Day 248 - 13 May 96 - Page 07


     
     1        it back but I have a spare one here if you want to look at
     2        it.
     3
     4   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes, thank you.  Will there be one for
     5        Mr. Preston? (Handed).
     6
     7   MS. STEEL:   If you could turn to page 7?
     8        A.  OK.
     9
    10   Q.   You are familiar with this Annual Report are you?
    11        A.  It has just come out so I am not familiar with
    12        everything in it, no.
    13
    14   Q.   There is an article on page 7 entitled "Strategies for
    15        Global Dominance".  Have you read this article before?
    16        A.  No.
    17
    18   Q.   Do you want to have a quick read through it, it is only
    19        that column?
    20        A.  OK, I have read it.
    21
    22   Q.   In the first paragraph, about two-thirds of the way down,
    23        talking about who your competition is, it says, "Today,
    24        it", 'it' being your competition, "includes microwave
    25        ovens, take-out, street vendors, convenient food stores,
    26        computer on-line grocery services, and schools of new
    27        restaurant chains."  Your aim, basically, is to take away
    28        all their business is it not?
    29        A.  No, my aim is to build our business.
    30
    31   Q.   Yes, but you view them as competition so you want to build
    32        your business at the expense of their businesses?
    33        A.  No, no, I aim to compete on the High Street, provide a
    34        service, and if customers think mine is better than theirs
    35        they will come to me; if they think theirs is better than
    36        mine, they will go to the other people.
    37
    38   Q.   But the point is, you want them to come to you?
    39        A.  Of course I do.
    40
    41   Q.   Yes.  That means, if that happens, that other businesses
    42        will be put out of operation?
    43        A.  No, I think that is a gross exaggeration.  They live in
    44        a competitive world, just as I do, they will innovate,
    45        create and find new and better ways as customer demands
    46        change.
    47
    48   Q.   So the idea is to increase the number of people eating out
    49        then is it?
    50        A.  I think that is happening by itself. 
    51 
    52   Q.   Right.  But that is what you want to encourage? 
    53        A.  I want to encourage eating out, yes, and taking home to
    54        eat.
    55
    56   Q.   At the end of that article, it says "Our growth opportunity
    57        remains significant.  On any given day, 99 per cent of the
    58        world's population does not eat at McDonald's...  yet."
    59        So, again, that is what you ultimately would hope for, that
    60        people were eating at McDonald's every day?

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