TV & Radio

Paddy Power will be the subject of Channel 4’s top rated show ‘Undercover Boss’ on tonight - the first time the TV franchise has chosen a company outside the UK to feature in the series.

Paddy Power board member and soon-to-be Head of Operations, William Reeves goes undercover in various departments within the betting firm’s Irish and UK operations including its high street betting shops, e-gaming division, phone betting and customer services department.

As William connects with staff across the Paddy Power business, he experiences first-hand the fast-paced and high pressure demands of the modern day betting industry.

After revealing his true identity, the hard-working employees who worked alongside William are rewarded with promotion and holidays while other employees are given training and better working conditions including a major redesign of the workspace in company’s call centre by leading design experts Landor Associates.

One employee can’t believe his luck when he is offered a once in a lifetime transfer to Paddy Power’s Australian division, Sportsbet.

The show’s format is based on a senior executive working undercover in their own firm to investigate how the company really works and identify how it can be improved, as well as rewarding the hard working staff. Companies previously featured on Undercover Boss include Carlsberg, npower, Ann Summers, Domino’s Pizza, and Isuzu.

Filming for the episode took place in May in the build up to the Euro 2012 football championships, one of the busiest sporting events of the year for the bookmaking industry.

Paddy Power Chief Executive, Patrick Kennedy said of the episode: “Undercover Boss presented us with a unique opportunity to find out what our most important asset, our people, really think about the organisation.

"What we wanted most was the unvarnished truth, warts and all, and that’s exactly what we got.”