S P E C I A L FE ATUR E THE UNDERCOVER MOVER MARK TAYLOR IN A PUBLICITY SHOT FOR THE UNDERCOVER BIG BOSS PROGRAMME Working anonymously behind the scenes at Pickfords gave Managing Director Mark Taylor first-hand understanding of the challenges and sentiment on the frontline of his company. FIDI Focus speaks to him, and Marketing Director Lyndsey Wallbank, about what he learned, and what he did as a result E arlier this year, Pickfords Managing Director Mark Taylor was selected as one of four managers for the reboot of Undercover Big Boss, on UK television network ITV. The company had been contacted, out of the blue, by production company Studio Lambert, which held five screening meetings before making its decision. The companys Marketing Director, Lyndsey Wallbank, says: We were delighted to be chosen, but also nervous, because we knew the process would uncover issues that we would need to 64 FF304 Dec_Jan 22 pp64-65 Pickfords.indd 64 resolve, and which would be broadcast to a huge prime-time audience. However, having been involved in two series of The Removal Men, for Channel 5 in the UK, many years ago, the company felt comfortable taking part. We knew we had to trust the programme-makers, says Wallbank. They have to get the balance right between making compelling TV and ensuring it is not a boring vanity project for Pickfords. So, we embraced the subjects we suspected would come up on the Things to improve list. From there, things moved quickly during June. My task was to liaise with our management team to find customers who were prepared to be filmed. We made daily calls to those that had interesting or complex moves, says Wallbank. Taylor then took off to film the disguise scene, before going undercover for a month, placed in certain teams that had been selected because they had interesting personalities or points to make. The same themes came up in all four programmes [in the series] working conditions, pay, recognition, investment, says Wallbank. One of our challenges in 2021 was (and still is) driver recruitment, so we knew this was a theme the production company would explore. The programme-makers told me they wanted to push Mark out of his comfort zone, and to bring the themes, people and boss together to create an interesting TV programme. When the programme aired, it attracted an audience of two million, while Pickfords saw a large jump in visits to its website. The social media feedback was huge and the sentiment was overwhelmingly positive, says Wallbank. There were some negative voices out there, but Mark has got positive feedback. He received many personal emails and letters from viewers wishing him well, and we had a sudden increase in driver applicants who wanted to work for him, too. WW W. F I D I FOC U S . OR G 07/12/2021 16:08