Day 204 - 15 Jan 96 - Page 45


     
     1        Company wants to see?
     2        A.  No, that is not correct.  The system we use at present,
     3        it relies on a far more all-round system whereby a lot of
     4        different factors are taken into account, ranging from
     5        customer complaint letters to mystery diner visits where
     6        people go in the restaurants unannounced and do checks like
     7        that.  The full field visits are unannounced, so that
     8        people do not know about them; and a lot of the full fields
     9        in those days were unannounced as well, so you did not know
    10        about them.  Occasionally, you did find out, in which case,
    11        yes, you might have put one or two extra people on, but
    12        certainly not to the extent that you are insinuating.
    13
    14   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  What I suggest you do, if you want to, is you
    15        put your point on this.   I take the point you have put,
    16        that, in order to reach the standards Managers were asking
    17        for, there were blitzes which would involve paying people
    18        money to stay up all night to get it right, and that might
    19        put pressure on the cost margins.  But if there is another
    20        point apart from that one, then put it, so I follow what
    21        you are getting at.
    22
    23   MS. STEEL:   No, that is it, really.
    24
    25   MR. MORRIS:  The reality is that the blitzes that are done
    26        involving taking on extra staff or having people working
    27        all night to impress a high up visitor the next day, or
    28        whatever, to achieve grades, would be the kind of level of
    29        staffing that McDonald's stores should be staffed at all
    30        the time in order to run the store properly?
    31        A.  That is rubbish.
    32
    33   Q.   While we are on your performance reviews, if you go to
    34        page 29, please?  You had a problem, did you not, with high
    35        food costs at Colchester store?  Just before you look at
    36        the sheet, did you have a problem about controlling your
    37        food costs?
    38        A.  Not generally.  I may have had a problem at one time or
    39        another, yes.
    40
    41   Q.   On 27th January 1986, second paragraph under
    42        "Financial": "I expect you to take the advice on training
    43        I have given you.  This must take the form of far greater
    44        attention to scheduling, petty cash expenditure, reacting
    45        to high food costs and outside services."  Then the next
    46        paragraph: "I think you showed a concern with regard to
    47        poor financial results.......(read to the words).......
    48        charges and higher monthly cash and minus have been
    49        accepted.  The time has now come when these must become
    50        errors of the past."  The same theme ----- 
    51 
    52   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  What is the point you are putting now, 
    53        Mr. Morris?
    54
    55   MR. MORRIS:  The point is, in the bottom paragraph is the
    56        point:  "The word 'controllable' means just that, i.e. to
    57        control, and to that end I would like you to hold regular
    58        classes in your Managers meetings to explain how it is
    59        done."
    60

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