Day 202 - 11 Jan 96 - Page 27
1 A. Yes, but this review is not -- as it is states, the
2 plus and minus is over between the 10/3 and the 1/9. An
3 interim review would have been done on Mark after six
4 months, and we are really concentrating here on this, you
5 know, this review of the more immediate figures.
6
7 Q. But it is an annual review, is it not; and the year before
8 that annual review, Ipswich's turnover had gone up
9 something like 21 points out of 173, a percentage of 173 to
10 194. So were you part of the -- you were above Mark Davis,
11 were you?
12 A. Yes, I was Mark's boss, yes.
13
14 Q. And you signed this document, did you not?
15 A. Yes. It has my signature on the back, yes.
16
17 Q. So, what action did you take about the increasing turnover
18 at Ipswich during that year?
19 A. It is obviously a concern, because it is
20 massively -----
21
22 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I am sorry, Mr. Morris. We have important
23 matters, or I, at the end of the day, have important
24 matters to decide over Colchester. I am really not going
25 to be concerned whether Mr. Skehel's turnover had gone up
26 at Ipswich. It might be a matter of interest to you, it
27 might be a matter of general interest, but, in all the
28 important matters of fact which have to be decided in this
29 case, that is not going to come even on the reserve reserve
30 reserve list.
31
32 MR. MORRIS: I am trying to demonstrate -- and I do not mind
33 saying and putting my cards on the table -- that, in fact,
34 the reason that Ray Coton was sacked was not because he was
35 a poor Manager, or forced to resign or resigned in the end;
36 it was because of victimisation, personal victimisation.
37
38 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You would say that, but I am not concerned
39 with Ipswich turnover.
40
41 MR. MORRIS: I can show from these figures that the problems at
42 Colchester equally applied to other stores in the region.
43
44 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I am not going to let you do that.
45 Comparisons between Mark Davis at Colchester and Ray Coton
46 I am well aware of it. In fact, I said something to
47 Mr. Rampton last year, that Ray Coton was being kicked for
48 just the same things Mark Davis had been kicked before him;
49 and I have got that point on board. But I just do not want
50 to go into Ipswich and Neil Skehel. It is not going to
51 help me at the end of the day.
52
53 MR. MORRIS: If the witnesses and the Plaintiffs, then, can be
54 encouraged not to give evidence on comparing Colchester to
55 other stores in the region likewise, or guarantee that that
56 is not going to be taken into consideration -----
57
58 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Just carry on with your cross-examination,
59 but do not touch -----
60
