Day 197 - 07 Dec 95 - Page 67
1 the reviews on more than one occasion the way I deal with
2 people was shown as my strong point. So surely there is a
3 contradiction in what you are saying there. I mean, the
4 two Store Managers in place at the moment were both
5 Assistant Managers under me. So there are people brought
6 forward. I do not see your argument there at all, I am
7 afraid.
8
9 MR. RAMPTON: Mr. Coton, you I think have already told us that
10 the only way you could meet your targets was to cut
11 corners, for example, by watering down the drinks, by
12 reducing food portions and, perhaps more seriously, by
13 docking the hours that people have worked and so
14 fraudulently under-paying, is that right?
15 A. That is correct, yes.
16
17 Q. You did that consistently for the time that you were a
18 Manager until you say Mr. Skehel stepped in and stopped
19 it?
20 A. That is correct.
21
22 Q. Is that right?
23 A. Yes.
24
25 Q. Just while we are on Mr. Skehel, the first thing you told
26 us yesterday was that he just stopped it. He said: "You
27 are not to do that sort of thing. We do not run a
28 business that way, but you still have to meet the
29 targets", right?
30 A. Yes.
31
32 Q. You then told us at a later stage yesterday that in fact
33 what he said to you was: "Well, you can do it
34 unofficially, but if I catch you at it you will get the
35 blame and I will not." Which is it? They cannot both be
36 right?
37 A. What I actually said was that the second one is the
38 correct one. What basically the situation was, as I said
39 before, where with Mr. Davies I had the backing, the
40 knowledge and the support, I did not have with Neil Skehel
41 at all. It was a case of: "I want the same figures, the
42 same results. You do not do that but I want them done and
43 if I find you I am going to get you." That was simply it.
44
45 MR. JUSTICE BELL: The point Mr. Rampton is putting to you may
46 be important because there may be a very important
47 distinction between Mr. Skehel saying, "This must stop,
48 these practices must stop", on the one hand, "but you have
49 got to meet the figures you have met in the past", on the
50 other, which might be hard but firm management, and
51 actually saying, "The appearance of these practices must
52 stop, but keep them going", on the other which is inviting
53 you to mislead.
54 A. It was left ----
55
56 Q. Which are you saying, the first or the second?
57 A. It was left in the way that I was under the
58 apprehension that he wanted me to maintain it, but he
59 would no longer back if we were found out. That came
60 through with the problem when Sally Spurgeon got caught
