Day 150 - 07 Jul 95 - Page 11
1 in the restaurants. The restaurant would change, but the
2 job itself would not, if you see what I mean.
3
4 Q. That was February 1990. September 1992?
5 A. Was Market Manager. I was promoted to Market Manager
6 in that year and again my area, geographical area, expanded
7 to taking really the sort of western half of the region,
8 the Midlands region, that I explained right at the very
9 beginning.
10
11 Q. Yes. Can you just explain precisely -----
12 A. So I would take in the West Midlands and go down to
13 areas such as Wiltshire, and take in the Southwest, Avon,
14 Somerset, and across to Wales again.
15
16 Q. Finally, Mr. Stanton, February 1993?
17 A. In 1993 I became the Regional Manager and took overall
18 responsibility for those areas that I mentioned right at
19 the very beginning, from the Southeast to the Southwest.
20
21 MR. JUSTICE BELL: That puts you where you are today?
22 A. Yes, sir, it does.
23
24 MR. ATKINSON: Do you ever feel that when you go round the
25 stores that people are putting on their best performance
26 for you and so -- you have answered this already -- you
27 have said what you have said about keeping in touch -----
28 A. No, I think people want to show they are doing a good
29 job and they are proud of their job, but I do not detect
30 any sham being put on for my benefit. I would like to
31 think that I am intelligent enough to realise if the wool
32 was being pulled over my eyes, and I cannot say that I have
33 come across that.
34
35 Q. What is your, in broadest terms, general impression of the
36 way the region is operating today? Are you happy, unhappy?
37 A. I would like to say with a certain amount of humility
38 that I think it is a very well run restaurant with very
39 good people, not only within the Operations staff, but
40 those working within the restaurants.
41
42 Q. Have you had any reason to change your views about
43 McDonald's as you have worked your way up?
44 A. Not at all.
45
46 Q. If someone were to say to you, Mr. Stanton, that McDonald's
47 was a sweat shop employer, what would you say to that?
48 A. I would have said then I would probably not be standing
49 here today; I would have left probably two days after
50 I joined in 1983. As I mentioned, I only joined it to sort
51 of fill in a year. I was contemplating either post
52 graduate work or teaching. So, had that been fulfilled or
53 even in the early days, then I would like to have thought
54 I could have taken my skills elsewhere. That has not been
55 the case and I am here now 12 or 13 years later.
56
57 Q. Do you see the crew as the poor infantry men who get sent
58 over the top whilst the managers sit back and enjoy
59 themselves?
60 A. No, I do not. I see them as a very strong part of the
