| Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Stevenson's, |
| one of the country's major manufacturers of metal goods. |
| Thank you for choosing us for your two weeks of work experience. |
| My name is Julia Simmons, |
| and since the beginning of this year I've been the managing director. |
| Stevenson's is quite an old company. |
| Like me, the founder, Ronald Stevenson, went into the steel industry when he left school, |
| that was in 1923. |
| He set up this company when he finished his apprenticeship, in 1926, |
| although he actually started making plans two years earlier, in 1924. |
| He was a very determined young man! |
| Stevenson's long-term plan was to manufacture components for the machine tools industry, |
| although in fact that never came about, |
| and for the automotive industry, that is, cars and lorries. |
| However, there was a delay of five years before that happened, |
| because shortly before the company went into production, |
| Stevenson was given the opportunity to make goods for hospitals |
| and other players in the healthcare industry, |
| so that's what we did for the first five years. |
| Over the years, we've expanded the premises considerably, |
| we were lucky that the site is big enough, |
| so moving to a new location has never been necessary. |
| However, the layout is far from ideal for modern machinery and production methods, |
| so we intend to carry out major refurbishment of this site over the next five years. |
| I'd better give you some idea of what you'll be doing during your two weeks with us, |
| so you know what to expect. |
| Most mornings you'll have a presentation from one of the managers, |
| to learn about their department, starting this morning with research and development. |
| And you'll all spend some time in each department, |
| observing what's going on and talking to people, |
| as long as you don't stop them from doing their work altogether! |
| In the past, a teacher from your school has come in at the end of each week |
| to find out how the group were getting on, |
| but your school isn't able to arrange that this year. |
| OK, now I'll briefly help you to orientate yourselves around the site. |
| As you can see, we're in the reception area, |
| which we try to make attractive and welcoming to visitors. |
| There's a corridor running left from here, |
| and if you go along that, |
| the door facing you at the end is the entrance to the coffee room. |
| This looks out onto the main road on one side, and some trees on the other, |
| and that'll be where you meet each morning. |
| The factory is the very big room on the far side of the site. |
| Next to it is the warehouse, |
| which can be accessed by lorries going up the road to the turning area at the end. |
| You can get to the warehouse by crossing to the far side of the courtyard, |
| and then the door is on your right. |
| Somewhere you'll be keen to find is the staff canteen. |
| This is right next to reception. |
| I can confidently say that the food's very good, |
| but the view isn't. |
| The windows on one side look onto a corridor and courtyard, |
| which aren't very attractive at all, |
| and on the other onto the access road, which isn't much better. |
| You'll be using the meeting room quite often, |
| and you'll find it by walking along the corridor to the left of the courtyard, |
| and continuing along it to the end. |
| The meeting room is the last one on the right, |
| and I'm afraid there's no natural daylight in the room. |
| Then you'll need to know where some of the offices are. |
| The human resources department is at the front of this building, |
| so you head to the left along the corridor from reception, |
| and it's the second room you come to. |
| It looks out onto the main road. |
| And finally, the boardroom, where you'll be meeting sometimes. |
| That has quite a pleasant view, as it looks out onto the trees. |
| Go along the corridor past the courtyard, right to the end. |
| The boardroom is on the left, next to the factory. |
| OK, now are there any questions... |