Day 202 - 11 Jan 96 - Page 10


     
     1
     2   Q.   Does that really summarise -- your concern in the previous
     3        sentence, where you say that the Manager is simply not up
     4        to the job -- does paragraph 11 and 12 then basically
     5        summarise how you came to that view?
     6        A.  I think we came to the view that Ray was not up to the
     7        job or not performing well because of -- the things that we
     8        found out there that Neil was uncovering would obviously
     9        arouse suspicions and concerns that really were not there
    10        before -- if you think you have a problem such as high crew
    11        turnover and it is simply down to management incompetence
    12        or not following through on the things that have been
    13        determined as the way to solve problems.
    14
    15        I think, when we were looking at things here, it seemed
    16        that things were running a bit deeper and that, you know,
    17        if he was being dishonest, then perhaps he was just not up
    18        to the job at all; whereas, before, we thought that we
    19        could possibly -- he was managing a lot of restaurants, you
    20        know, some stores had problems which they managed to
    21        resolve and then other opportunities to concentrate upon.
    22        If Colchester was sort of ticking along as a store that we
    23        -- it was not doing great; it was a concern.  We had
    24        identified the things that needed improving within that
    25        restaurant.  Until this time, I was basically happy that if
    26        we continued working we could resolve the crew turnover
    27        problems and other things within that store.  There were
    28        some alarming things that seemed to start coming out when
    29        Neil seemed to be looking at this restaurant when he took
    30        over as a Supervisor.
    31
    32   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Was there anything there which Mr. Davis
    33        could not have discovered as well as Mr. Skehel, had he
    34        chosen to do so -- or unless he knew about it already, of
    35        course?
    36        A.  There is no reason why Mark could not have uncovered
    37        anything that Neil subsequently uncovered, if it indeed was
    38        happening at that time
    39
    40   MR. MORRIS:  Neil Skehel uncovered so-called deficiencies,
    41        because that was what he was looking for, was he not?  He
    42        put a lot of effort into visiting the Colchester store, did
    43        he not?
    44        A.  He put a lot of effort into being a good Supervisor and
    45        visiting all the stores, I recollect, when he was being
    46        promoted, as with a normal relation (sic) and the desire to
    47        do well when you are promoted into a new position.  I think
    48        it just transpired that when he was going round the stores
    49        and looking at things that the four restaurants he had,
    50        Colchester was the one where he had most concerns. 
    51 
    52   Q.   What was the nature of the personal problems between 
    53        Neil Skehel and Ray Coton?  What came to your attention?
    54        A.  Well, looking in retrospect, Ray was lying and cheating
    55        in the restaurant; he was investigating into things.
    56        Thereby, I would say that Ray's insecurity and concern
    57        about being found out was probably the cause of any strain
    58        in the relationship there.
    59
    60   Q.   What evidence have you got that Ray Coton was lying and

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