Day 204 - 15 Jan 96 - Page 18
1 cost targets?
2 A. That is correct, yes.
3
4 Q. And that your targets were -- if you look at your last
5 paragraph, paragraph 12 ---
6 A. OK.
7
8 Q. -- over the page, it says that you considered the targets
9 were realistic, having been set by Mark Davis and the
10 Company after careful discussion with you about what the
11 restaurant was capable of achieving. The result of that
12 was that you had no reason to cut corners in order to meet
13 targets.
14
15 If a store is set unrealistic targets, for whatever reason,
16 whether it is a mistake in calculation or whether it is new
17 circumstances or something, or what the Company believes is
18 realistic is in fact unrealistic, how does a Manager
19 achieve those targets?
20 A. I have never been in a position where I have been
21 unable to achieve certain targets I have been set. If
22 I had been unable to achieve them, then there has been some
23 sort of reason for it, or something along the lines
24 happened; be it when you do a half month projection for
25 your profit and loss, if, for instance, you project your MR
26 (maintenance repair) at a certain poundage, in that period
27 you might have a freezer break down or whatever it may be
28 that comes down; grills might go down, whatever may go
29 down; anything can happen. If it goes down after the 15th
30 of the month, you cannot obviously foresee that. So that
31 is the only target that I would miss in the way you are
32 saying.
33
34 Q. If you turn to your PR on the personal style, on the first
35 page: "Appearance is sometimes wayward" -- I do not know if
36 that is you or generally -- "the appearance of your
37 Managers is at times appalling", et cetera, "are all
38 examples of scruffy managers. Sort them out."
39
40 Is the scruffiness of staff and management an indication of
41 bad management?
42 A. Not at all, no.
43
44 Q. OK. It is just that that is what Neil Skehel said in the
45 witness box.
46 A. Depending on the service of the Manager, I suppose.
47
48 Q. This date here is 18th December. Under "Quality", it
49 says: "Time cards are not used all the time. Holding times
50 are not adhered to." Did you have ever get disciplined for
51 that happening in your store?
52 A. No, I did not.
53
54 Q. Did you have to discipline anybody yourself for that?
55 A. No, I did not.
56
57 Q. Then in the last page of that PR it says in the second
58 paragraph, under "Profit": "You have already been asked
59 about control of food account could be better"; and the
60 paragraph ends: "Ordering is not always on target,
