Day 072 - 12 Jan 95 - Page 57


     
     1
     2   Q.   What are they?  What is the official guideline that your
     3        store is allocated for labour costs as a standard to aim
     4        for?
     5        A.  There is not a standard to aim for.
     6
     7   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Is there any guideline that you should try to
     8        avoid going above X per cent of turnover, anything like
     9        that or which might be interpreted as being tantamount to
    10        that?
    11        A.  The only guideline that we have is the company produces
    12        a budget for the oncoming year and that estimates on our
    13        volume of sales, their estimate on how much we should
    14        approximately spend on the labour accounts, but that is a
    15        forecast.
    16
    17   Q.   That is a budget for your restaurant, is it?
    18        A.  Yes, it is a forecast of approximately how much we will
    19        spend on the different accounts in that year, oncoming
    20        year.  It is an estimation.
    21
    22   MR. MORRIS:  How much was it for, say, last year?
    23        A.  The budget?
    24
    25   Q.   Yes, the percentage that was attributable to in the
    26        forecast or the budget, the thing to aim for, for crew
    27        labour costs as a percentage of sales?
    28        A.  For the year I could not give you the exact figure.
    29        I have those figures available but not with me.
    30
    31   Q.   If I said something like 16 per cent or 15 per cent, would
    32        that be a reasonable figure?
    33        A.  Yes, reasonable.  It would probably be more towards 15
    34        and a half, but I cannot give you an exact figure.
    35
    36   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  The bracket you were given was 15 to 16, that
    37        sounds realistic, does it?
    38        A.  Yes.
    39
    40   MR. MORRIS:  I do not want to get documents out.  The figures
    41        are different depending on the turnover, are they not?  The
    42        more your turnover the lower the percentage of labour costs
    43        as a percentage of net, is that correct?  I mean you have
    44        been in various stores, have you not?
    45        A.  Yes, I have been in two other stores, but I cannot
    46        comment on other stores' budget, I have no budget.  There
    47        are obviously fixed costs in every single store.
    48
    49   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  15 to 16 per cent of £1.6 million is about
    50        £240,000.  That sounds right, does it? 
    51        A.  Yes. 
    52 
    53   MR. MORRIS:  When you say "fixed budget", it is fixed by head
    54        office or your immediate region?
    55        A.  Fixed costs?
    56
    57   Q.   The percentage that is set down as a guideline to achieve
    58        in the coming year?
    59        A.  It is not a guideline; it is a budget.
    60

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