Day 166 - 28 Sep 95 - Page 36
1 Q. The sales figures do not take any account of inflation
2 rate, do they, so -----
3
4 MR. JUSTICE BELL: The inflation rate may be significant with
5 regard to wages, but it is not necessarily significant with
6 regard to the price of food, because there may be inflation
7 but that does not mean to say that a particular company's
8 products increase in price. It may be that McDonald's food
9 prices went up but, for all I know, they did sound business
10 by keeping their prices at what they were the year before
11 and despite inflation, I just do not know.
12
13 MR. MORRIS: As a general question then, when do McDonald's food
14 prices tend to go up? Do they tend to go up a certain
15 period every year?
16 A. No.
17
18 Q. Just from time to time or -----
19 A. I do not remember the last time they have gone up
20 actually. We have done meal deals. Are you talking about
21 lately or in 1986?
22
23 Q. Anyway, so when you increased your sales figures and your
24 profits increased for that -----
25 A. Hopefully.
26
27 Q. Hopefully, yes.
28 A. Depends what the rest of all the other controllables of
29 what has been spent on them -- equipment gets older.
30
31 MS. STEEL: Can I just make one other point in terms of the
32 inflation thing, not just inflation, obviously when
33 comparing the labour costs actual, the actual costs, rather
34 than the percentage between current year and previous year,
35 between that time, at that stage the Wages Council was
36 setting the increases that you would have to implement in
37 paying your crew, were they not?
38 A. Yes, I think it was due in each year.
39
40 Q. Yes, thank you.
41
42 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Can I ask a question relating out of that? I
43 have pointed out where the amounts spent on crew has
44 increased between one year and the next, for instance;
45 might that be accounted for not by increase in number of
46 hours worked or numbers of people employed but a rise in
47 wage rates?
48 A. Everything, I suppose, contributes, does it not, the
49 more people you are serving.
50
51 Q. Can you help me on why it increased when it did. If the
52 answer is now years later "I cannot", then say so.
53 A. I probably cannot really.
54
55 Q. Yes.
56
57 MR. MORRIS: If we just go to the second page of the two page
58 document, please?
59 A. Yes.
60
