Day 168 - 03 Oct 95 - Page 07

     
     1   Q.   Are you aware of salad produce being incorrectly dated?
     2        A.  No, again I am unaware of any situations when that has
     3        arisen.
     4
     5   Q.   Are you aware of any problems with the storage of salads?
     6        A.  No.
     7
     8   Q.   What about the designation of buns as freezer buns with the
     9        implication that they can then have their use by date
    10        ignored.  Are you aware of any problem in that regard?
    11        A.  Not at all.  It would be extremely difficult to
    12        designate buns as being freezer buns because they are
    13        actually designated by the company, the suppliers, as
    14        freezer buns if they come to us as freezer buns.
    15
    16   Q.   Are you aware of a problem with having fresh produce
    17        available?
    18        A.  Occasionally you may run out of an item, but it is rare
    19        to run out of one item -- probably once a month, but it is
    20        not a problem.
    21
    22   Q.   What do you do then?
    23        A.  You (indecipherable) locally produced items or transfer
    24        the stock in from a neighbouring store.
    25
    26   Q.   You dealt with the RCD system in your evidence before; is
    27        there anything else you want to say in response to what you
    28        have read in Mr. Logan's -----
    29        A.  Only that when Clayton Construction fitted the system,
    30        they advised us that there would be problems because of the
    31        nature of the store and the building that it used to be,
    32        because it used to be a timber warehouse and that they
    33        would have to come and make adjustments accordingly.
    34
    35   Q.   Was there a particular problem of understaffing at the
    36        store?
    37        A.  There are no periods that I can recall when we have had
    38        a particular problem of understaffing.  We do occasionally
    39        get periods of the year when we need more employees and we
    40        hire as is appropriate.
    41
    42   Q.   Is it true that you have the second highest turnover of
    43        staff in the Midlands, South West region?
    44        A.  The restaurant did at one point have the second highest
    45        turnover of the staff in the region, yes, but this figure
    46        is 90 per cent due to the fact that we employ students six
    47        or seven times a year and, as such, they are terminated and
    48        rehired.
    49
    50   Q.   Is it illegal to transfer stock from other stores? 
    51        A.  It is not illegal.  There is no law which permits -- 
    52        does not permit it. 
    53
    54   MR. ATKINSON:  I have no further questions.
    55
    56   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Can you repeat that answer again?  It is not
    57        illegal to transfer stock from other stores, then
    58        you  -----
    59        A.  It is not, as far as I know, it is not illegal.  It is
    60        actually Company policy that should you run out of stock