Day 152 - 11 Jul 95 - Page 25

     
     1   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Yes.
     2
     3                       (Short Adjournment)
     4
     5   MS. STEEL:  Mr. Stanton, you mentioned that the labour rate at
     6        Leicester was about 15 per cent.  Do you know what it was
     7        at Colchester, do you remember?
     8        A.  Well, no.  When I said the labour per cent was 15 per
     9        cent in Leicester, in terms of looking at your figures or
    10        the figures that I gave you that were written down, to
    11        determine whether or not I had them vaguely correct, that
    12        is where I got 15 per cent from.  It is my recollection
    13        that would have been probably about the figure.
    14
    15   Q.   Right.  Would that be about the same at Colchester?
    16        A.  Anywhere between about 14 and 16, I would have
    17        thought.  I cannot remember specifics but .....
    18
    19   Q.   OK.  Do you know a Manager called Caroline Blick?
    20        A.  Caroline Blick?
    21
    22   Q.   Yes.
    23        A.  Yes, I think I do.
    24
    25   Q.   She was a Manager of a Leicester store?
    26        A.  Yes, she was the Manager of Beamont-Lees.
    27
    28   Q.   That is not the same one that you were at?
    29        A.  No, no, no.  She was not the Manager when I was there.
    30        I think she was the Manager in about 1988 probably.
    31
    32   Q.   But, in any event, it was a different branch to the one
    33        where you had previously been a Manager?
    34        A.  Yes, it was, yes.
    35
    36   Q.   OK.  Was hers a busier store or a quieter store?
    37        A.  No, Beaumont-Lees was a quieter store.
    38
    39   Q.   If you were short staffed in a store ---
    40        A.  Right.
    41
    42   Q.   -- would crew be sent home if they had not polished their
    43        shoes or they were looking not as smart or they were
    44        looking a bit scruffy or something like that?
    45        A.  In terms of appearance, I think the times when it would
    46        occur, certainly when I was a Manager, were dirty uniforms
    47        and if the men were unshaven, not in terms of, you know,
    48        moustache or whatever, but unshaven when they normally
    49        shave, and those I can recall is probably the main two.
    50 
    51   Q.   But if you were short staffed would you --- 
    52        A.  Oh, absolutely. 
    53
    54   Q.   -- send them home?
    55        A.  Absolutely.  In terms of not wanting to compromise a
    56        standard just because we were short staffed, I would rather
    57        work harder myself and stay there longer and call somebody
    58        in rather than give the appearance that I had double
    59        standards, yes.
    60