Day 151 - 10 Jul 95 - Page 50


     
     1        something I did not come across in Colchester, nor Clacton.
     2
     3   Q.   You said on Friday that a low labour rate might lead to
     4        short-term increase in profits, but then it may have an
     5        effect on custom as a whole.  Is that correct?
     6        A.  Yes.  Broadly speaking, that is true, yes.
     7
     8   Q.   So you obviously cannot get a nought per cent labour rate,
     9        because you would have no workers and, therefore, no
    10        custom?
    11        A.  Right.
    12
    13   Q.   So the aim, effectively, is to get the lowest possible
    14        labour rate that does not impinge upon sales; that is what
    15        good management practice would be?
    16        A.  No.  Good management practice is to do the optimum
    17        level, which is, again, I think, when we got into the
    18        discussions about my senior supervisor encouraging me to
    19        look to build the business.  The idea was to -----
    20
    21   Q.   The labour rate got so low in that circumstance that it
    22        might have been affecting business?
    23        A.  Not at all.  In that circumstance I was referring to,
    24        he meant ---
    25
    26   Q.   Tim Taylor.
    27        A.  -- the labour was at the optimum level.  Part of my
    28        business education was to look -- and I think I put it in
    29        terms of the after sales service.  It does not necessarily
    30        bring you in pounds at the beginning, but in terms of
    31        loyalty, repeat business, it was something that I was asked
    32        to look at and invest time in.  But we are not talking
    33        about doubling the payroll.  I think I may have mentioned
    34        maybe one two on shift; somebody in the dining area to help
    35        open the doors and help with pushchairs, and so on and so
    36        forth.
    37
    38   Q.   If you look at your statement, page 3 of the first
    39        statement, at the bottom of page 3:
    40
    41        "Too low labour would jeopardise the quality of the service
    42        to the customer.  My senior supervisor Tim Taylor did not
    43        praise me if I had too low a labour rate.  Indeed, I can
    44        recall him stressing that labour should be higher and
    45        I should put more people on shifts."
    46
    47        You still agree with what you wrote there?
    48
    49   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  We went through this on Friday afternoon in
    50        cross-examination, did we not? 
    51 
    52   MR. MORRIS:  Yes.  I did not put certain questions which I am 
    53        going to put.
    54
    55   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Put them now.
    56
    57   MR. MORRIS:  You are admitting there, are not you, that the
    58        problem is not low labour rate, but too low labour rate so
    59        that it starts to affect sales?
    60

Prev Next Index