06.47. Woppa Burga branch 114. Maidstone, Kent.
For Jason Wallace, every second of every hour at work dragged, but hopefully he wouldn't have to be here for too much longer. By rights he shouldn't be doing this, it wasn't part of his job description, but if he wanted to progress further in the company he felt obliged to.
Wallace was a junior executive at Woppa Burga, a rapidly expanding fast food chain. From a standing start just a couple of years ago the company's primary coloured logo with the trademark infantile cartoon lettering had become a feature of the country's decaying high streets; their branches sought after 'anchor tenants' of otherwise emptying shopping centres and a familiar addition to the totem poles of retail mediocrity found at the entrances to out of town retail parks. Aggressively expanding as its competitors retrenched, the unrepentantly downmarket company - a combination of corporately owned and franchise outlets - now had 'restaurants' in most towns and cities.
Unlike the majority of graduate managers Wallace had joined the business as a 'crew member', but before long he'd worked his way up to supervisor and then deputy branch manager when the previous incumbents left as they often did for better jobs outside the organisation. After completing a management course at the company's online 'Academy of Excellence' in his own time and at his own expense his hard work was repaid by a promotion to run his own unit, then a 'cluster' of outlets, before finally obtaining a coveted position in the company's regional office a year ago.
Then this emergency came up, and Jason found himself called upon to take temporary charge of a troubled franchise located in this Kentish town. Now he was back at the sharp end with a chance to make a name for himself and plenty of hands on sorting out to be done.
Only an utter incompetent could screw up a Woppa Burga outlet, it was a perennial cash cow; but somehow the previous manager had let things go to the point where the local authority were threatening a prosecution due to breaches of the food hygiene regulations and the fact it had become a focus of anti-social behaviour. The local notoriety was beginning to reflect badly on the public image of the chain in general. Drastic measures needed to be taken, and Wallace was sent there.
When he'd taken control of the place he found the situation was even worse than he expected. The staff were slipshod and demoralised; discipline had gone to hell. Blatant drug dealing and taking was going on in the toilets; pilfering of the takings as well as the food was rampant. A local councillor and the police were calling for the takeaway's late opening hours to be restricted, or better still for it to be closed down.
The first time Wallace saw the branch was late on a Saturday evening when he visited incognito to discover for himself what was going on. Contrary to the company's rules stunningly loud nu-rave tracks pounded from a boom box brought in by one of the employees; the uncouth noise filled the air at such a volume it felt as if it could be cut with a knife. It was all but impossible to speak over the din, so Jason shouted to make himself heard. In the guilty tinnitus ringing silence prevailing after his introduction Wallace made a cursory inspection which revealed numerous breaches of the Health and Safety regulations as well as basic standards of cleanliness. No wonder the family customers had been driven away, leaving only the assorted night crawlers behind!
He acted swiftly and decisively. It was an unpleasant thing to have to do, but the entire evening crew needed to be dismissed en-masse immediately, with the restaurant being closed until replacement staff could be recruited and trained. Having done that, he weeded out the bad apples from the other shifts. Once the process had been completed the outlet reopened, but now things would be very different. The police were encouraged to patrol nearby, and the drugs problems disappeared elsewhere. Private door security was employed to keep the creatures of the darkness under control, and the disruptive elements moved on. The council hygiene inspectors re-examined the kitchen and declared themselves satisfied; the constant drizzle of complaints dried up. The branch became once more a place where normal people could feel safe visiting. In Wallace's opinion within just two weeks at the very most the replacement manager and deputy he was mentoring would be ready to take over unassisted: Then at long last he'd be able to leave them to it and return to his original role; whether the Woppa Burga management wanted him back or not.
It would be just too bad if his superiors complained but they'd asked him to turn things around here, and that was what he'd done. Jason was damned if he was staying any longer than he felt he needed to: There was no reason to do so, and frankly he'd had enough of the long hours, not to mention the interminable commutes involved in this project. He'd achieved everything they'd expected of him - more in fact - and deserved a Manager Of The Month award for putting up with this hassle.
With this successful turnaround to his credit Wallace's career prospects were bound to be enhanced, but... there was one big problem developing he wasn't sure how to deal with: Like so many of his underlings he had grown to hate working for Woppa Burga; so much so that as he began the depressing drive in to waste another day of his life at the franchise he was preoccupied by thoughts of leaving for the first job - any job - he was offered elsewhere.
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