Alex Polizzi: The Fixer - Episode Guide

In this episode, 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.

In this episode, 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.

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 theincreasing 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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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 famousentrepreneur, 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.

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 businessforward. 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?

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.

In this episode, Alex returns to Chough's Bakery in Cornwall and Kettley's furniture shop in Yorkshire. When she first arrived both businesses were suffering from controlling parents, leaving the children feeling frustrated and undervalued - and their sales were also suffering from a major slump.

In this episode, she returns to Denver Mill - a mill, bakery and café business in Norfolk - and Courtyard Bridal Wear in Kettering. At both places their dreams had turned into nightmares, perhaps not surprisingly given the poor handle on finances these two families showed.

Six years ago, it was Paul Walker's dream to set up his very own microbrewery in the heart of the Devon countryside. But his dream has turned into a nightmare: finances are spiralling out of control and family life is suffering.

A taste test at Sharp's Brewery ruffles some feathers and a trip to Paris reveals interesting opportunities inherent within brand Britain. Can Alex capitalise on the growing popularity of British real ales and show a small firm how to shape up in order to ship out?

Alex looks at trading with the big boys as she meets the Keebles, a family of farmers-turned-sausage producers whose survival relies heavily on the supermarkets that sell their goods. Like many small producers, however, they often feel powerless in that relationship.

Privileged access to Morrisons' food development kitchens reveals some interesting results, and Alex uncovers some secrets behind the layout of Tesco shelves.

Can Alex get a small company like Heck to survive on the shelves of the supermarket and realise their dream of being the UK's number one premium brand?

A seaside business is struggling with change. In 2012, Marlene and Ray Messer followed their seaside dream and bought the Singing Kettle tearooms in Torquay. But 'the seaside' has undergone enormous change as an area to do business - their cafe has taken a turn for the worse, and the couple realise they will have to adapt to survive.

A visit to luxury bakery Konditor & Cook reveals what today's cake-buying customer desires. Can Alex get the Singing Kettle to brush off the cobwebs of a bygone coastal era and learn to identify a new target market?

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?

In this episode, Alex looks at businesses which are at the mercy of trends. Events company BallooninMarvellous is run by husband-and-wife team Jo and Giuseppe. Jo's lack of business acumen means they are struggling to pay the rent and have been forced to move their showroom into their own family lounge. Meanwhile, their capricious customers are always one step ahead with their desires - and smaller firms can find it harder than most to react quickly.

Jo's flower arranging skills are put to the test at luxury florist Wild At Heart. Can Alex get this small business to stand out from the crowd by tapping into the very crowd they are trying to attract?

For Sebastien Latour, owning a pet shop in the heart of Wimbledon was a dream come true - but the reality is a daily strain on his finances and his relationship with his co-worker boyfriend Carl. And all ofthis against a backdrop of the much-heralded 'death of the high street'. How to survive this nationwide trend? A visit to one of London's premier grooming parlours, the Pet Spa, opens Seb's eyes to the financial rewards of a dog parlour. Can Alex help this small high-street shop compete with the out-of-town superstores?

Two years ago, Alex was faced with two family businesses on the brink of collapse - Alf Onnie, a fabric and curtain shop in London's East End, and Props and Frocks, a fancy-dress shop in Essex.

Two years ago, Alex was faced with two family businesses on the brink of collapse - David Holmes and Sons, a family-run funeral directors, and Guidebridge MOT, a car repair garage near Manchester.