Day 155 - 14 Jul 95 - Page 08

     
     1   Q.   Is what happens now with the Field Consultant similar to
     2        what you did when you were an Area Supervisor?
     3        A.  It is a little bit similar, but when you have a Field
     4        Consultant that is talking to someone that has been
     5        successful for 14 years, it is very, you know, I do not
     6        actually have him to advise me that much as maybe an Area
     7        Manager would do to an inexperienced Manager, Restaurant
     8        Manager that is.
     9
    10   Q.   I want to move back, if I may, Mr. Giardina, to the
    11        mid-1980s, February 1986, in fact, when you took over the
    12        restaurant at Seven Sisters.  You had had some experience
    13        as a salaried Manager at Enfield but you had never been an
    14        actual Store Manager before; is that right?
    15        A.  That is right.
    16
    17   Q.   Can you tell us -- and be as frank as you like -- what
    18        sort of condition, both in terms of crew and of service to
    19        the customers, you found when you arrived at Seven Sisters
    20        in February 1986?
         A.  It was very, very poor.
    22
    23   Q.   Very poor.  What had happened to the previous Manager, your
    24        predecessor?
    25        A.  He had been dismissed.
    26
    27   Q.   What, for example, was the scheduling of staff like when
    28        you arrived?
    29        A.  Again, very poor.
    30
    31   Q.   What was the morale of the crew like?
    32        A.  Very poor.
    33
    34   Q.   When you arrived, what was the number of people that were
    35        on the payroll at Seven Sisters?
    36        A.  Approximately 50 to 60, something like that.
    37
    38   Q.   What was the maximum you ever had during your time as
    39        Manager?
    40        A.  100.
    41
    42   Q.   Did that fluctuate according to the times of year?
    43        A.  Not considerably, no.
    44
    45   Q.   So is this right, in effect, you increased the amount of
    46        available people by about 40 per cent?
    47        A.  Yes.
    48
    49   Q.   How long (and I assume you would say that by the time you
    50        left I think you already have the store was so successful 
    51        it became one of the Restaurants of the Year) did it take 
    52        you to pull it round? 
    53        A.  I started to see the benefits beginning of 1987, so
    54        probably about 10 months.
    55
    56   Q.   So was it in proper working order, if I may use that,
    57        throughout 1987 and the early part of 1988?
    58        A.  Yes.
    59
    60   Q.   Just give us an idea of the sorts of things you did to put