FINANCE

Good afternoon. My name is Allan Swales and I’d like to talk to you about my company which is called Cultural Study Tours. Basically, we offer tours in various countries including Scotland, for people who want to learn more about particular cultural aspects of those countries.
    Now I thought I’d begin firstly by describing our organization and then go on to outline for you the way in which we operate. Well, the company is based in Scotland. The head office is in Glasgow but we have small branch office in Edinburgh. It’s a limited liability company, with two directors, my colleague, Peter and me. And together we own 60% of the shares.
    I’m in charge of marketing and Peter’s responsible for the financial side of things. Apart from us, there are eleven full-time staff. There are five tour leaders who plan and lead the tours. Each of them is responsible for a particular region: Great Britain, the Russian Federation, Eastern Europe, China and the Mediterranean. The tour leaders are supported by six administrative staff who handle day-to-day work.
    Let me give you an example of a tour that we organized last year on the architecture of Hungary. Well, firstly, we set up a series of introductory lectures and visits in Budapest and then took the participants around various cities of architectural interest. The aim, therefore, was to combine a holiday with a particular professional or cultural interest.
    So, what I’ve been trying to do this afternoon, or in this brief introduction, is to show the kind of organization we are and the kind of tours we get involved in.