Day 153 - 12 Jul 95 - Page 27
1
2 Q. We have had that previously in the case; something like
3 15.01 or something it was. If you were worse than the
4 national average, over 15 per cent, what would the area
5 supervisor or -- what would they do?
6 A. They would ask you why it was a certain level, and it
7 could be -- like, for instance, in Colchester it might be
8 higher because we have got two dining areas, so therefore
9 you would need to staff two dining areas. That would
10 increase the levels.
11
12 It was dependent upon your volume: the higher your volume,
13 the easier it is to control your labour costs. You may
14 want an extra till person on.
15
16 It is not as cut and dried as that. Generally, we would
17 schedule the need; and the labour percentage, as long as it
18 was not outrageous, was secondary to the needs of the
19 store, within limits.
20
21 Obviously, you know, there comes a point where if you put
22 three people on a dining area to look after the customers,
23 then that is fine, you can look after your customers with
24 three. But if you 12 on the dining area, then really half
25 of them would be doing virtually nothing and not increasing
26 the satisfaction to your customers.
27
28 So the idea was to keep a balance, that you keep it within
29 range. So it was an optimum labour rather than a base
30 minimum labour.
31
32 Q. So when you say it was desirable to have a low labour cost,
33 you would say it was not desirable to have a too low labour
34 cost?
35 A. Certainly; not too low.
36
37 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You see, you have taken one sentence, but one
38 may as well read the whole lot, because is that not what
39 Mr. Davis, rightly or wrongly, goes on to say: "Of course,
40 it was desirable to a have a low labour cost and we
41 attempted to do this by forecasting when the store would be
42 busy or quiet. However, managers are taught that the
43 labour in the store should always be sufficient to provide
44 an excellent service to customers. There is no point in
45 having a very low labour cost and a very poor service."
46
47 MR. MORRIS: Right. So if it became a very low labour
48 cost -----
49
50 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Which is just another way of stating
51 McDonald's case as I have summarised it earlier this
52 morning.
53
54 MR. MORRIS: But the aim is not to have a very low labour cost
55 and a very poor service?
56 A. That is right.
57
58 Q. Do you remember how much profit the Colchester store made
59 in Store of the Year?
60 A. Not at all, no.
