Day 166 - 28 Sep 95 - Page 32
1 MS. STEEL: Presumably, your Supervisor would say: "Well, that
2 is fine then, you know, that you have spent more on the
3 payroll in actual pounds than was budgeted", but if the
4 sales had gone up, then that is probably to be expected?
5 A. That is right.
6
7 Q. Yes. Just to get back to the point I was on before, about
8 your Supervisor talking to you about what you were
9 achieving in terms of labour cost percentage, if the sales
10 had dropped off, the Supervisor might suggest that you cut
11 down on the numbers of crew that are working?
12 A. Yes, perhaps.
13
14 Q. You said something about the labour percentage goes down
15 for July -----
16
17 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Either cut down on the numbers of crew or cut
18 down on the hours which the existing members of crew were
19 working?
20 A. If the business was not there?
21
22 Q. Yes.
23 A. Yes. In July the sales, sorry?
24
25 MS. STEEL: I was trying to find it actually because I did not
26 manage to get it all down at the time. You said that the
27 reason the labour percentage had gone down in July and
28 August was because, obviously, you take a vast amount more
29 money ---
30 A. Yes.
31
32 Q. -- and obviously the holidays are in July as they are in
33 August. When you were saying that, were you referring
34 there in terms of the holidays to the holidays meaning that
35 the store was busier or were you referring to the holidays
36 of the crew?
37 A. The holidays for the children, children's holidays.
38
39 Q. So the reference was in terms of the fact that it was the
40 holidays meant that the store was busier?
41 A. Yes.
42
43 Q. Right.
44 A. Obviously, that store is a West End store and enjoys
45 more business than some other stores. You know, the good
46 weather as well in those months means that more people are
47 out, that there is a consistent, a more consistent, period
48 of takings throughout the day than, say, January.
49
50 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Apart from anything else, it is pretty near
51 the peak of the tourist season so far as visitors to ---
52 A. Yes.
53
54 Q. -- London, to Oxford Street, to Hyde Park, Hyde Park Corner
55 particularly ---
56 A. Yes.
57
58 Q. -- Marble Arch itself; that is what you attribute it to, is
59 it?
60 A. Yes.
