Vertu Motors CEO Robert Forrester to appear on ITV’s Undercover Big Boss

Vertu Motors chief executive Robert Forrester will feature in the forthcoming series of ITV’s hit reality television series Undercover Big Boss.

AM understands that Forrester took to the showroom floor to discover more about the Vertu and Bristol Motors business after the series was commissioned for a new season which is set to hit TV screens later this year.

The Emmy award-winning series from Studio Lambert will also see chief execs and company bosses from Pickfords, Wyldecrest Parks, and Euro Foods Group swap their suits for overalls and go in disguise to work on their very own shop floors, to see what really goes on behind closed doors.

ITV Factual Commissioner Kate Teckman said: “As we come out of the pandemic it’s clear that there’s never been a bigger gap between the multimillionaire bosses and their workers, so this is the perfect time to bring viewers an all-new Undercover Big Boss as we see how they will fare swapping their corporate dinners for packed lunches and what changes they will make for their workers.”

On July 2 Forrester took to Twitter to share one recent improvement made to employees’ terms at Vertu Motors.

He said the business’ maternity pay would be ramped-up to 90% of average earnings for six months – the same as Marks and Spencers.

Forrester said that the move was “part of our strategy for a better balance of men and women in the workforce”.

Earlier this year former car retail boss Adam Stott made a positive impact after he went undercover to take to UK television screens.

The founder of ill-fated used car retail group Big Cars took centre stage in the first episode of the new series of Channel 5 Rich House, Poor House and traded places with a widowed single mum who had just £70-per-week to live in after losing her job in the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Struggling Kiptieu, who fled war-torn Sierra Leone and is now a widow bringing up her three daughters in a two-bedroom ground-floor flat in Abbey Wood, London, burst into tears at the end of the episode as Stott cleared her £25,000 debt and backed her to develop a business cooking African food for a takeaway service.

In a pep talk at the end of the episode, Adam Stott said: “When you focus on one area you can take it a long way."

Studio Lambert’s deputy creative director Mike Cotton suggested that there has never been a better time to bring back Undercover Boss, with many workers suffering tough times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He added: “It’s a fascinating snapshot of modern working Britain and we’re very grateful to the bosses who were brave enough to don a disguise and embark on this journey amidst the chaos of a pandemic.”