Season 5

Chief Executive Phil Couchman heads back to the frontline to work alongside his staff. Terrified of losing even a single customer to the competition, Phil aims to find out if workers are delivering the top notch service he expects. In the three years since Phil became boss, he's seen DHL's turnover reach a massive 800 million pounds. But rapid expansion brings its own problems. When the CEO goes undercover he discovers a stretched workforce and customer service staff who are tied up in red tape. Phil is moved by a courier who supports his family in Brazil but has no job security, another whose job is stretching his body to breaking point, and finally by couriers being paid unfairly. Phil is forced to consider whether DHL have more to worry about than just their customers.

After years in the boardroom, Geoff Zeidler of Securitas goes undercover, to be blown away by the sacrifices his security officers make and the violence and racial abuse they encounter through just doing their job. Private security company boss Geoff Zeidler of Securitas spearheaded a risky takeover of two rival firms just as the worldwide recession took hold. Securitas's global profits are down by a staggering £65 million and he's now responsible for 12,000 officers that the company didn't originally recruit. So Geoff's gone undercover to find out if his new officers are of the high caliber the customers expect. Geoff is shocked by how much pressure his new staff are under, and amazed by the personal sacrifices the security officers make. After witnessing the violence his officers tackle and the racial abuse they endure, Geoff's forced to consider whether Securitas has more to worry about than just the bottom line.

Company director Ray Pope steps out from his cosy office and into very unfamiliar territory by going undercover on the shopfloor of multi-million pound car giant Hyundai. Having tripled car sales in only four years, Ray worries that the business might be creaking under the strain. After years behind a desk, he's finally getting his hands dirty, but unearths sales staff struggling to perform, mechanics so demoralised that they're leaving the company, and valets frustrated at unachievable targets. And when the boss heads to the company's largest operation, Tilbury docks, where they import 2500 cars a week, he's shocked to discover that dozens of cars are going missing.

Eleanor Kelly, Chief Executive of south London's Southwark Council, wants to see how slashed budgets are affecting the borough's services, residents and an often under-appreciated staff. Cuts of nearly 100 million pounds have forced Eleanor to think outside the box. With 300,000 residents demanding round-the-clock services and pressure mounting as a result of an inquest into a tragic fire, the undercover CEO needs to discover if slashed budgets mean Southwark is failing its residents. But after years at the top, she's shocked at what she finds.

Chief Executive Ian Wakelin goes undercover in Biffa, the waste and recycling company. Biffa has been finding it increasingly difficult to turn muck into brass in these tough economic times. With debts in excess of a billion pounds when he joined, Ian's been wholly focused on restoring the company's flagging fortunes. Determined to maximise profits and pay back the company's remaining debts, he heads to the front line in search of ways to balance the books. After mucking in with his hard-pressed staff, and working in challenging conditions, Ian discovers that some feel they've been overlooked and dumped at the tip. But it's not just hard physical graft, as tears and trauma come to the fore. It's an experience that forces Ian to question whether the company's people should be his main concern and not its numbers.

Peter Harvey, boss of slot machine company Quicksilver, adopts a dramatic disguise and goes undercover in the hope of working undetected alongside his frontline staff. Hit hard by the smoking ban, the company has seen profits drop by a massive 30% and Peter is desperate to find new ways to attract more customers. Once undercover, the CEO is shocked at what he finds: a young female employee feels vulnerable working at night; a talented engineer with ideas has been told to 'shut up' by management; and venue staff feel so ignored by head office that many want to leave the company. The boss has to confront the reality, that it might not just be the company's dwindling profits he has to worry about but also his underappreciated staff.