Alex is called in to help a failing family bridalwear business in Kettering, Northamptonshire. Despite remortgaging her home to keep the business afloat, owner Anne Preece is watching the profits fall year on year, and to make matters worse her two daughters Rhiannon and Bethan, who also work in the shop, argue constantly. Even though most brides are willing to pay over their budget for the dress of their dreams, Courtyard seems unable to turn fittings into sales. Plus the shop itself is tired, dated and overstocked. Alex works with the family to try to pull the business back from the brink. But this isn't just business - it's personal too. Alex questions the whole family dynamic and forces them all to re-evaluate their positions in the company. After months of work, the shop relaunches by getting nine former customers to renew their wedding vows wearing Courtyard Bridal Boutique's new collection. But will any of this save the business?
Alex has been asked to help a family bakery in dire straits in scenic Padstow, Cornwall. The Chough Bakery, owned and run by the Eade family, does well in the summer months when over five million people visit the county, but they virtually go out of business every winter. Every year they lurch along, but with growing competition in this upmarket foodie town their pasties, cakes and loaves look shabby and the lack of year round trade threatens their very existence. But beyond the business problems is a family in crisis. Mum Elaine rules the roost and decides on everything that happens. Her controlling ways mean that her children Greg and Luisa feel powerless to take the business on to the next level - and now the tension between brother and sister has boiled over. Luisa has spent all her adult life in the pasty kitchen to earn her directorship of the business, while brother Greg, also a director, has recently arrived and only visits the business once a week. His lack of product knowledge and unwillingness to throw himself into the business seems to be holding back their ability to wholesale their products further afield. Alex gets frustrated as even after initiating business fix after fix, they seem unable to go forward because every family meeting descends into an argument. She even ropes in the help of her husband - who she runs a high end bakery with - to make sure their product is top notch. But despite all her best efforts, Alex hits a brick wall.
Alex Polizzi is called in to a family-run furniture store in Yeadon, just outside Leeds. Kettley's Furniture has been run by John Butler and his family for 33 years, but it just hasn't moved on in that time, stocking furniture which is more care home than dream home, and in recent years profits are down as customer numbers have dwindled. The business has been almost completely centred on serving the elderly and infirm, but the over 65s buy less furniture than the 25 to 45 year olds, as big ticket purchases like furniture are mostly driven by moving home or home improvement. Currently Kettley's looks like an outdated shop with old-fashioned stock, and is a total turn off to couples and young families, who outnumber the over 65s in the local area. Alex also needs to sort out the family struggles. Dad John and son David don't see eye to eye, with David clearly looking for approval from his father that he's capable of running the business - but John doesn't look ready to give him that approval, or the reins of the store. In fact, John seems unable to trust any of the younger partners in the business - son David, niece Nicola and nephew Andrew - with whom he butts heads. With years of working with her own family under her belt, Alex is armed and ready to do battle with the Butlers to put their problems right. She has fight on her hands, as John will not relinquish control of his kingdom lightly. Unfazed and undaunted, Alex orders an overhaul of all three floors of the store and all their marketing and branding. It's a struggle that goes right to the wire - but in the end will any of her interventions make a difference to Kettley's bottom line? And can she prove to John that his son David has what it takes to push the business into the future?
Alex Polizzi lends her considerable expert business skills to a failing family car repair garage in Ashton-under-Lyne, Manchester. Mum and co-owner Jan Lord despairs of getting the business out of the increasing trouble it's in with too few customers and not enough work to fill the mechanics' days. Without improvement, she faces the nightmare scenario of losing her home and making her own children unemployed. Alex discovers that the family are their own worst enemies - their customer service skills are not up to scratch, the garage is a mess, and not only that Jan's youngest son and MOT supremo Adam spends more time messing around than actually working. And worse, Jan herself is hiding the true state of the company from her sons and daughter. Alex sends the family to Manchester City football club's lauded hospitality operation to learn good customer service, and younger son Adam to one of her family's five star hotels - the prestigious Lowry - to try to instil a work ethic in him. And she challenges the family to bring in more work by offering a course to get more women into the garage and to overhaul the garage to win a large fleet contract. Will she succeed in turning their fortunes around?
Alex Polizzi is called in to a faltering fancy dress shop in Essex - Props and Frocks. Last year, owner Adele took out emergency bank loans to prevent the business going bust. When Alex arrives, she discovers one of the main reasons why - literally thousands and thousands of lines of stock, filling not only the shop but garages and outhouses too. Adele is a stockaholic. She's also a workaholic who can't leave the shop as she doesn't trust anyone else, and has a hugely emotional attachment to the costumes. She's smothering the business and needs to take a step back. The family meanwhile see the shop as an extension of their home. Adele's own mother Joy, who also works in the shop, cannot stand anyone touching any of the goods. Alex tackles the problems by getting son and daughter Rhys and Ellis to start taking some initiative in the business and she confronts Adele's addiction to ordering stock head on. She brings in retail design expert Karl McKeever, who has worked with the likes of M&S and Disney Stores, to address the sprawling shop interior. And she takes the whole family to work for a day in one of the busiest stores in the UK - to help them understand how a major retailer deals with having customers using and abusing their stock: they welcome it! Alex also discovers the staff have it relatively easy, and forces Adele to face them down over weekend working. Alex's time with the family culminates with a grand relaunching of the shop on their busiest day of the year - Halloween. All of the above - plus the chance to see Alex Polizzi on a promotional stunt for the store, dressed up as a 70s glam rocker! Can she revive the floundering business and in the process give Adele her life back?
Alex Polizzi is called to an unusual family firm in dire need of help: Denver Mills, a working windmill in Norfolk. Just before Alex arrives, a tragedy has struck. Three of the sails have crashed off the windmill, leaving the Abel family absolutely bereft. A business already in trouble has just hit rock bottom. Alex finds a business that does not know what it is, with the site comprising of the windmill itself, a tea shop, gift shop, function room and rental cottages. She also finds a family that, although passionate about milling flour, are clueless about how to run a business. Relationships have also started to implode, with mother Lindsay not knowing anything about their finances and son-in-law Duncan angry that the family care more about milling than money. Alex has a huge challenge on her hands. She needs to get the family focussed, and fast. Identifying that the shop and the cafe are profitable ventures, she gets the family to concentrate on those areas. Realising that they are underselling their high-quality produce, she takes them to hamper producers Forman and Field to learn how to package and sell their local produce properly. She also takes them to historical site branding experts Imagemakers, to help give Denver Mill a new cohesive brand identity. Most of all though, Alex needs to give the family their confidence back so they can continue after she has gone. She helps them set up a farmers market at the Mill to showcase the new improved Denver Mills and its produce. But has Alex done enough to save the business, and can a family like this ever develop the business sense needed to survive?
Alf Onnie's interiors shop, specialising in fabric and curtains, has been going in East London since it was set up in 1920. It's approaching its centenary but the recession and house market slump have hit curtain sales hard. Run by three brothers, both they and the shop are stuck in a time warp, almost as far back as the shop's beginning. And what's more they are paralysed by indecision about how to move the business forward. Alex tries to drag them into the 21st century with lessons in modern window dressing, a contemporary photo shoot and with a trip to the exclusive Brown's hotel in London, where they get the chance to meet her mum who runs it as part of their family owned hotel chain. But disaster strikes when they discover they are plagued by London's biggest and vilest pest, rats! As they rip the shop apart to deal with them, it provides the perfect opportunity to launch a makeover but youngest brother Jeremy seems bent on derailing the plans as his quest for perfection drives everyone to distraction
When mum Andy beat a life-threatening illness she saw it as the inspiration to follow her dream and set up a portrait studio with her three daughters, but a struggle to find customers and pay the rent has turned the dream into a nightmare, as they must deal with the realities of their lack of business knowledge and expertise. The business depends on mum's savings and if it folds she will be left with nothing and no money for her retirement. Alex attempts to turn them around by giving them the chance to work with a celebrity photographer who has worked with a huge range of A listers including Keira Knightley, Lindsay Lohan and Angelina Jolie. But when Alex tries to expand their client base by introducing them to commercial photography, the girls' failure to put any effort in leaves Alex frustrated and doubting that their mum is up to being their boss. A decision to move to new premises does not go to plan and could leave them with nowhere to run their business. With Andy's life savings constantly dwindling, will this gamble pay off?
Dad David set up funeral directors Holmes and Sons five years ago and he has struggled to make any money from it. He is desperate to make it work so he can pass his business on to his two young sons, but neither of them are sure they even want to work there. What's more he has employed an office manager, Sheena, who is convinced they aren't doing anything wrong and refuses to change. Alex discovers that the funeral industry is an incredibly tricky world to run a business with all the ethical consideration you need to make. But David is taking it too far - letting his ethics and caring nature get in the way of charging for his services. Much less forgivable however, it's David's leadership that is leaving his sons uncommitted and lethargic. It proves incredibly difficult to navigate a path through the minefield of what is essentially making money out of people's loss. Alex tries to reinvent their business model and encourage them to connect with the community so the local people can see the family as the caring folk they are. But with both David and Sheena resistant to change, and two boys who are keener on facebook than funerals, will this undertaking business end up six feet under?
Alex takes on Martinis, a struggling salon in Essex set to close in six months if things do not improve. She is forced to tackle a family at loggerheads, and even draws on the expertise of Britain's most famous entrepreneur, Richard Branson, to help steer things in the right direction. Setting up this business had always been Asti's dream and she has invested her life savings in it. Now she stands to lose everything. She runs it with her mother and younger sister Dee Dee but the sisters' constant division is crippling the business. What's worse, Alex quickly discovers that the place itself is a mess and when she sends in leading industry experts undercover she also learns the service is nowhere near up to scratch. She sends them for training with leading talent including Daniel Galvin, Vidal Sasson and even Virgin Atlantic where they get advice from Richard Branson. But Dee Dee proves unreliable at a key event, almost derailing it completely. Will Alex's efforts restore their passion and turn around their fortunes or are this business and family beyond repair?
Pisces fish and chip shop was set up in the 1940s by the parents of the current owner Kipper. But lunchtime trade has fallen off a cliff, and Kipper and wife Julia can't agree on how to move the business forward. Their constant arguments have put a real strain on their relationship. They've drafted in daughter Juki to take over as manager, but neither of them are supporting her and the business is in a total mess. Can Alex get the parents to sort out the infighting and bring the daughter up to speed? Visits to the youngest Michelin-starred chefs in the country, learning the lessons of trendy pop-up restaurants from the Wahaca restaurant chain, and learning the importance of consistency from Pizza Express aim to help them transform their product and the way they do business. But with all the family pulling in different directions, will they ever be able to agree on a plan for the future?
The show sees third generation hotelier of the internationally-renowned, Forte family dynasty and successful businesswomen, Alex Polizzi, turn her attention to family firms that have reached breaking point. She tackles both their financial failures and domestic dramas and tries to guide them back on to the path to success. Established 30 years ago, Oak garden centre withered under the battering of last year's freezing winter and the poor financial management of dad David. It was forced into liquidation, leaving David and his wife Lynn distraught and in tears. Son, Ross, stepped into relaunch the business but with no money to play with he is only keeping it afloat by maxing out his credit card. What's more, David is finding it impossible to let his son take the reins and the father and son's relationship is on the verge of total breakdown. The business can't move forward until their resentments are laid to rest. Alex takes them to a stunning and successful National Trust property to understand how to turn themselves into a destination and calls in a leading retail expert to transform the site. But the real challenge is whether she can get father and son to work together rather than pulling the family apart. When Ross threatens to walk away from the business, can Alex find a way to give this family firm a future?
Alex revisits Chough Bakery in Cornwall before making her way to West Yorkshire and the furniture shop Kettley's to find out how the businesses are doing.
Alex Polizzi returns to Denver Mill in Norfolk and Courtyard Bridalwear in Kettering.
Alex Polizzi finds a fix for an exporting issue affecting a British microbrewery.
Alex meets a family of sausage producers whose survival relies heavily on supermarkets
Marlene and Ray Messer bought the Singing Kettle tearooms in the Devon resort of Torquay a couple of years ago but the business has taken a turn for the worse. Alex offers them advise on how to turn things around.
Alex Polizzi, champion of small businesses, finds fixes for the critical issues that kill so many companies. In this episode, Alex looks at getting your product right. Big Space is a children's soft-play centre run by Lester and Sue Adams. Setting the business up from scratch, the couple remortgaged their house and ploughed all their savings into the business. But their product is woeful and, to compound the challenge, they must serve two distinct customers: both parent and child. Privileged access to Pret A Manger's training academy unearths some groundbreaking philosophies, and a visit to Londons largest family restaurant, the Rainforest Café, reveals the importance of themed fun. Can Alex get this small company to realise the importance of customer satisfaction?
Balloonin Marvellous is run by Jo and Giuseppe in Wakefield but they are finding it hard to pay the rent and have been forced to move their showroom into their own family lounge. Alex offers them tips on how to turn the business around.
Sebastien Latour owns a pet shop in the centre of Wimbledon but the reality has put a daily strain on his finances and his relationship with his partner. Alex offers tips on how to turn the business around.
Alex revisits Alf Onnie, a fabric and curtain shop in London’s East End, and Props and Frocks, a fancy-dress shop in Essex to find out how they are doing now.
Alex revisits David Holmes and Sons, a family run funeral directors, and Guidebridge MOT, a car repair garage near Manchester to find out how they are doing now.
Alex Polizzi, the queen of immaculate taste, has spent years preparing the perfect Christmas in her role as an hotelier. But in 2013 she's planning on creating the perfect Christmas in her own home and in doing so she imparts all her tips on how to transform your home into the most sumptuous, stylish, perfectly Christmas space imaginable.
