How to approach Listening Test Part One • In this part of the Listening Test you listen to a monologue, e.g. a presentation, • B

Hello everybody, Right, today’s company in our series of company studies is SC Foods, which represents a great success story in the UK food sector I’m sure all of you are acquainted with their products, but how many of you know its history? it grew out of a family business that comprised a couple of shops selling locally produced food in the eastern region. Simon Clement, the second son, decided to develop the market for this produce, and opened a series of takeaway restaurants in towns and cities in an ever-widening radius round the shops, trading as SC Foods. Growth was spectacular throughout the 1980s, and in 1990, Clement took the business a stage further, bringing in many more staff and beginning exporting, a daring step in unpredictable times - but it paid off.
Within three years, demand was such that he moved his head office to London and set up a production plant there. Two more were to follow in other major cities, and the company now looks very different from its humble origins.
      These days, production has overtaken serving food, and sales are strong for SC’s range. Their 130 lines have become familiar sights on dining tables at home. But that’s only part of the business, and, while they avoid direct competition with high street restaurants, the books are full of orders from schools - an area of rapid growth - and hotels - a fairly new type of client.
      Clement just seems to keep doing things right. He has just finalised an agreement that will add government offices to his list of clients, and is in discussions with representatives of the film industry. The company’s profile continues to rise, with great interest being shown in the recipe book they published in the spring, with its compilation of cookery ideas from the newspaper series that’s been going for some time. The SC name is also becoming more familiar, as advertising moves beyond the trade press to a wider audience, with a TV ad transmitted for the first time.
      While many would sit back and enjoy their success at this point, Clement’s restlessness continues - he’s already entered negotiations with an equipment retailer to establish a kitchenware brand as a joint venture. Such brand extension is also being considered for the production of health drinks, which Clement feels would fit SC’s image better than branding cakes or sweets,
      What lies behind this success, apart from Clement’s own drive and vision? His ability to buck the market has earnt him respect and recognition throughout the business community, and he can often be heard on the radio in interviews seeking his reactions to economic trends. The company’s dedication to quality was complimented at length in last month’s Business Times, and this is probably the key to its prosperity Another crucial factor is the value Clement attaches to his people. This was recognised with ’first place in the training programme category in the prestigious Business Development Awards this year, although Clement himself claims that it is his continual innovation that enables SC to keep moving forward.
      OK, well, ore there any questions at this point ...