From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Issuing instructions to restrict Petty Cash purchases to trivial items, defining trivial as below one pound.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 176\2\ img294 | |
| Date | 20th November 1940 | |
| C O P Y. Roy.{Sir Henry Royce} from Wn. o.{Mr Oldham} to G.{Mr Griffiths - Chief Accountant / Mr Gnapp} o.{Mr Oldham} to Hm{Capt. W. Hallam - Head Repairs}/Wym.{G. Harold Whyman - Experimental Manager} Wn.1/AS.20.11.40. Hm{Capt. W. Hallam - Head Repairs}/Wym.{G. Harold Whyman - Experimental Manager}12/ET.18.11.40. ------------------------ I have recently issued instructions in regard to purchases through Petty Cash with the express intention of restricting the use of this method of making purchases to items of a trivial nature. The few corks referred to in Hm{Capt. W. Hallam - Head Repairs}/Wym.{G. Harold Whyman - Experimental Manager} obviously are of a trivial nature, and the request for refund should have been met. I have therefore given instructions to this effect. The tendency to regard Petty Cash as a source of refund for ever increasing classes of purchases must, however, be restrained. We have recently been asked to refund the cost of buying field glasses and items such as a Meccano electric motor and accessories. For most items the full retail price is paid, and no official indication of their existence appears, since they are neither booked into nor out of the Stores. For the guidance of Hm{Capt. W. Hallam - Head Repairs}/Wym{G. Harold Whyman - Experimental Manager}, I should regard items below one pound as trivial, and when certified by Hm.{Capt. W. Hallam - Head Repairs} refund will be made through Petty Cash. I have noted your remarks in pencil on Hm{Capt. W. Hallam - Head Repairs}/Wym.{G. Harold Whyman - Experimental Manager}12, but I still consider that your office should deal with these smaller local items outside the range of Petty Cash. The function of your Department is surely to make all purchases, both small and large. Wn. | ||