CHAPTER 22
The next day…
"Ready?" I ask as I hold out my hand to Eva, she smiles and after watching the door close, we leave the playground after dropping Maisie at school.
I spot Megan, Eva's now ex-friend watching us closely, she still hasn't given up trying to cause trouble and every morning she attempts to attract my attention in some way.
We reach the car and Eva pauses and runs her hand over it.
"What's wrong?" I ask as I watch her.
Eva grins at me, "Nothing, but I just miss the Porsche" she says wistfully.
I laugh as I open the car door, I traded in the Porsche for a brand new Lexus, you couldn't get much more different and I actually like it. Maisie loves it now she has ample room in the back and she said it was like sitting on a comfy sofa.
"Come on, we need to go, don't forget we have to collect George and Hayley from the depot first" I say.
When we arrive at the depot, George and Hayley are waiting for us; Hayley looks petrified but George just looks amused. I climb out of the car and remove Maisie's booster seat from the back and push it into the boot, Eva climbs out and says something to George which results in him letting out a loud bark of laughter.
I turn my attention to Hayley, "You are clear why you are joining us on this site visit today?" I ask and Hayley nods nervously.
I had asked Hayley to accompany us so she could wander around the offices and make sure that there are no Len's lurking in any of the depots. We are also meeting Wayne from IT at Burnley as he is going to review the whole system and if needed overhaul and bring it into line with Stoke.
The drive up to Burnley is quite a pleasant one, I recall in my mind the email I had sent to head office giving them a heads up on what had happened and what my intentions were, and my father had replied telling me that it was my call and to do whatever was necessary.
When we arrive at the depot, Wayne is waiting with his laptop bag slung over his shoulder and his hands in his pockets. I greet him warmly and we all head inside. The look of complete shock on the face of the receptionist is gratifying, that one reaction tells me that we have succeeded in taking them by surprise. I nod at her and we march through the reception area and out to the stairwell, I turn and spot the receptionist diving to the phone to raise the alarm and warn of our arrival. I return my attention to Hayley.
"Right Hayley, go up to the despatch department and just observe for now and take notes" I say.
Hayley nods, but still looks quite worried, "What if anyone stops me or questions who I am and why I am here?" she asks.
"Then you tell them who you are and why you are here and that if they have a problem with it to come and speak to me. I will be in the picking area first" I say and Hayley smiles and nods at me.
"Ok" she says with a bit more confidence.
Eva puts her hand on Hayley's arm, "You'll be fine, if anyone is rude to you just make a note of it and Gideon will deal with it" she says.
I turn my attention to Wayne, "You know what you have to do" I say and Wayne nods. I watch as the two of them vanish up the stairs.
"Shall we?" I say to George and Eva and Eva grins. I take a moment to look at her, her eyes are shining and she is almost buzzing with excitement, she is so looking forward to this.
We walk out into the picking area and I immediately see Norman Thomas he is holding court and behaving in a similar way to the way he did at Stoke. I bristle with anger as I hear him berating someone. But before I can say anything Eva has beaten me to it and called out to him.
"No matter where you are you're still a fucking tosser and a bullying arsehole aren't you Norm?!" Eva calls out. The picking area goes deathly silent and all eyes are now on us. Norman Thomas spins on the spot, his face drains of all colour as he takes the three of us in, and I know that is because of what he did the previous day, not what he is doing right now.
Eva's comment has resulted in the men of the picking area sniggering and openly appraising her which sends a wave of jealousy through me, and I have to stop myself instinctively wrapping my arm around Eva's shoulder.
I look around, "I am Gideon Cross, who is in charge here?" I ask sharply, and a man steps forward holding out his hand.
"Gareth Harris" he says, and I accept his outstretched hand.
I don't waste any time I've already seen enough to know Norman Thomas is out of here today. I pull the IT information out of my bag and glance at it, "Right, I would like to see you, Mr Harris and I also need to see Norman Thomas and whoever D Williamson is, immediately".
Another man steps forward looking worried and holds up his hand.
"I'm David Williamson" he says nervously.
I nod and greet him with a shake of the hand.
"And what is your role here?" I ask.
"I'm a picker" David says with a shrug, as he tries to look unconcerned but manages to fail spectacularly.
"And you are?" I ask Harris.
"I'm a supervisor, I run the picking area and report directly to Ivan Jackson, that's the depot manager" Gareth says carefully, "What appears to be the problem Mr Cross?" he asks.
"That will become clear shortly" I say with a dismissive wave of my hand.
I turn to all the other men who are just standing around staring, and make an announcement. "This is George Bennett and Eva Trammel they are my most productive and efficient employees at the Stoke Depot, they have recently worked with me to streamline the system there, and in doing so have improved the picking department in Stoke considerably. Eva is the architect of those improvements and George is the Stoke depot Picking Department Supervisor, they will work with you today to help you get all the orders picked on time while I speak with these gentlemen and they will also be assessing the system you have here to see if any improvements can be made. Please feel free to discuss with them any concerns you have regarding working practices. Anything you say will be in strictest confidence and won't be held against you".
There is a murmur and nodding of heads. I watch as Eva fearlessly steps forward.
"Well, shall we get on then? Or are you all going to just stand there nodding and staring" she says confidently.
I watch as she and George quickly take control and the picking area is soon buzzing with activity. I turn towards the men next to me.
"Let's go" I say and I lead the men from the picking area towards the depot managers office. As I pass the despatch office I pause and give Hayley a questioning look.
"Everything as it should be Hayley?" I ask.
She shakes her head, "A few queries sir" she replies and I see her tap her notepad. I glance at it and see it has a lot of notes scribbled on it, and my heart sinks.
I nod briskly, everyone in despatch stares almost as if seeing Hayley and me for the first time, and they break out into a flurry of activity and I realise that this despatch department may have similar issues to what I faced in Stoke.
"I'll come and speak to you in a moment, after I have rectified the issue I am currently dealing with, just keep your eye on things" I say and Hayley nods.
I leave despatch and turn a corner and a worried looking man almost collides with me.
"Mr Cross, I wasn't expecting you. I thought the depot visit was next week?" he says wringing his hands and clearly panicked by my presence.
I nod, "It was but I felt I needed to bring the visit forward due to unforeseen circumstances" I say coldly, "If we could go to your office, or preferably a conference type room?" I ask gesturing my hand forward.
"Certainly sir" the man says and we all troop into his small office. He opens another door into a larger room with a table dominating the area, I take a seat at the head of the table and all the men move to settle themselves around it.
"Right then, first of all, I am going to show you an order – it was an internal request which was sent to the Stoke depot the day before yesterday and which was actioned and despatched the same day. I push copies of the original request towards each of the men, they pick it up and they all nod in agreement. I notice Norman is looking increasingly worried at this point but doesn't say anything, I realise that he thinks we don't know he was the one who altered the request.
I pull out the information that IT gave me and quickly glance at it.
"Mr… erm… Harris, you authorised the original request by Mr Williamson is that correct?" I ask and I watch as both men nod.
"Yes sir" Harris says, I can see he is wondering where this is going.
"Mr Williamson, after you had sent the request, did you discover that you needed any further items?" I ask and Williamson shakes his head.
"No, we didn't need that much and we were expecting a full delivery direct from Manchester from the factory which came today, but we got a request from one of our customers and we thought it would be quicker just to get the stuff from Stoke as that would arrive first" he says.
"Right, so after the request was placed, were you aware that the request was modified?" Williamson shakes his head again and I turn my attention to Harris and he too shakes his head.
"No sir" they both say.
"So, having said that you did not authorise that modification?" I ask Harris mildly. I watch as Norman shifts in his seat and looks increasingly uncomfortable but still doesn't say anything.
I watch the look of shock appear on the two men's faces and they shake their heads vigorously.
"No, it was as Dave said, we sent the request and it arrived from Stoke the next morning, and everything was as it should be. I know that because I checked it myself and it was despatched straight to the customer that day" Harris says.
I nod, "I see, in that case then, can you explain to me why at 11.35am yesterday my depot manager Martin Daniels received a call from Norman Thomas stating the request was incomplete? That several items were missing, and some of the items which were sent were incorrect. That there should have been two boxes in the shipment and not one and that Stoke was a disgrace and filled with incompetent idiots who clearly couldn't read?" I look directly at Norman Thomas as I say this.
Both men spin their heads and glare at Norman who is now staring at his fingers.
I turn my attention to Williamson, "Mr Williamson, I believe you are no longer required thank you for your co-operation, you may return to work now" I say kindly.
David Williamson stands and hurriedly leaves the room.
"Well?" I push.
"Surely there has been some mistake, perhaps Norm misread the request or something?" Harris says without much conviction.
I let out a small laugh, "I think not, considering what we discovered later. Obviously after such accusations were made, we were determined to discover who was responsible for picking the request and I oversaw that investigation. We rounded up all the paperwork, including the original screen grab of the request and after a time-consuming process we discovered that everything was as we anticipated, totally correct. So, after establishing there was no error on our part, I re-checked the request on our system and to my surprise I discovered that it was different. It had several more things added and other items had been changed. I found this strange so I instructed the IT department to check the system timeline to see who had logged on to the system and had access to that particular order request". I pause staring directly at Norman and realisation finally dawns on Harris's face and he glares at Norman.
"Mr Harris I need to ask this, did you authorise the alterations made to the original request?" I say as I push a copy of the time line information and the altered request towards him.
He takes them shaking his head, "No I didn't, why did you do this?" he asks Norman who hasn't yet said a word.
I lean forward, "I can answer that, Mr Thomas was demoted from his position as depot manager and transferred from Stoke to here under somewhat of a cloud. I believe this was a malicious attempt to discredit the hard-working people of the Stoke depot and severely disrupt them whilst this bogus accusation was investigated".
I see the moment Norman Thomas realises that he has been caught out and probably he also knows what is going to happen to him and although he doesn't say anything, he hangs his head the guilt written all over his face.
I look towards Harris, "Mr Harris thank you for your time today, you may return to work. Also, if you could ask Miss Trammel to join me please" I say and I watch as a scowl fills Normans face at the mention of Eva.
Harris nods and leaves. I had promised Eva she would see the moment Norman was sacked and I am not about to renege on that promise.
"I have no idea what to say Mr Cross, I knew nothing about any of this" Ivan Jackson says, and I notice that the hand wringing has now reached extreme levels.
I turn my attention to the depot manager, a tall thin man in his late 50's and I smile.
"You don't have to say anything, Mr Jackson, what you have said speaks volumes" I say coldly.
He looks at me questioningly, he really has no idea.
I nod, "Yes, Mr Jackson. Miss Trammel suspected foul play from the moment Mr Thomas rang Stoke to complain, and she worked tirelessly to prove that no error had occurred at our end" I say.
At that moment there is a loud knock at the door, "Come in" I call.
The door opens and Eva strides in, "It's a right mess down there Gideon" she starts but comes to an abrupt halt as I hold up my hand.
"Miss Trammel, we have established the fact that Norman Thomas maliciously altered the request and then lied to Martin Daniels" I say.
"I told you didn't I!" she exclaims and gives Norman an evil look.
I smile, "You did" I say. "Right, if you'd like to take a seat Miss Trammel while I finish dealing with this and then you can tell me what the problems are that you have encountered today" I say firmly.
I see Eva realise what I am telling her and she tries to stifle her look of glee, without another word she sits down and watches as I turn my attention to Norman Thomas.
"Mr Thomas, do you have anything you want to say?" I ask.
Norman shakes his head.
I sigh, "Right, well you were demoted from your position of depot manager for your inappropriate management style and sent to the Burnley depot for a fresh start. It appears you have squandered that opportunity, by your infantile behaviour. What you did yesterday was gross misconduct, you lied and you maliciously altered an order, causing extra unnecessary work and stress for the people at Stoke while they tried to establish what had happened. I will not tolerate that kind of behaviour within my company, also when I arrived this morning I saw you bullying another member of staff, you are not a manager, you are not a supervisor, so you have no jurisdiction to chastise another member of staff and the way you did so was wholly inappropriate. You have been warned about this kind of behaviour before so I have no other alternative but to inform you that as of now you are no longer employed by Cross Industries, you have five minutes to gather your belongings and vacate the premises before I ask security to escort you away". I push a letter across the table towards him.
Norman takes the letter and turns towards Eva, he glares at her "This is down to you, I'd still be at Stoke if you hadn't opened your mouth" he spits.
Eva laughs, "No Norm this is all down to you, you were a bully and a tyrant when you were at Stoke, and it wasn't just me who said so - everyone said so. Gideon made a point of asking everyone and they all told him what they thought of you, which trust me wasn't much and you know what? The depot has been a more productive and much happier place since you've been gone". Eva turns to me, "That's what the mess is I need to talk to you about" and she points at Norman with her thumb.
"He has been throwing his weight about and trying to lord it over people, just like he did at Stoke, and he has tried to change the picking process which was pretty much like what we have now implemented at Stoke to the way he used to do things. Some people were following his way because he had bullied them into it, but some ignored him and were continuing to do it the proper way and as a result it was all falling apart. It was just going wrong, but George and I have sorted it out though and got everyone back on track. I've had numerous complaints about Norm bullying and intimidating people, basically saying if they didn't do stuff his way he'd make sure they were sacked. The man is just a complete tosser" she says.
I stifle the laugh at Eva's blunt assessment of Norman Thomas as Jacksons eyes widen at her comment.
"She doesn't paint a very positive picture of you, but then again she didn't when you were at Stoke. I think you had better go now, as I said, you have five minutes" I say coldly.
Norman Thomas stands and leaves the room slamming the door behind him, to my surprise Eva stands, "I'm going to follow him to make sure he doesn't do anything on his way out" she says.
I nod, "If you could ask Hayley to come in on your way down" I ask and Eva nods at me.
"Mr Cross, I had no idea…" Jackson blusters and I hold my hand up stopping him.
"That's twice you have said that and it's not good enough, ignorance isn't an excuse and unacceptable for someone in your position. You should have your finger on the pulse of this depot at all times. You should know exactly what is going on Mr Jackson. If you are not up to the job of running the depot then I will have to find someone who is" I say.
Hayley comes in a few moments later and proceeds to tell me that the despatch department are slow and unmotivated; I call Wayne and ask him to pull off productivity stats for the depot, like I did with Stoke so I can see for myself who is pulling their weight and who isn't. Hayley tells me that in some ways it is worse than how it was at Stoke, where there were a handful of people doing nothing and the rest doing everything. Here, everyone is doing something – just not all the time and not consistently.
I turn to Ivan Jackson who looks shocked and slightly embarrassed by the scathing assessment of the despatch department.
"I think I'd like to take a tour of the depot" I say after thinking for a moment. I get up and Jackson jumps to his feet to join me. Hayley falls into step beside me and quickly outlines in more detail the issues within that department.
When we arrive, I see for myself what she means. Since Hayley left the department, they have all slacked off considerably and are just sitting around chatting rather than processing the paperwork. I stand and watch and as Jackson catches us up, he sees what I am watching and he goes to speak but I hold up my hand to stop him and continue to observe. I fold my arms and lean against the doorway and check my watch as I do so.
"This is what they were like when I arrived" Hayley whispers, "They are oblivious, in their own little world, it wasn't until you arrived and spoke before that they realised they were being watched and then they actually started working, but when I left they must have stopped again" she adds.
"Thank you Hayley. Can you go to the IT department and collect the paperwork I asked Wayne to pull?" I whisper. Hayley nods and after handing me her notepad with the notes she made on this sorry bunch she vanishes. I look at my watch once more and shake my head. Jackson is getting more and more agitated and eventually it is his movement and noise that provokes a reaction from the room.
"I'm terribly sorry to interrupt this social gathering" I say as I channel some of the sarcasm I have learnt from Eva.
The shocked faces stare at me and immediately they are galvanised into action.
I laugh mirthlessly "It's a bit late for that, I was watching you and timing you. Nearly 9 minutes I stood there watching you all doing precisely nothing other than discussing your social lives and latest retail purchases, you are not paid to discuss your social lives and if you don't start doing the job you are paid to do you won't be able to afford a social life or retail purchases for much longer as I will be letting you all go!"
I see the panic on everyone's faces as I say this. Just then Hayley appears with the papers and I look through them.
"This is ridiculous and totally unacceptable" I spit after I have quickly assessed the stats.
There is total silence in the despatch department. I move into the room and go through the list of names.
"Marion Hughes?" I say and the tall woman who I had watched and listened to discussing her latest pair of shoes raises her hand.
"Congratulations Ms Hughes you have the best productivity in this department" I say.
When she looks pleased, I hold up my hand.
"I wouldn't look too smug about it if I were you, your productivity percentage averages at 43%. I sacked someone at Stoke for laziness and he had much more than that" I say coldly as I remember Len.
I see the smugness vanish immediately.
"These figures are genuinely appalling. I am shocked you have not been aware of this Mr Jackson" I say.
I turn on my heel and head to the Personnel department where Wayne is currently checking the computer. The personnel assistant smiles at me.
"Hello Mr Cross, can I help you?" she asks.
I nod briskly, "Yes I want first written warning letters for the entire despatch department every single one of them. The disciplinary's will commence in about half an hour, so if they could be complete by then I would be very grateful" I say as I glance at my watch again.
The girl nods, and as Wayne moves away with a wide grin on his face, she sets to work.
"I took a look at the stats – they don't make for pleasant reading do they?" he says.
I shake my head, my eyes have now moved on to the picking department and like Stoke they are the most productive department in the depot. But there are a number of employees who have recently dropped productivity, I wonder if this has anything to do with what Eva told me, so I head down to the picking area.
George looks up as I approach and comes to meet me.
"We have just about got everything back on track here sir, Norman Thomas was causing havoc. A few of the young lads were being bullied by him and he was trying to implement his way on things. He had been warned numerous times by all accounts but he's a sly bugger and there wasn't enough proof to take it any further, also Eva's been encountering a bit of resistance from that Harris guy, since he came back down here," he says.
My protective instincts kick in and I try and keep it professional, "What do you mean she has been encountering resistance?" I ask mildly.
George smiles, "He didn't like the way Eva was organising everything and he may have said something to her, and she may have said something back and to cut a long story short he doesn't like being told that he missed what was going on under his nose and that he is a poor excuse of a supervisor. But that is the polite version as the way Eva put it was slightly more colourful… you know Eva".
I shake my head, this depot seems to be filled with people who have no idea how to lead and be managers.
"Do you have any recommendations who would make a better supervisor, from what you've seen here today?" I ask him.
George nods and points, "David Williamson, he's smart, he sees things that need doing and gets on with it. He tries to keep momentum going and he stood up to Norm and put him in his place several times. He has the respect of the other men which quite frankly Harris doesn't as he tries to be their best mate rather than their supervisor. Eva and I have been talking with the men and they have been saying that they tend to look towards Williamson for guidance as there doesn't seem to be any leadership from the guy who is meant to do it, which is how Norm managed to run rings round him".
I've heard enough and go in search of Gareth Harris. I find him and he is being read the riot act by Eva, he is shouting at her but she is standing her ground yelling right back and pointing at his chest with her finger.
"What's going on here?" I ask sharply.
Eva pauses in her tirade and turns to me, "This… fff... idiot…" she pauses again, she is clearly trying not to swear and control her temper.
Harris turns to me his face crimson, "Mr Cross, I have never been so insulted in my life, she has come in here and taken over. She is just a girl, what on earth gives her the right to tell me how to run my department?" he blusters.
I hear Eva snort, "Well someone had to because you didn't have a fucking clue!" she scoffs.
I hear murmurs of agreement from the men who have all moved closer to watch. Eva sees this and turns to them.
"Come on guys get those orders picked!" and with that they all disperse and carry on with their work.
I smile at Harris and Eva frowns. I pull out the stats once more and check the figures.
"What gives her the right? I will tell you what gives her the right Mr Harris" I say, the warning clear in my tone. I see the frown vanish from Eva's face and a smile replace it and she relaxes significantly.
George had stepped forward his face as black as thunder but he too pauses at my response. I point at Eva.
"That girl, continually out-performed all her colleagues in the picking department in Stoke, before I made radical changes to the procedure, she consistently maintained a 100% productivity average, and she helped me radically change the entire procedure of that department and it wasn't my ideas that were implemented it was her ideas. What she suggested has increased productivity significantly. My Stoke team now outperform every depot in the company – that girl still maintains a 100% productivity rate, as do every other member of my Stoke team, considering that the best productivity established in this department is 73%. Then there is also the point to consider you have been unable to curtail the intimidation of one man causing him to establish his own regime under your very nose, causing chaos and confusion and that girl along with her colleague have sorted out that chaos, eliminated that confusion and provided me with information which you should have done regarding Norman Thomas. I'd say THAT is what gives her the right, any questions?" I stop and look questioningly at Harris and he is just staring with his mouth hanging open.
"But" he begins after he has recovered.
I hold up my hand, "We need to have a talk about your future here Mr Harris, if you would be kind enough to head back upstairs to the depot manager's office.
I quickly get all the facts from Eva, about what the men told her. I spend some time on the picking floor listening to the men and when they realise that Norman Thomas has now gone and that there is the possibility of real change they open up and tell me about the issues they are facing, it appears that there is a general malaise here in Burnley. The people at the top have no idea how to manage, are weak and are oblivious to everything that is going on around them, it's not good. I can only do so much today and if all the other depots are like this then it is going to take a lot of work to bring them all up to scratch. I quickly decide that I am going to have to spend at least a week here, reorganising this depot and getting things to a level I am happy with.
oooOOOooo
By the end of the day, I am happy with what I have achieved, on the journey back to Stoke I turn to Eva who is sitting quietly beside me. We are alone on the drive back as George and Hayley returned to Stoke with Wayne.
"I'm going to need to spend some time here, I'm thinking about a week or so to get things as I would like them. Martin will be fine running Stoke alone, he pretty much does so anyway," I say carefully.
Eva nods, "I guessed as much, you don't want me to come again do you?" she asks and I shake my head.
"No, you did your part today magnificently. It shouldn't be too hard, I might book myself into a Premier Inn or something, so I don't have to commute each day and that way I can be on site early so hopefully I can get the restructuring done quicker". I pause and check Eva's reaction to this and she nods again.
"That would be the sensible thing to do" she agrees.
A sudden thought hits me with a jolt, and I remember the telephone call I received earlier.
"By the way, I have something to tell you – not work related, the estate agent called earlier. Our offer on the house on Primrose Hill Rd has been accepted and as there is no chain it should all go through pretty quickly. I'm sorry I haven't mentioned it before now, but with everything else that has been going on today I didn't get the chance" I explain.
Eva smiles, "That's good" she says.
"Are you happy about that, you do still want to move in with me don't you?" I ask nervously.
Eva turns and stares at me as if I am stupid, "Of course I do, I love you, I'm just feeling a bit overwhelmed again. It's all becoming real and no longer a dream" she says, as she reaches for me and squeezes my knee.