Day 150 - 07 Jul 95 - Page 24
1 your experience?
2 A. Yes. It is a matter of working together as a
3 restaurant team. The restaurant will not function with one
4 person, whether that person is set up in an office in
5 Sutton Coalfield or is one person such as myself now within
6 the region, as a Regional Manager rather; it is very, very
7 important that the restaurant works together. We cannot
8 work without people's commitment, whether it be in
9 scheduling or whatever else we might want to discuss.
10
11 Q. Are you able to say whether that was the vision, i.e. that
12 the views of crew were taken into account when it comes to
13 Colchester when you were Area Supervisor?
14 A. Yes.
15
16 Q. How do you know that?
17 A. Because I would talk to them. I would be working with
18 them in all areas. Believe me, they would tell me. There
19 were some particularly strong willed, strong minded
20 individuals, older people than me, at the time at 25 years
21 of age; there were some housewives of 30, 32, perhaps, even
22 some older individual in there who were -- they would not
23 stand for some youngster, for want of a better word, coming
24 in and dictating to them what hours they should work.
25 There would be absolute uproar.
26
27 Q. Sorry, when I am turning away from you, it is not that I am
28 not interested in what you are saying, it is just that I am
29 checking some things. You have told us why you think that
30 it is necessary to take the views of crew into account. Am
31 I right in saying that co-operation, so far as you are
32 concerned, is better than compulsion?
33 A. Co-operation would always be a better option, far
34 better. It just makes for a far smoother running business,
35 a far smoother and more contented restaurant team.
36
37 Q. Are people compelled to work hours they do not want to
38 work?
39 A. No, they are not.
40
41 Q. Can you say whether they were in relation to Colchester
42 back in the mid 180s?
43 A. They were not compelled to work any hours. There is
44 not a vision of us making people work certain hours in some
45 form of dictatorial position in all of this. There were
46 plenty of, if I can remember rightly, opportunities for
47 people to work in other service sectors, other restaurant
48 chains. They just would not come to work if we adopted
49 that sort of attitude with them; it is not a way to run a
50 business.
51
52 Q. I am sorry to ask you this again, but it is important: How
53 do you know what you are saying about Colchester is true?
54 A. Only having two restaurants at the time, and being in
55 the Colchester restaurants specifically for three, two or
56 three days a week, then not only will I hear and talk about
57 comments, but I was also there as part of my job
58 responsibilities in terms of more administrative side of
59 it, office functions in terms of checking payroll, checking
60 the scheduling, or whatever else those sort of
