Day 204 - 15 Jan 96 - Page 21
1
2 Q. If we go on to page 2 which is 1990, yes, it is September
3 1990, the following year, the target on page 2, it says,
4 for your store was 80 for August and you achieved 73; is
5 that correct?
6 A. Yes.
7
8 Q. So the Company still considered you needed 80, is that
9 correct, for the summer period?
10 A. That was not a target set by the Company. That was a
11 target set by Mark Davis and myself and John Atherton.
12 Now, with the running of the store, I appreciate and
13 I understand that if they thought I could run on 73, I
14 could run on 73 and that was the case. I was professional
15 enough to actually take that decision.
16
17 Q. So if you could get the maximum productivity out of less
18 staff, that was OK?
19 A. The productivity of the staff in Clacton was very good
20 because they were very good crew members and they were a
21 very nice bunch of people.
22
23 Q. Because of that, in your view, 60 people could do the work
24 of 80 people?
25
26 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Why do you say that?
27
28 MR. MORRIS: Because when he had 60 the previous year and his
29 target was -----
30
31 MR. JUSTICE BELL: He said that he took a manager's decision
32 that 60 was what he needed and not 80.
33
34 MR. MORRIS: Because of their productivity abilities?
35 A. And because of the business. I mean, I had never
36 actually been in a position where I had to decide how many
37 crew members should be on the books at any one time. So
38 that 80 probably was a decision between me and Mark. A lot
39 of the information that is on paper is probably down to my
40 naivete at the end of the day.
41
42 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Where are we going on this?
43
44 MR. MORRIS: I am just trying to say -----
45
46 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I thought your case in relation to Colchester
47 was that targets were set largely by the performance. Mark
48 Davis reached good targets because he was fiddling and Ray
49 Coton had to keep on fiddling to reach the same targets or
50 targets based on them. If that is your case, I cannot see
51 the point in scouring Clacton.
52
53 MR. MORRIS: That last one I referred to on page 2 is signed by
54 John Atherton and Mark Davis and they still consider,
55 apparently, that officially you would need more staff. I
56 do not know, who knows .....
57 A. I think the only person who really knew was me.
58
59 Q. So sometimes the Supervisors really do not know what is
60 going on in the store?
