It says something about the current level of confidence in the economy that when Channel Four put together the latest series of its show Undercover Boss, it could only find two companies willing to go through two weeks of filming. Thankfully the channel did manage to find someone with more than a passing interest in road transport to participate in the latest fad in business TV.
The show is a combination of Secret Millionaire (who said Pall-Ex's Hilary Devey at the back?) and Troubleshooter (the programme that made a star out of the late Sir John Harvey-Jones), and this is what Channel Four's PR guff says about it: "The top dogs of British business go undercover in their own companies to find out what's not working, fix it and reward employees who deserve recognition."
Top secret
But surely any good boss would be doing the same, especially in a recession and certainly without the TV cameras? Well, perhaps it is only the magic of television that can put the chief executive of a company into the workforce without anyone blowing the lid on their cover (letting you in on a secret, the filming crew would stop anyone who threatened to spill the beans and get them to sign a confidentiality agreement).
The man who managed to escape identification is Stephen Martin, chief executive officer of the Scunthorpe-based Clugston Group. When Roadtransport.com spoke to him he freely admitted: "I've never done so many interviews in my life. But I'll be watching [the show] from behind the cushions on the sofa."
So how did the process come about? "I was approached by Channel Four last year to see if I would consider doing it. My wife said 'no' and the board said 'no'. But I wanted to do it to show the British 
public the reality of life in a recession. There are only two programmes in this series because of the reality of how hard it is out there at the moment. But a lot of shows out there are very contrived about the reality of business; like the Apprentice, for example.
"This was a business exercise. What better way to find out about what our employees think about the company? I would get into the thoughts and minds of the workforce and hear directly from them. A lot of businesses would never get that. I've been round the whole company but, unlike the show, you are escorted around by managers and the engagement you get isn't reality."
Strength in diversity
Clugston's is a diverse business. Formed in the 1930s, it now has interests not just in logistics but in construction and property too. Last month it reported that group turnover for the year ending January 2009 had risen by 31% to £141.7m and group profit before tax was up 8% to £2.8m.
Clugston Distribution Services started life providing services to the heavy industries of Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire and now counts huge names such as Corus and Shell as customers, as well as specialising in food distribution. The Scunthorpe commercial vehicle maintenance division also runs a VOSA MoT Test Centre providing maintenance and repair services to its own fleet and other vehicle operators.
Martin says that some of the first filming for Undercover Boss was in this logistics side of the business, where he went out with drivers and vehicles on jobs, but footage two men in the cab of a truck didn't lead to the most exciting TV.
"We ended up using the construction sites and the logistics of coming to the sites. Channel Four quickly realised that logistics is a very important part of the group. We employ 150 people in that part of the business and we wanted to show all the sides of the group," Martin says.
Lessons learned
Anyone who has ever watched one of these reality TV shows will be familiar with the concept of the 'journey' as the programme chronicles a change in the individual's view of certain events and situations. So what did Martin learn from the experience?
"I was physically and mentally knackered," he says. "I worked with a guy named Dick Sutton and he turned 64 when I was working with him. He was going to retire next year and walk out the door with all of his skills. You have all these post-war babies retiring in the next few years. You can't have all these people retiring without people coming through the other end. We need these people with the skills they have driving lorries to transport cement and transport steel."
To deal with this loss of skills, Martin has set up a programme called 'Bridge the Gap'. The company describes it as an easy process to identify which people have the ability to coach younger people, potentially involving a psychometric test. It will also see training courses developed that are not classroom-based.
As a result of his experiences on the programme, Martin has become somewhat evangelical about plugging the skills gap left by an ageing workforce: "I knew it was an issue for us, but when I saw it at the coalface I realised the extent of the problem."
Talking it through
Another concern, which every manager is bound to share, is communicating with the workforce. Martin found evidence of the kind of Chinese whispers that can take place in the workplace – with one particular workforce on a construction site convinced that the management had cancelled their tea break, when they had only been asked to take it in a more convenient spot.
"Just how do you communicate during a recession? The workforce is concerned with their finances and with people losing their jobs. You have got to over-communicate and you have got to explain. We used to do a quarterly bulletin for all employees but people didn't read it because it was not done in a format they liked. We've changed it now to six one-page bulletins."
Finally, Martin is just as enthusiastic about the role that road transport will play in the UK's recovery from recession: "We need to let the country know what this industry can deliver. It is vital for the economy and going forward it is going to become even more vital to the economy.
"Everything is being done more on the internet when it comes to buying and selling, and that will depend on logistics and transport even more. The industry needs to deliver on time and on price. There's a massive opportunity there."
Speaking as one
He also calls on the industry to get behind new Road Haulage Association chief executive Geoff Dunning, particularly when it comes to issues around fuel duty.
If the industry is to make its voice heard, then it's time to stop going undercover and take on a PR load as heavy as Martin's is at the moment. At least it won't have to hide behind the sofa cushions come the next Budget.
Watch Undercover Boss online via the Channel Four website.