Day 005 - 04 Jul 94 - Page 71


     
     1        Restaurant and tell them there is a bomb in the
              restaurant.  McDonald's, as well as the law, dealt with it
     2        extremely severely, as far as I know.
 
     3   MR. MORRIS:  Yes.  The person that made the call was a member
              of staff, and was given community service rather than jail
     4        as the manager was jailed for six months.
 
     5   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  What is the point you are seeking to make?
 
     6   MR. MORRIS:  The court recognised she had been put under
              pressure by the manageress.  The point I am making is that
     7        Mr. Preston stated there is no pressure on staff to
              increase sales; they either do or they do not.  He says
     8        just before:  "There is no pressure on them to reduce
              labour costs".  I demonstrated, I hope, that in fact there
     9        is pressure to reduce labour costs, although we only
              established that for that region.  In the same, this is
    10        the same area, in fact it is the same town.
 
    11        So, if you read further down that statement of Mr. Paul
              Buckingham, if you just turn over the statement of Lance
    12        Green, it does not seem to be in here, but it is part of
              that bundle.
    13
         MR. RAMPTON:  My Lord, it is page 1887.  It is a handwritten
    14        statement.
 
    15   MR. MORRIS:  I have a typed statement here.  I have a typed
              version of it.
    16
         MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Did you say there was no pressure on
    17        managers to improve turnover?
              A.  Well, if I remember the question, Sir, it was
    18        something about Mr. Maudesly calling the restaurant,
              asking about sales, how did they do versus a year ago.
    19        I said there is nothing unusual about that.  I do it
              myself very regularly.  I also said that we tried to learn
    20        from the restaurants that we talk to:  Why are you doing
               -- well, why is one, four or five streets away struggling
    21        when they are within the same demise?  We try to put them
              in contact, one with the other, to find out what is going
    22        right, what is going wrong, and hope that something we
              missed in one can be brought to the fore.
    23
         Q.   It would surprise me in any commercial organisation if
    24        people in the hierarchy were not putting pressure on those
              below them to act in such a way as to maximise the
    25        concern's profits.  What matters is whether the level of
              pressure or the method of pressure is of an unconscionable 
    26        kind? 
              A.  The restaurants that we have all have a ----- 
    27
         Q.   That is the only point, is it not?
    28
         MR. MORRIS:  Yes.
    29
         MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Are you saying it is wrong to put pressure
    30        on people to do better?
 

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