Day 084 - 07 Feb 95 - Page 23


     
     1   Q.   A somewhat meteoric rise, Mr. Atherton.  How old are you?
     2        A.  I am 34.
     3
     4   Q.   How long did you do that job in East Anglia?
     5        A.  For the best part of four years, I believe.
     6
     7   Q.   Just briefly, we know something of the functions of a
     8        restaurant manager, so I am not going to ask you about
     9        that.  We know less, I think, of the functions of an
    10        Operations Manager for an area with may be 20 restaurants
    11        in.  Just briefly, what sort of duties did you have to
    12        perform in that role?
    13        A.  Well, the major responsibility was for the
    14        profitability of the region.  That included
    15        responsibilities for hiring people, general maintenance and
    16        standards within the restaurants.
    17
    18   Q.   Does that involve actually visiting restaurants then?
    19        A.  Yes, the majority of the time was spent in restaurants
    20        rather than at Head Office -- probably only two days a
    21        month at Head Office, if that.
    22
    23   Q.   Where was the Head Office concern for East Anglia?
    24        A.  Sutton Coalfield.
    25
    26   Q.   I think, if my arithmetic is right, this brings us up to
    27        about 1992, does it not?
    28        A.  That is correct.
    29
    30   Q.   What happened then?
    31        A.  I was asked to move to East Finchley and take up a
    32        two-year secondment as Operations Development Manager.
    33
    34   Q.   Is that a manager in the Operations Department or is it the
    35        Manager of the Operations Department?
    36        A.  At that time I was on my own, just one person in the
    37        department.
    38
    39   Q.   In what month of this year were you promoted to your
    40        present post as Head of Training?
    41        A.  July.
    42
    43   Q.   I think you told us that already.  Within your department
    44        do you actually have a department or are you just a figure
    45        who, as it were, co-ordinates the activities of other
    46        departments?
    47        A.  I do not have a department as such.  I have four
    48        department heads who report to me.
    49
    50   Q.   Tell us who the four department heads are or tell us, first 
    51        of all, what the four departments are and then who those 
    52        people are? 
    53        A.  It is a Corporate Training Department and Ken Tompkins
    54        heads up that department; there is the Health and Safety
    55        Department headed by Jill Barnes; the Customer Services
    56        Department Headed by Marianne Page and my old department,
    57        the Operations Development department, now headed by Neil
    58        Skehel.
    59
    60   Q.   Your place in the witness box was to have been taken at one

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