Day 168 - 03 Oct 95 - Page 44


     
     1        again, and if the problem kept recurring, then, if
     2        necessary, you would sell no product and there are about
     3        half a dozen occasions over the past 18 months where we
     4        have had to go through a day losing three or four or five
     5        or even £10,000 as a result.
     6
     7   Q.   Mr. Richards, when you removed the trip switch temporarily
     8        having, you believed, ascertained that the equipment was
     9        OK, yes ---
    10        A.  Yes.
    11
    12   Q.   -- if a piece of equipment developed a fault without the
    13        trip switch and RCD cover being on, somebody may be at risk
    14        of electrocution, as happened in Manchester?
    15        A.  Well, each equipment has its own safety circuit built
    16        in anyway.  As long as you are not careless in your
    17        procedures when you are dealing with that piece of
    18        equipment, then the safety covers should easily be
    19        adequate.  The RCD system was introduced to prevent any
    20        possible leakage of current which would lead to
    21        electrocution.
    22
    23   Q.   How much did it cost when the RCD system was overhauled?
    24        A.  I have no idea.  I should imagine the cost -----
    25
    26   Q.   Was it £5,000, was it £50,000?
    27        A.  I do not know.  I should imagine it was thousands of
    28        pounds, but I do not have that information to hand.  It was
    29        a capital project.  It was not a project the store had to
    30        pay for out of its own budget.
    31
    32   Q.   It was something you had to ask for from higher up?
    33        A.  We did not actually ask for it.  It was fitted for us.
    34        We had no choice in the matter.  Had we not wanted an RCD,
    35        it would not have mattered one iota.  We had the system
    36        fitted and it was paid for.
    37
    38   Q.   Nobody ever told you how much it cost?
    39        A.  No, I never really -- it did not affect my day-to-day
    40        work in the store.
    41
    42   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Why should he, as a First Assistant, know
    43        what something which was imposed on his store by the powers
    44        above cost?
    45
    46   MR. MORRIS:  Who paid for the £200,000 refit of the lobby area?
    47        A.  That was a capital project as well.
    48
    49   Q.   You knew how much that cost?
    50        A.  That is because the plan -- we had a say in the plans. 
    51        They had actually shown us the plans and we had a say in 
    52        where the siting of the bullpit was; we had a say in what 
    53        kind of decoration there was in the restaurant; what kind
    54        of theme there was to the restaurant.
    55
    56   MR. MORRIS:  We would like a break at some stage because we have
    57        to make a phone call.
    58
    59   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Do you want to do that now?
    60

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