Day 204 - 15 Jan 96 - Page 48
1 every store, are they not?
2 A. Of course they are not, no.
3
4 Q. If you look at the performance review you did on
5 Steve Harney -- I do not know whether you still have that?
6 A. Is it 4A?
7
8 Q. Behind Mr. Harney's statement.
9 A. Yes.
10
11 Q. On the third page, the second paragraph, third
12 sentence: "Control of the food account could be better.
13 Find out why problems occur." What are the problems that
14 you are referring to there?
15 A. I cannot remember specifically, but it could be, like
16 the example I gave earlier on, it could have been something
17 -- maybe the food cost was OK but the fry yield was a
18 massively over or under, or a beverage yield was out, or it
19 was not recorded in his waste sufficiently well. It could
20 have been any of those things.
21
22 Q. Again, there, you are trying to get Mr. Harney to lower the
23 food cost percentage, are you not?
24 A. Not necessarily, no; control it better. As I said
25 before, it could be that his fry yield could have been too
26 low and I wanted him to pull it up a bit.
27
28 MR. JUSTICE BELL: What is the problem with keeping food costs,
29 labour costs, etcetera, below a certain percentage, with
30 the result that the percentage of all those costs, when you
31 add them up, becomes lesser and the gross profit percentage
32 becomes greater? I would have thought that is the aim of
33 all businesses. What is it which concerns you about just
34 accepting that it be so?
35 A. Because, obviously, there comes a point where you
36 constrict your profit to such an extent that it has a
37 direct effect on your customers. So there has to be a
38 balance and compromise within that.
39
40 Q. I appreciate that. But when you fix on the percentage, you
41 presumably take that factor into account?
42 A. Yes, of course you do.
43
44 Q. Then, having fixed on the percentage, taking that factor
45 into account, what is wrong with aiming to get below the
46 percentage?
47 A. As long as you are not constricting the standards
48 within that, there is nothing wrong with that at all.
49
50 MR. MORRIS: Probably my last question: on page 28 of your
51 performance reviews, the last page of the performance
52 review October 1986 by Frank Stanton on you, three-quarters
53 of the way down, under "additional comments", the middle
54 sentence: "Demands more from Ray" -- this is in terms of
55 goals. At the very bottom of the page under "summary", it
56 says: "You need to develop Ray Coton and Daniel Rizardini
57 to Store Manager."
58
59 So, you were being expected to groom Ray Coton in all
60 aspects of the business in order for him to become Store
