Day 203 - 12 Jan 96 - Page 22


     
     1
     2   Q.   Was it apparent to you that Mark Davis might be moving on
     3        and that either you or Mr. Coton might become the
     4        Supervisor?  Mr. Coton, I cannot recall now the detail of
     5        his evidence, but he thought there was a time when there
     6        was a possibility he might become the Area Supervisor?
     7        A.  I did not think about whether Ray would be a Supervisor
     8        or not.  As far as I was concerned, I was working to earn a
     9        position as a Supervisor and the position there ------
    10
    11   Q.   So there was not a period where you thought, "Well, maybe
    12        Ray and I are the two candidates for the job when Mark
    13        goes"?
    14        A.  In all honesty, no.  I mean, I had received some
    15        tremendous sort of recognition as a Store Manager.  I was
    16        recognised as being probably the best Store Manager in John
    17        Atherton's group at that time.  I would say, if anything,
    18        the question was between myself and probably somebody
    19        outside of our group, although I cannot remember.  But it
    20        is interesting, when I was at the Tolgate as the new Store
    21        Manager, you know, I opened it on November, sort of, 5th,
    22        I think it was, and we borrowed some crew from Colchester
    23        High Street.  At that stage, you know, just by my own sort
    24        of reckoning, I had to retrain those before they could
    25        train the new crew that we were going to take on board.  So
    26        that did something to my impression of how the Colchester
    27        High Street restaurant ran.
    28
    29   MR. MORRIS:  Were they experienced workers?
    30        A.  Who, the ones who came to work with me at Tolgate?
    31
    32   Q.   Yes.
    33        A.  Five star crew member, training squad.
    34
    35   Q.   Five or?
    36        A.  It did not take long to get them very good because they
    37        obviously had the potential right there, yes, and they knew
    38        what to do, but they needed a bit of help to get -- so that
    39        if they are training, imparting standards to new crews
    40        coming into the restaurant, you want the higher standard,
    41        and so, you know .....
    42
    43   Q.   They had been at Colchester for five or six years?
    44        A.  Well, probably.
    45
    46   Q.   Or longer, yes?
    47        A.  Probably -- no, I do not know.  I mean, I can remember
    48        a couple of faces but, yes, that is just the memory I have.
    49
    50   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  We will take the five minute break there. 
    51 
    52                         (Short adjournment) 
    53
    54   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I would just like to make a note.
    55
    56   MR. MORRIS:  Did Ray Coton know about how you felt about him and
    57        the way he ran his store before you became a Supervisor?
    58        A.  I do not know.  I do not know what he thought really.
    59        When I became his Supervisor, we had many chats about my
    60        aims and purposes in the restaurant, and simply just --

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