bitterness on this one.

So I would hope for a little bit more sweetness.

It's not a balanced beer.

'This certainly isn't what I wanted to hear.

'And it's the first time Paul's had this kind of feedback.'

-Royal Hunt, then.

-Go on, then.

-We use Citra hop for a finish.

-Right.

And there's a lot of honey in this one.

-Comments?

-Yeah, that's good. That's good.

We always worry with Citra that you're going to get

real in-your-face, baseball-bat bitterness,

but that is a good subtle bitterness

and you're still getting the tropical fruit notes from that,

which is really good.

Stuart likes Royal Hunt

despite it being one of Paul's less popular ales.

But Devon Dreamer, his leading ale, is up next.

Devon Dreamer, 4.1% ABV.

A very simple process. We triple hop this.

'The name alone is a big draw for Hunter's local market,

'so it's no surprise it sells twice as much as the rest of the range.

'But can this beer alone carry the Hunter's brand?'

It's a good beer. The basics are there.

The clarity of flavour could be improved

and I think that is... potentially the boil.

Do you like it or do you not like it?

I wouldn't be happy if I brewed it.

-I've got to say I'm going to defend Devon Dreamer...

-Yeah.

..because you're the first person EVER to say that.

Another brewery from here could taste that and say it's the best thing

-they've ever tasted.

-Yes.

-So it's subjective.

-Yeah.

'It's not what I was expecting from a bestseller. Paul's taken it badly.

'But this is business and he needs to toughen up.'

-I think Alex thinks, "You've got to be

-BLEEP

-joking?"

-I know.

-I think you did amazingly well.

-Alex was shocked.

You saw the shock on her face.

-She did NOT expect that.

-I know.

I mean, it seems obvious to me.

The beer that should go outside Devon, which is Devon Dreamer,

it sells so much more than everything else.

However, it clearly wasn't a particular winner with Stuart.

So I'm not quite sure where that leaves us.

Maybe Devon Dreamer is successful in Devon just because of the name.

Perhaps Paul was overlooked Stuart's favourite - Royal Hunt.

Could this underdog ale be the answer?

I can't take the man from Doom Bar... his opinion as gospel.

No, I understand what you're saying.

-Because the only way to get a real test is blind tasting.

-I know.

I feel... I don't know. I don't know.

Am I being too overprotective of my brand?

A smidgen but that's OK, you're entitled to be, it's your beer.

-It is.

-So you're very entitled to be. So don't worry about it.

'I think the feedback from Stuart at Sharp's,'

I think it just put an inkling in his head, like a doubt in the back

of his mind, "Is my beer good enough?" Because it was questioned.

'Paul does struggle with negative feedback.

'We would all call Paul a confident person.'

He is very confident.

But actually his confidence does get easily knocked.

'Yeah, he just doesn't handle it terribly well. Yeah.'

'The tasting at Sharp's may have hit Paul harder than I expected.'

-Hello.

-Hello.

-Hi.

'So before we resume our search for a flagship beer,

'I've invited Paul and Eline to my home.'

So, tell me, how has everything been going since I last saw you?

I was worried that it would depress you or annoy you.

In some ways I was quite angry about it.

-It's easy to

-BLEEP

-on the chips of a smaller company, isn't it?

-Yes.

-But it's his opinion, he's entitled to it.

I don't think you have to take anybody's wholesale advice

apart from mine, of course.

I insist upon that.

So the plan for today is I've invited about 30 beer bloggers,

-sommeliers, members of the drinking public...

-OK.

..to come and taste your fine beer.

They will then vote on their preferred ones

and we will a clear winner.

-That would be the ideal scenario.

-Yes.

-Yeah.

We will have a flagship beer.

We will have the one that we really want to push.

How are you feeling about the taste test?

I was very nervous last night. I didn't sleep very well.

-I was worried about this.

-Why?

Well, I'm worried that people won't like any of the beers.

-I doubt it.

-If they say they're all crap.

It could happen, couldn't it?

I think, first of all, let's not worry about that.

I don't think that's a realistic fear.

Hopefully we will get and come away today with a much stronger sense

of where we're going with it next.

-Thank you.

-Come on.

'For this second taste test, we're sampling four beers including

'Paul's top seller Devon Dreamer and Stuart's standout ale Royal Hunt.

'I just hope this time we all agree on a winner.'

So, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to The Calf in Clapham, my local.

We are going to do this in a very measured manner.

Each get a beer mat and I will ask you to vote for your favourite beer.

What else is there to say, except

goodness gracious me, it's time to start drinking. I mean tasting.

MUSIC: "I'm Pretty Good At Drinkin' Beer" by Billy Currington

# I wasn't born digging deep holes

# I'm not made for paving long roads

# I ain't cut out to climb high-line poles

# But I'm pretty good at drinking beer... #

Everyone's chatting. Nice atmosphere.

Paul's obviously very nervous.

I'm nervous. I want it to work.

I want to find out if...

I mean, I'm hoping they're going to like at least one of the beers.

We've never really done this before.

We've gone to beer festivals

and we've had it judged with everybody else's beer.

This is the first time we've had this with just our beer

in the room.

So it'll be interesting to see what people really do say and think.

# ..Built for having a ball... #

It's a good old-fashioned taste.

It's not for me at all. I prefer it a bit more pale aley.

Excuse the pun, it's very beery. I like beer to be beery.

I've got to take this opinion now, rough or smooth,

and I can't throw my toys out of my pram on this one.

This is the way it is, isn't it?

The cool, hard truth of the matter.

-What's your favourite then, overall?

-Overall? A.

-Yours?

-A.

-A.

-Just become A.

-A.

Unanimous - if it was just us.

Let's see if everyone else agrees.

-Cheers.

-Cheers.

# ..I'm pretty good at drinkin' beer. #

So I have the overall results.

Poor old D came trailing last which, interestingly enough, guys,

is their bestselling beer locally in Devon.

B, number three, Crack Shot. Then C, was number two, Half Bore.

So A was the clear winner.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

So both your professional brewer and your drinking public agree.

And it's Royal Hunt. Royal Hunt is the one.

-Thank you very much, Alex.

-Thank you.

Thank you very much, I really appreciate it.

'It's a result.

'Royal Hunt came top, relegating Devon Dreamer into last place.

'At least now I've convinced Paul the former underdog beer

'is the right ale to champion.'

After the last beer tasting, I was very nervous.

What'd happen if people said this beer is no good?

Um...

They've no negative comments really about any of the beers.

I'm really pleased. So it's sort of put the argument to bed.

And back in Devon, there's some unexpected news.

Seven months late, most of the bottling machine has arrived.

The question is whether it's too Mickey Mouse to use.

Perfect.

ELECTRICAL WHIRRING

It's pumping. It's working.

With this machine up and running,

we'll be able to fulfil large bottle orders out of the county

and we may have the option to export when the time is right.

So, just push your bottles down.

-That's impressive, isn't it?

-So they're on the wrong end, yeah?

-Yeah.

-OK.

Eurgh!

Oh, that's crap, isn't it?

There's something wrong on the settings here.

All right.

-I've got my work cut out here...

-Well, yeah. For today...

-Yes?

..I would stop tinkering.

It would be too easy for it to run.

You're not achieving anything now by fiddling.

No, no, I don't we'll achieve anything.

I totally agree with you but don't talk to me like I'm a kid.

-No, I'm not.

-I totally get you.

-I do know.

-Yeah.

Paul and Eline have banked on this machine to the tune of £45,000.

So there's massive pressure for it to work.

Despite slaving over the machine day and night,

Paul's worst fears have been realised.

The bottling machine that we purchased,

we've try to commission it and there's many faults with it.

So we've decided to give up with it, put it to one side and start again.

It's been a nightmare.

So the plan is that we find a second-hand bottling machine,

bring it here, commission it and start bottling automatically.

We believe this is the way forward.

I know it's more money but I haven't got any choice at all in it.

I have to do this.

So, um, we can take all the advice in the world

but we can't carry on working the way we are.

Two months in, we're back to square one on the bottling front.

What are you going to do?

'We're lucky that we have some friends in the industry,

'who have a spare bottling line.

'They've just upgraded. They've got a small one which works.'

So...

I don't even know where to...

I just don't want you to go out and spend another whole load of money.

I just want you to take the decision-making as slowly as you can

because I really, really don't want to be involved

in you making a mistake.

'Alex, we are going to bottle beer. We have to -

'it's part of our business.

'And we have opportunities to grow our business massively.'

-Mm.

-'We have to do this, one way or the other, Alex.'

-OK.

Despite my advice about not spending a penny more,

Paul has made his mind up.

He's paid £20,000 for the new machine

by remortgaging the house, which horrifies me.

But it is HIS business so I have to respect it.

-ELINE:

-Paul's personality definitely lets him get through it.

He's got an incredible amount of self-belief that can,

I guess, come across as that he's arrogant.

But he isn't arrogant at all.

I think he just holds true to what he knows he can do

and he will never ever give up.

Before brewing, we have faced a lot of challenges.

What people don't know about me is I left school

when I was 12 years old with no qualifications whatsoever.

I managed to get a corporate job in pharmaceuticals

without a degree background and did very well at that.

So, in the face of adversity, I did very well

as realistically I shouldn't have done.

So there is that.

But sort of my background has given me the attitude I've got,

in that you don't give up, you must succeed.

We're back to bottling and the next thing

I need to do is reposition this product so it sells more.

But one has to tread carefully when considering rebranding.

In 1997, British Airways spent £60 million

rebranding its entire fleet of planes

by replacing the Union Flag trademark.

But it received a frosty response and the decision was soon reversed.

Others, like Compare The Market, did get it right.

The launch of its meerkat campaign in 2009,

boosted the brand's market share by 76%.

I think to help Paul stand out against some of the leading

beer brands, his mismatched labels need a radical overhaul.

So I've brought them to a London-based design agency for help.

ENTRY SYSTEM BUZZES

-Hi, this is Alex Polizzi and team.

-'OK. Come up.'

-Thanks.

Underscore have worked with some of the biggest British brands -

from Tesco to The Body Shop.

They've helped breweries like Beavertown update their look

and I'm hoping they can do the same for Hunter's.

We'd start by looking at you as you are today.

You've got a whole menagerie of different labels,

that looks like you have a very eclectic mix of beers.

But do they sit together as a family?

Even though there is some level of symmetry in the shape,

-they all look and feel different.

-Mm-hm.

From a design point of view,

which is ultimately how your brand would be connected,

you're working with different typography.

Some of them we've got a very dominant name

but then we suddenly veer over here into illustration.

And it's very important to get the balance right

between what the name is and what you're saying.

The name alone can be a reason to stop you

-getting into a certain country.

-Yeah.

There are cultural differences everywhere you look.

You will find, for example if you're looking geographically,

that certain nations have already OWNED a certain colour -

whether that's the blue, red, you know...

And it's usually primary colours, it has to be said.

It depends on how far afield you want go.

We don't want to strip this back until it is completely white.

Um, but at the same time, it's about giving you

a colour palette that feels right for your customers

and actually has that feeling of tradition,

whilst also being maybe a little bit more contemporary

and forward-thinking than this has been before.

Yeah, yeah.

-I know.

-The general trend is for less.

-Yes.

-Yeah, I think we need help, don't we?

-ALEX CHUCKLES

-Do you think(?)

-You never know.

-Do you think?

I want you to have a look at something.

We had to put together some brand values,

just based on what we did know about you,

to help inform our initial creative.

Have a look at these and tell me what resonates with you.

-Consistency.

-Consistency. Why?

Because all I've ever done is worked on that.

-Yes, that is my life, is getting the consistency.

-Yeah. Yeah.

-Great.

-Definitely cheeky.

"Pub speak", what do you mean by that?

You know, there's a difference between

-pub speak and bar speak.

-Yeah, yeah.

-That's the subtle difference.

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

-And informal is definitely where we are.

-Yeah, definitely.

I feel as well, we're kind of almost everyman.

He was your every guy you speak to, that was stuck in the job

with the family and the mortgage and he had to earn the money.

And he just thought...

-I can't do it any more. I'm sorry. All these words are exactly it.

-Aw!

Poor old wifey, look. She'll be all right in a minute.

-I was waiting for that. It was coming out anyway.

-It's

-BLEEP.

-It's that you've got to get it right.

-That's what it has to be.

It has to be real.

What we need to do is, you've got all the basics there,

-we just need to encapsulate that and really tell the story.

-OK.

'Neil and his team have put together four options to rebrand Hunter's

'and I want Paul and Eline to choose their favourite.'

What we're doing, we're taking the essence of where you were before

and we're bringing it up to date and we're taking it into the future.

It's got a certain amount of clarity in there

so that it feels more established.

-We're connecting with tradition...

-I like that.

-..to get that gut feel we were talking about before.

If you're reaching into new markets, if you're going further afield,

because of the geographic issues and the regional issues,

less is very much more.

Well, I'm leaving Paul and Eline there.

I know this discussion is going to go on for ages.

It's the first time they've ever done any exercise like this

and I don't think they're going to come to a decision in a moment.

I just hope that seeing these fantastic designs

is going to move on their thinking a bit

and help them with the big next steps they have to take.

I wasn't expecting it to be as good as that.

And I really...I thought I'd say, Alex, I don't want you to change

my branding too much, but it made a lot of sense in there.

So Alex is right yet again.

All four designs that were there were good in their own right

but one of them stuck out really well and, erm...

posh, smart,

but it's still down to earth, which is what we're trying to be.

'I'm confident that now the branding is more in keeping with

'the modern image of microbrewering,

'we have a better chance of rolling one beer out across the UK.

# Do it, do it, do it, do it Do it now... #

'And I'm wasting no time in finding out.

'I've brought Paul, his flagship ale and the new branding

'up the M5 corridor to Bristol - a cosmopolitan city

'that's embraced the ale movement.'

I think...it seems obvious to me that the first next place

you have to supply is somewhere with a high population

because there's an opportunity for a lot of sales.

Bristol has a lot of pubs and restaurants.

-Now, with the new bottling plant possibly coming online...

-Yes.

..there is the possibility for selling more in restaurants,

which would not sell cask but will sell bottles.

There's enough restaurants that I think you ought to be able to get

-20 or 30 to supply in Bristol, given a bit of leg-work.

-Yeah.

-We're just testing the water.

-I like it. Let's do it.

# Splish-splash, I was taking a bath... #

'This historic lido boasts an award-winning restaurant

'and I've heard the head chef is looking for a strong beer,

'so it's the perfect opportunity for Paul to push Royal Hunt

'and road test the new branding.'

Currently looking for something that's a bit gutsy we can use in the winter months.

Cooking pigs' cheeks and things like that.

That's the sort of thing that will work with that.

-Royal Hunt, a 5.5% strong winter beer, really.

-OK.

We've entered it into some national competition, and regional,

-and we won both.

-Sounds impressive.

Mm. It's lovely.

So we've got to start somewhere now to branch out of Devon

with the correct product and the correct marketing.

I like them. What they are, though, is quite rural.

-It's great, it's where it's from...

-Yeah.

..but we're obviously quite a city location.

Something we're really good at as well is,

if a restaurant as large as this or a chain as large as this,

if you wanted to rebrand a product, I'm happy to look at that.

Or one thing I love doing - Alex will probably kill me -

I love making different beers with different hops.

'After weeks of getting him to focus on one beer,

'I can't believe Paul is offering to brew small bespoke batches.'

Certainly the idea of maybe branding our own, if we've already got one of

our ales that's branded, perhaps to have our own again

and work with you and develop something.

'This was not what we planned and I was expecting much more from Paul.

'He needs to stick to our strategy if we're ever going to get his beers

'out of Devon, let alone the country.'

-So I think you've got to say "no" a bit more.

-Mm-hm.

Although brewing for them a whole batch might have been appealing,

it isn't particularly financially viable.

I do have trouble saying "no"

and I saw a different opportunity and I shouldn't have done that.

I should have gone down the route of protecting Royal Hunt.

The last thing we need is for you to do another bloody speciality beer.

-OK.

-Yeah?

You should come up for three or four days and organise ten meetings a day

and then, once we get the automated bottling plant up and running

and once we've got the new branding in place,

you can press the button and start actioning all those orders.

I just don't want the bottling plant to be sitting there

and us not have anything to put through it.

Let's get on the ball, basically.

'I feel a bit frustrated.'

I'm trying to improve his profitability.

What we really want is to drive demand for Paul's beer.

You want someone to have Royal Hunt in one place

and look for Royal Hunt in another.

That's how successful businesses work.

I've let Alex down. I definitely regressed into the old Paul.

I've got a fair idea of what Alex is expecting now

so, when we revisit Bristol, I've got a good feeling

that we'll get some beer in this area.

'I've had to rein Paul in to keep him on course with our strategy.

Just Google...

"Bristol drinks wholesalers" or something like that.

'This time, not only his he staying on message

'but he's now contacting wholesalers and going great guns

'to get his beer into Bristol.'

Go on, give me the phone.

Hello, my dear. This is Paul from Hunter's Brewery.

Yeah. We are trying to launch our brand into Bristol.

# He's got high hopes... #

Your company keeps popping up

as a good way in to distribute our products.

What wholesalers will do is improve his reach.

In return for that, they'll expect a discounted product.

He has to remember what his margins are.

He has to remember the exact figure it costs him to produce his beer

and he must not deviate or dip below that figure.

'Wholesalers expect sizable discounts, often around 20%,

'but if Paul can sell to them in volume

'he stands to make good profits.'

So I am wondering if I can come in and see you on Friday

with some product?

Yeah.

That's lovely. Cheers, buddy. Bye-bye.

-That's quite a positive call.

-That's good, isn't it?

That was a real positive call.

We've got to get our game heads on that day, then. Are you up for that?

-Do I need to buy a new suit?

-What have you got?

I can't fit into mine.

'Paul is working hard to grow the business and he's starting to pay

'more attention to the financial situation of Hunter's,

'which proves to me he's becoming more of a businessman

'and not just a brewer.'

Divided by 46, times by 52...

'Not only has he cut back on spending, but he's getting

'more efficient in the day-to-day running of the brewery.'

I had a big week in ordering materials.

We're ordering materials a little bit differently.

Order a little bit more, get a little bit more off.

We save money in the long run.

We're on a £440,000-£450,000 turnover this year.

Turnover is going up in the right direction

and we're controlling this spend.

Paul, I'm happy with this because I know you get it

and I know you're looking at it so I'm perfectly happy with this.

Eline has seen a difference in me. She's seen a more motivated person.

I'm more well into trying to make things work.

I check the break-evens every day.

I watch it going up and down.

Erm, so every day I then look at...

if it's going down, why is the profit going down?

Before, I wouldn't have had a clue, so that's the difference.

'I'm heading back to Hunter's for the final time.

'I'm not sure what I'm coming back to but for the sake of the business,

'I really hope the new bottling machine is working out.'

I would love this to actually be a success.

I feel so passionately about Hunter's Brewery

and I feel so fond of Paul and Eline,

I just do not want this to cock-up again.

To get to this point, it has been an amazing struggle.

A lot has been riding on bottling beer automatically

because this is our strategy for building the business and moving it forward.

It's been hard work the last two or three weeks, putting this equipment in.

The other thing I'm really worried about is...

the knock-on effect it would have on Paul's confidence

if this machine isn't up and running.

When I first came to Hunter's Brewery,

Paul's mojo was at an all-time low, as he admitted himself,

and I don't want to find him back in that situation.

Gosh, here we are. Here we go!

Fingers crossed for the bottling line.

-Hello, hello!

-Hello.

-How are you?

-Good.

Really well.

-Look at this thing of beauty!

-A little bit different, isn't it?

-It's enormous.

-It is. I've never heard that before, Alex.

This looks like the real deal.

We're lucky, we've got the engineers...

Look at Alex!

-Thanks, Alex.

-I'm so pleased for you.

-It's good, isn't it?

-Yes! I can't believe it.

-Can't believe it.

-Do you feel like it's a weight of your shoulders?

Of course it is. It's really good, Alex, yeah.

We can move on now, can't we?

'I can't believe Paul's pulled it off.

'He's still using the old labels until he runs out of stock

'but now he can get bottling.'

Just get the machine going.

It'll come down and label the bottle, it'll fill the bottles,

and this will put a cap on the bottles

rather than that hand thing we were doing.

It will come out the other side and down to the person that's pulling the bottles off.

But we've kept the old piece of kit. Our museum!

It's great, isn't it?

We can bottle the same batch of beer in half the time

-and with less people.

-With half the number of people.

Yay!

Brilliant, darling. Really well done.

-Hi!

-Hi, darling.

-Hello. Lovely to see you.

So...how are things?

Very excited. I mean, it's all actually here.

When they had another day in Bristol,

-they saw a few big wholesalers.

-How did that all go?

Well, two of those bog wholesalers that are national wholesalers

have got us listed with them and have actually taken ground stock.

-Good.

-Yes. Hooray!

I think Paul has finally let the debacle of the last machines go.

Yeah. I think Trading Standards will be getting involved at some point

but we'll just wait and see on that.

At the moment it's just about moving forward.

How is he? Is he still keeping a close eye on the figures?

Oh, my God! Yes, he's really, really good.

Absolutely his mindset has changed because the minute

that that's what you're looking at, it just alters your whole plan.

He is in a much, much better place, mentally and physically, actually.

-He seems quite calm.

-Yeah, he is.

Both of us are under no illusions this is not out of the water...

I know, but you'd be an idiot if you thought that.

The fact that we both understand that

rather than one painting one picture and one the other...

Trying to balance it out!

We're now in the middle somewhere and I think that's alleviated the whole pressures of everything

which is good because it's saved the marriage as well.

-Oh, I'm glad you're getting on well. I'm so glad, darling.

-All good.

'Four months ago, they were at breaking point,

'but with a little help from me and masses of hard work from them,

'we've brought the business back from the brink.

'But I know Paul is still desperate to send his beers abroad.'

First time I came to the brewery...

you told me you thought you had the silver bullet to all your problems

and that was going to be taking your beer down the export route,

which I took issue with, not because I didn't think overall

it could be a strategy at some point in the future

but because there were a lot more

immediate and pressing problems to tackle.

It's pretty amazing how much you've done in the time.

-You're much more focused on the business side of things.

-Yeah.

We have a bottling plant in, you've got deals with wholesalers.

As a result, I've decided that I will...

help you dip your toe in the water of export

and I'm going to send you off to France this afternoon

to meet someone called Richard Wilson who runs Yummies,

which is a company specialising in promoting British products

into the French market.

To try and help you, I have prepared your labels in French.

Slightly tweaked the colour

because green is a colour that commands trust in France.

As you'll see, the back...

-is now all in French.

-Very good.

-Wow.

-The main thing is to see whether he thinks that if this is the kind of product that has legs.

-Definitely.

The other thing is, you don't have to go all dressed up.

They're quite casual in France in meetings.

This is my last visit with you.

I've got to admit, it was tough at the beginning, but...

just a change of mindset for me, looking at the figures

and realising where the spend was going has made a massive difference. It's been amazing.

There we go.

'I'm really sad to be saying goodbye to Paul and Eline

'and that my time with Hunter's Brewery has come to an end.'

They are at the very beginning.

It's only just calmed down and got onto an even keel.

I really can only see them going from strength to strength.

Oh, hello, my dear. Are you all right there?

-Where are you travelling to?

-To Paris, my dear.

-Have you got your passport?

-I have.

'British beer exports are worth more than £600 million

'and we send over £90 million of beer to France.

'If Paul's meeting with Richard goes well,

'it could give Hunter's a foothold in the foreign market

'and open up the path to export.

The French beer market is an extremely difficult market to break into

but we're already working with a number of microbreweries

and I certainly think a British microbrewery could be something we could add to our portfolio.

'Can Paul impress

'and will Royal Hunt prove worthy enough to take on France?'

We've done some rebranding of one of our products, which is Royal Hunt.

-If I show you that...

-Sure.

I mean, first off, mentioning "britanniques" - British, is good,

and "traditionelles", having those in big letters on the front of the label is a good thing.

-Is there any idea of putting a Union Jack somewhere?

-Do you think that would go down well?

-It would.

It would be very eye-catching straight away before anybody gets the time to read it.

The image and the logo, obviously what it represents.

-Shall we check a bottle out?

-Sure. OK.

-This is how the label will look on the bottle.

-It's a beautiful label anyway.

In France, there's quite a following of hunting.

The green is very royal, in a way.

-Good. Shall we open one?

-It's just about midday, isn't it?

We can taste.

It is quite cloudy, isn't it? Having something cloudy is fine

because they're used to their white beer - biere blanche.

-They're used to that coming out cloudy. You want to chink?

-Cheers.

-Mm. That's falling down the mouth lovely.

-Yeah.

That's certainly a very easy drink, isn't it?

Richard, the Royal Hunt, do you think this has a place in France?

Erm...

MUSIC: "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien" by Edith Piaf

Bonjour, Alex.

Bonjour, mon ami. Hi, Paul. How are you?

Very well indeed. In Paris, looking straight at the Eiffel Tower.

It's beautiful.

Good. Was it successful is all I care about. Forget the Eiffel Tower.

Alex, we went through the prospects of will Royal Hunt be good for France

and the answer to that is he believes it could be.

Yes, a very good scenario and I still believe for the future

that this is a good opening.

I'm so pleased for you, Paul. I am so very pleased for you, darling.

Thank you, Alex.

Bye.

Very good. Very happy lady on the other end of the phone.

I can't see that it's the end of the journey.

I think we'll see Alex again.

I really can.

I'd love to see the Royal Hunt symbol at the top of there at some point.

Wouldn't that be fantastic?

What if we can achieve that one? That would be good, wouldn't it?

'Hunter's have now signed with two Bristol wholesalers

'and a pub company and are on the verge of a supermarket deal

'that could see their beer stocked in 90 stores

'and the bottling machine is still going strong.'