- Title: Boss Swap
- Date: 13th January 2004
- Summary: You may trust someone with your dearly beloved, but how about your precious company? From the award-winning makers of Wife Swap comes Boss Swap in which two MDs from very different fields are charged with the task of running one another's business for 12 days. The two brave bosses have never met and neither knows their new destination or, most importantly, who will be replacing them in their absence. Having been welcomed by the number two (the trusted lieutenant appointed by the old boss) and met key staff, the new bosses have their business acumen put to test, implementing changes with the specific intention of improving the company's performance. Will fresh vision lead to greater success, or will inexperience result in downfall? On the final day two bosses meet for the first and last time to discuss what they really thought of each other's business and why they felt it necessary to make the changes they did. In Leeds, Isobel Schofield, known as Mrs S, makes high-class, custom-made industrial doors. She started her company 30 years ago, and today employs over 60 people. "I'm bloody proud of these doors... so proud... I come and look at them and get excited." Her staff is important to her, especially her loyal band of directors. "You don't see Mrs S as a woman," says Sales Director, Eamonn, "you see her as the MD of a company. Mrs S can swear with the best of us, drink with the best of us...probably better than most of us." Over in Birmingham, straight-talking Dave O'Grady has been supplying mass-produced scaffolding parts to the building trade for six years. Heading a company of 20 staff, he works all day in the office alongside best friend and seller Barney. The two are inseparable and admit they'll miss each other, "we spend more time together here than we do with our misuss' at home." The two bosses and their companies couldn't be more different: Mrs S runs her factory at a sure and steady pace, aided by a strong team of directors with whom all decisions are made. The company is well established and is, they believe, quite simply the best. In Birmingham, Dave's company moves at a frantic and erratic pace. His is a hands-on approach, always chopping and changing production to meet customer demands. He is described by his employees as fast and furious. Mrs S is quickly unimpressed by Dave's working practices. His staff are not paid overtime rates and there is no reserve stock, meaning business is always having to catch up with buyer demand. Mrs S wants to steady production by increasing stock levels, and offers to pay staff overtime rates of time-and-a-half for any extra work they do. But Barney is uncomfortable with her new policies. Dave's approach, meanwhile, has alienated certain management staff. He calls a senior staff meeting to announce his plans for company improvements, and finds the engineering director, Peter, refusing to co-operate. He is uneasy with both Dave's managerial style, and the substance of his changes. "I'm not having any part of it... After this week's finished, we've got to sweep this mess up!" He sends out a memo to all staff, undermining Dave's authority. Meanwhile, relations between Mrs S and Barney are deteriorating fast. He is unhappy with her decision to increase hierarchy and offer pay rises in Dave's absence. "You think you know it all. You know sweet F.A. about this company," he tells her angrily "the sooner you go back ... the better." Relations in Leeds seem even more strained. Every new suggestion that Dave attempts to make is blocked by Peter who is vocal in his condemnation. When Dave rejects Peter's own compromise, he is told: "You'd end up going out of this with some dignity. At the moment you're looking a proper fool." Nevertheless, in a climate of increasing opposition, both bosses manage to push through a number of changes. But the tension is building and that's before the two bosses, and their trusted lieutenants, have even met up to sit down and discuss their weeks at the helm of the others' company. So will it be tears or triumphs for the rival bosses?
- Description:This series will observe what happens when two bosses switch places for two weeks. How do their management styles compare and how will their new employees react to them?
- Broadcaster:Channel 4
- Collection: Channel 4
- Genre:Entertainment
- Producer:RDF Media Ltd.
- Programme Episode:Episode 1
- Transmission Date:13/01/2004
- Rights:UK and Eire
- Decade: 2000s