Day 181 - 01 Nov 95 - Page 46
1 cafe in Brighton and Brighton pier, so I am afraid it is
2 pretty limited as an employee.
3
4 Q. You can see sometimes, at any rate, in many of the
5 McDonald's restaurants -- I do not know about Narrow Way --
6 what is going on the kitchen when you are standing waiting
7 at the till?
8 A. No, you cannot.
9
10 Q. You cannot. Right, so how is it that you have any comment
11 to offer apart from what you saw last year?
12 A. Well, precisely. I mean, as an expert witness, I asked
13 to go back of house because that was the area I was
14 interested in. You know, I did observe what is in my
15 report, I observed the operation back of house and front,
16 and I went further back into the office. I looked at the
17 Accident Book. I saw the food production schedules which
18 are up behind. I am sure you are familiar with those. The
19 expected sales of the various types of products spread over
20 the opening hours, and then the way in which the staffing
21 is geared to that. I met the managers, had lengthy,
22 courteous, useful conversations with them. You know, they
23 were familiarization meetings.
24
25 I mean, the catering industry generally is pretty familiar
26 to me. I have been back of house in kitchens over many
27 years. I have been in kitchens far worse than McDonald's
28 and far better, and you just get an idea. I am an expert
29 witness. I can probably, you know, pick up fairly quickly
30 a reasonable impression of the organisation.
31
32 Q. The operation in the kitchen is a relatively static one, is
33 it not, in the sense that people are at particular stations
34 and they stay there, doing whatever they are doing. That
35 is right, is it not?
36 A. It did not look it to me.
37
38 Q. It did not; what were they doing then?
39 A. Moving about.
40
41 Q. Moving about. Give us an example. Tell us what you mean?
42 A. Well, by preparing food at one station or another,
43 collecting things, delivering things, packing, going to the
44 back, getting stuff forward. I mean, it is not static,
45 although I understand there is a division. But I was
46 disadvantaged because I did not see the units going at full
47 steam, and maybe I would have preferred to have been able
48 to sit there at full steam, look at them more closely,
49 write notes, but I am afraid it was fairly obvious to me
50 that I had my time at back of house and then would I please
51 go forward and we could have a cup of coffee. So that is
52 how it was.
53
54 I am not saying I was denied access. I just simply
55 reported what access I had and what I saw. I am not trying
56 to make anything up. Equally, I was a bit disappointed as
57 to the amount of information I got afterwards.
58
59 Q. Yes, so I understand. Thank you, Mr. Pearson. Sorry, one
60 final question, I meant to ask it earlier and I had
