Chapter № 2 unit 1. Company Presentation

1. Companies often include details about their history in their marketing literature, their annual reports and company presentations, in order to show that they are established, and have experience in their field. This can include information about the founder or person who started the company, and key dates and events in the company history.

2. Read the first part of the talk and answer the questions.

Pat Woodgate: Hello. I’m going to talk to you today about the key developments in the history of the company I work for and then tell you about the company’s current position.

I am based in the Loss Control Department of Zurich Municipal which is part of the Zurich Financial Services Group. Zurich Municipal is a strategic business unit dealing solely with the public sector, e.g. local government, national health trusts, etc.

The company began its history when Zurich Insurance Company was founded 125 years ago in Zurich, Switzerland under the name of Versicherungs-Verein, or Insurance Association.

1. Which two things does the presenter talk about?

2. Complete the sentences.

   1. Pat works in the Loss Control Department of Zurich ___________ , part of the Zurich ___________ ___________ Group.

   2. The company deals with the p_______ s_______ , e. g.

3. Where was the company founded?

4. In English, what was its original name?

3. Here are the key dates in the company’s history. Read the second part of the talk and match each event to the correct date.

a. 1873 b. 1875 c. 1922 d. 1993 e. 1998

They started business in May 1873, initially providing re-insurance – that is where they provide insurance cover to other insurance companies so that the risk is distributed throughout the market. They quickly entered into the field of accident insurances and obtained licenses to conduct business in other European countries in 1875.

In 1922 the Zurich Insurance Company opened for business in the UK, with London-based headquarters. After many years of increased growth, in 1993 they took over the business of Municipal Mutual Insurance, who were the previous market leaders in providing insurance to the public sector.

In September 1998 the Zurich Insurance Company merged with British American Financial Services, that is the financial services operation of British American Tobacco Industries, thus forming Zurich Financial Services Group.

The group now has over 68,000 employees and over 30 million customers in over 50 countries. It is one of the ten largest companies world-wide, offering insurance and asset management.

1. The company merged with British American Financial Services and formed Zurich Financial Services Group.

2. The company obtained a license to conduct business in other European countries.

3. The company opened for business in the UK, with headquarters in London.

4. The company started business and provided re-insurance.

5. The company took over the business of Municipal Mutual Insurance (MMI).

4. Complete the missing information.

Employees: Customers: Countries: Company status:

The group 1_______ employees. The group has over 2_______ customers. The group operates in 3_______ countries. One of the ten largest companies which offer 4_____________________ .