Company Profile
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Company Profile
Company Profile 40 Florencetown Our philosophy Florencetown was founded in 2006 by Luca Perfetto and Urbano Brini, college mates and passionate about tourism, with the mission to offer unique experiences in Florence and Tuscany, exclusive itineraries based on innovative ideas and new ways to live Tuscany and the Italian culture, with a quality-centered perspective. The Company today Nowadays, Florencetown is a leading company in the incoming tourism market for Tuscany, providing scheduled and tailor made tours, special excursions and itineraries, with direct expansions and investments in transportation, food & beverage, accommodation, retail and information points. The corporate structure has also changed, since Dr. Patrizio Montevecchi, Luca’s tourism-passionate cousin, joined as a shareholder in 2013, taking over the role of President in 2014. Urbano currently acts as Director of Marketing and Sales, while Luca as CEO. Florencetown produces its own tours, and this allows us to have a full control on quality and overall organization of experiences. The company is highly specialized on the Florentine and Tuscan area and has quickly expanded on the territory among the years. It currently operates from four locations among Florence city center and the Chianti countryside: a head office, a Florence cooking school, a transportation department, a boutique winery and a cooking school in Chianti, and there are a few other projects under rapid development! Florencetown employs more than 50 young professionals including guides, tour leaders, drivers, chefs and F&B crew, booking, marketing, administration each one with a deep focus for attention to details and on our guests’ daily care and satisfaction. Our approach will always be focused on offering authentic products and delivering unforgettable experiences for our selected consumer target. We’ll only recommend destinations we are really familiar with, and only those services that will deliver our own standards. A territory-based strategy, a well-trained team of professionals, many relations in Florence and Tuscany and a lot of hard work will make the difference for the demanding clientele and will help us to become Leaders for quality tourism in 2006 Tuscany. Luca and Urbano, November Company Profile Head Office, Florence Downtown The main office is the headquarter and administrative base of Florencetown, as well as the perfect starting point for all regular tours provided by the company and a reliable reference for visitors in Florence. It’s the backstage where different “behind the scenes” departments collaborate to design all the “light and magic” that make a Florencetown experience a memorable moment in life. It’s also the operation center for our Booking Department and for experiences we run in the city, such as the Uffizi and Vasari Corridor tours, the introductory Bike and Walking tours, the exciting Inferno Tour and the enjoyable and relaxing Boat Tour on the Arno River. Transportation and Chianti Department Our transportation department takes specific care of transfers and excursions in the Tuscan countryside, providing different vehicles for our Chianti experiences and an energetic group of highly trained tour leaders and drivers. Florencetown owns a complete fleet: 7 comfortable vans, 20 iconic Vespa scooters, 2 fascinating vintage Tuscany Tuk Tuks, 25 hybrid bicycles, 25 city bikes are all the different means of transportation we can provide to let travelers discover our land in different and dynamic ways. Thank to this department, our guests can be captured by the beauty of Tuscany by visiting vineyards and cellars, learning about art and wines while exploring the amazing Chianti Region by Bike, Vespa, Horse or the comfort of our vans. Tourist Points of Florence Florencetown, together with a strategic local partner, Ciao Florence tour operator, has developed a system of 3 information points in the city center, taking over old news stands and turning them into easily accessible and strategically placed locations, from where tourists are able to get free information and book tours and services. Tourist Points also offer assistance, free city maps, give info about attractions and events, up to providing numbers of medical emergency or other information useful to the tourists’ stay. They help the tourist and support them with the presence of qualified, multilingual employees, available 7/7 in case of any need . The Florence Tourist Points Project should see 5 to 8 new openings in the next 2 years to cover the majority of popular tourist sites in the city center of Florence. Company Profile E WIN ACA D FL Food and Wine Academy: The Cooking Schools, the Restaurant and the Boutique Winery Our cooking department, which began with cooking classes, has now become a company spin-off named Food & Wine Academy of Florence which provides cooking classes, in addition to typical meals and tastings in Florence and the Tuscan countryside, under the expert guidance of a team of professional chefs. This spin-off company was also made possible by the partnership with Filippo Gargani, founder of Italy’s Finest agency, and Andrea Melani, owner of the Borgo Antico restaurant in Florence. The Food & Wine Academy runs a renowned cooking school in the city center of Florence, where our guests learn how to prepare traditional Italian meals with our chefs, including basics of Italian cuisine or pizza and gelato classes. It also manages a restaurant & boutique winery located in the cellars of a historical Tuscan Villa in the Chianti Area. Here typical Tuscan meals for our guests are prepared and are accompanied by visits of the cellars as well as wine and olive oil tastings. Also at the Villa, the Food & Wine Academy runs a second cooking school in a fascinating kitchen, where private and small group cooking lessons take place. Y EM FO OD & ORENCE Company Profile Florencetown Regular Tours Florencetown’s constant attention to quality and authenticity can be seen through our regularly run shared tours. Different from other companies’ tours for their distinct originality and top quality standards, these tours always maintain small groups of guests and are run only in English to preserve the quality we strive for, and that can be constantly monitored since we self-produce these experiences. We guarantee daily departures even if there is only one participant for a tour and all experiences are skillfully overseen by the Booking Office, which is open every day of the year and also works as the meeting point for all these tours. We provide a full range of products with a focus on special interest tours like vespa and bike tours, visits to exclusive art collections and usually-unaccessible sights, cooking classes, wine experiences and even introductory city tours. Company Profile Florencetown Fit and Special Events Department Our high specialization on the territory also gives us the opportunity to create any private event and special activity in Florence and Tuscany. In this way, the FIT department “FLORENCETOWN PLUS” has successfully become a point of reference for many agents worldwide when it turns to provide beyond-expectation-services in Tuscany. Florencetown Plus provides a wide variety of high-end, customizable services, including private excursions to discover art and history, openings of famous museums and un-accessible locations, fine wine and food programs including private cooking classes, chef demonstrations and packages, catering for special occasions, as well as sky, land and sea transportations and logistic, take-over of exclusive properties, villa rentals, complete event planning and, most importantly, 24/7 concierge service. Company Profile Proud of Our Staff Company Profile carlotta santi Benedetta borri Highly passionate about tourism, I love challenges and I am extremely curious.I’ve always loved applying my business & management skills to my interests, and that is what I do at Florencetown. Working here means dealing with two of my three greatest passions: travelling and people. Everyday I make sure that the high quality standards are respected, in order to grant our guests the most unforgettable experiences. PS. If you are wondering...my third passion is basketball :-) Mario zerillo Traveling is my reason for living. When I was a child, the best gift I received was a globe. On the beaches of my island I was fascinated by the different accents. While working at Florencetown, I have the opportunity to recommend corners of Tuscany that will excite travelers, because first of all...they have excited me. I do not trust the tour guides or even the words of another. I must experience what I suggest. I am lucky. I was born on an island full of charm and I live in Tuscany, a region full of splendor. I am the woman of numbers. In charge of the accounting department. But I have a liberal arts education and have a natural gift in seeing directly into the human heart, so often that my office turns into a confessional. I have watched Florencetown grow from a small company into what it is now. I am happy to make ends meet in my job, but what I want more than anything, is that we do not forget about our roots: making travelers and internal guests happy must be always our belief and we should not only look at figures, but also at the quality of life of people working. Edoardo giacometti (IR)Rational. Attracted by numbers and in love with art. Studied mechanical engineering but thought to be Alberto Giacometti’s descendant or a design wizard. Quite wrong. Went back to numbers. Lived in the USA. Came back to find the perfect blend for my bipolarity in Florencetown: as Operations Manager I’ve dealt with logistics and human resources. As Marketing Manager, I now deal with both numbers and creativity. If I can wear a blue watch, it’s because “he’s strange, he’s into marketing”. Amedeo Gisone In love with my job, I manage our Restaurant and Boutique Winery in Chianti, taking care of food and service quality. Maurizio Danti Ilaria di rigo Hello, I am Ilaria, Booking Office Manager. I met Florencetown for the first time as an intern while studying foreign languages at University. I joined the company after my degree. I take care of the booking office and the city guides depts. I love my job for its dynamism: every day there is something new to deal with. Sometimes it’s like putting the pieces of a puzzle together. I love travelling and all of its aspects: art, history, nature, food, close to home or far away. I will never forget my night bushwalking in Australia! I am Maurizio, in charge of the Transportation department. I love my work and I love to make sure all the Florencetown Shuttles are in time every day. I am like a father for most guys in the company. They share everything with me. Week ends? Most of them working and some other i cultivate my passion: Antiques. Alain Liggia Hello everybody , my Name is Alain. I’m Florencetown’s EXECUTIVE chef. My Life is all about cooking, travelling and playing basket ball. I’m always searching for the best spices and beautiful places to visit. My Job here is to take care of you all, being sure to teach you fundamentals of Italian cooking and having fun all together. Come and enjoy Italian cooking classes. I enjoy talking with our guests and making sure they are always satisfied. My great passions are good music, wine and food...but only if I have the opportunity to share them with my friends and family! 46 Company Profile r o f e c n Flore s r e l Todd Florence for kids is enchanting. One may chose from many ways on how to enjoy the city: From above, Piazzale Michelangelo, arriving aboard of a tuk tuk , a type of a rickshaw, passing by and having fun guessing the monuments , its piazzas, the bridges and its towers; From a piazza riding a horse or on a horse-carriage, on the historic carrousel of Piazza della Repubblica, to start the day with a jolt of happiness! from an craftsman workshop, where one may create with its own hands its own souvenir of the town. 47 And how? By beating the gold leaf and minting the golden Florin! From a gelato shop , playing the game of the ten spoons , such pleasure for the palate. Besides just tasting , the gelato maker will also reveal the secret that lays behind the magic of gelato! From a tower, one may admire a spectacular panoramic view of the city centre. Which tower is more exciting to climb, Giotto’s Bell Tower of the Town Hall’s Tower? Company Profile From a kitchen, with a hands-on-experience creating the most flavorful pizza in the world; from the soccer stadium, where one can imitate their dream idols of this National sport; from sitting on a bike , one may scurry down the streets reaching the piazzas and the bridges of the historic centre; from the rooms of the Antique Florentine Davanzati House, where one can imagine going back in time and reviving how Renaissance kids used to live; from the meadows of the Boboli Gardens, among statues and fountains in the open air museum; from a farmhouse, just a stone’s throw from the city , in contact with its nature, its wildlife surrounded by olive trees, bridges and fairytale-like castles; from the rooms of Leonardo’s museum, a place to discover the creations of kids most beloved genius; from the Stibbert museum, which surprises kids with its range of warriors on horsebacks, in a battleground come alive; From on top of a carriage pulled by horses, going back in time when no cars existed in Florence! Company Profile Villas and Apartments Luxury villa or home rentals are becoming an increasingly popular alternative to luxury hotel vacations. Here are some luxury travel tips. We offer a wide selection of villas in which you can enjoy your privacy, as if at home, while still guaranteeing top quality services. The most distinctive feature of the company is that it is specifically dedicated to providing rental property with all the facilities and services you can find in a hotel while preserving the absolute intimacy of your private villa or apartment. From the rolling hills of Chianti and the vineyards of Val d’Orcia to the glitz and glamour of Forte dei Marmi, we offer villas in Tuscany which are perfectly placed for creating the ultimate holiday experience. Our luxury villas include large family villas with pools in the countryside and smaller ones in charming villages of the region encircled by fields of olive groves, sunflowers and cypresses, mostly picture-postcard perfect, with panoramic views across the Chianti area. On the coast lies the prestigious Versilia, home to style and glamour. Celebrities have been lured to its beaches since Shelley and Byron, the first to don bathing suits and dip their toes in Tuscan waters. Locals move by bike around and about down the coast which is tempered by generous doses of culture, history and hospitality. Our portfolio of luxury villas includes both contemporary designer pads, the sort of contemporary gleam you see in design magazines - and traditional and authentic properties. All of our luxury villas are inspected on a regular basis by our local authority, prior to and during the holiday season, to ensure you enjoy the best villa holiday experience possible. Every villa has been hand-picked for its individuality. Our goal is to help you plan a holiday that you will carry in your heart forever - and that starts by finding you the perfect property. Company Profile IN VILLA SERVICES In person or by telephone, we will assist you either prior to your arrival at the villa or during your stay. Please allow us to send you all tour activities and tours we offer. Pre-arrival grocery provisioning We can provide you with our standard grocery pack which we deliver to your villa’s pantry or alternatively you can send us your own grocery list, including drinks and selected wines, which we will delivery to your villa before your arrival. Professional chef and sommelier Either you wish to celebrate a special occasion or simply enjoy lovely meals without worrying about shopping, cooking and cleaning up, we will arrange a professional chef and sommelier to orchestrate a delicious Lunch/dinner at your villa. Transportation and tours We can arrange all transports you may need during your stay at the villa. We can help you to hire a car for those wishing to enjoy self-driving or arrange professional driver services. Minivans are available for larger groups wishing to travel in comfort. To admire breathtaking landscapes, we can help you organize private vespa and bike tours around the whole Tuscan region. Dog-sitting Service guaranteed with the most reliable, trustworthy personnel for your pets. Babysitting We only work with English speaking babysitters of great experience, fully trained to work with children and babies of all ages. Italian class and other activities If you wish to explore and enjoy the Italian language, indulge yourself in private lessons with your Italian teacher! Or learn how to prepare delicious meals prepared with seasonal products during a cooking class. Company Profile Special Events INCENTIVE YOUR FIVE SENSES - A gala night may take place in various locations. What we offer you, besides an exquisite menu, is a location full of magic: noble Tuscan palazzos will open their doors to “passionates” of elegance and sophistication once-upon-a-time. Forget the crowded museums and imagine the doors opening after closing hours, explicitly for you. A guide’s expertise will lead you through galleries enchanted with exclusivity. Reincarnate the Dolce Vita. Thanks to locations that still exist in Florence, you can breathe the breeze of lightness of that time period. Admire the green grassy river terrace of the Rowers Club, while laying back in a hand chair along the Arno riverbank. Tuscany has shown the whole world the 5 senses and now it is time to rediscover them: • Sight: numerous panoramic views lay at your feet from the Chianti hilltops. Not to mention, art in front of your eyes behind closed doors, in museums reserved. Or your eyes gazing at the rolling hills while riding your bike together in a small group; • Touch: discover the mysterious clay forms in a terracotta laboratory, in the midst of the Chianti countryside. Hold in your hands delicate pieces of art by maestro goldsmiths or learn to maneuver a paintbrush during a fresco course; • Sound: theatre of silence will lift you up with the music of Bocelli, and lighten your heart in a timeless atmosphere; • Taste: family-run restaurants will open their doors to food lovers where families cherish life cooking in barns. Don’t forget that wine is first sensed by the nose; expert sommeliers will tell you stories and secrets of wines famous worldwide; • Smell: besides breathing in unique fragrances in small perfume factories, a talented Florentine “nose doctor” will surprise you by creating together your own personal perfume, the fragrance that you could never find in your local perfume shop. There are so many emotions the “Tuscan” experience can gift to you. And we are for sure the pioneers of forgotten spots, less known or to be yet discovered. Company Profile Florencetown highly specializes in creating exclusive events, ceremonies , gala dinners, recreational activities and team building in Florence and Tuscany. For years now, we have been busy creating extraordinary events for companies as for individuals thanks to our knowhow in the region of Tuscany, and thanks to our creative and dynamic team we are able to accomplish great success. A numerous amount of House incentives, hotels as for professionals in the sector chose us for our expertise as for our dedication. We organized dinners and unique events in exclusive locations as historic villas, private gardens and terraces with the most incredible views. Not once did we have the main Florentine museums open their doors for exclusive night visits; cocktail parties organized for more than two-hundred-and-eighty invites, private dinners with Michelin star chefs and great opera singers as for international pop star performances. We organized special wine tours opening their exclusive wineries, which are closed to the public. While for our classic visits to traditional wineries we always had the owner greet especially our guests, or we had the wine maker himself lead our guests through their visit, and at the end have their wine bottles autographed just for our guests. Company Profile We had bike tours for small and larger groups , usually divided up according to their biking skills including several stops for tastings as for informative commentaries. Thanks to our specialization in regular tours as for our Bike and Vespa tours we are now able to organize activities for smaller and bigger groups with departures from any spot of Tuscany. We also have access to Vintage Cars, Sports cars and Ferraris. We managed to deal with a group of 24 brand-new Ferraris; An extraordinary tour in the Chianti which was topped off with a superb lunch in a Medieval castle location. We have organized Medieval and Renaissance treasure hunts as for Italian cultural hunts, where corporate employees were scattered around the city of Florence and Siena divided up into different groups , in search for the next hint having fun questioning a historic figure, entering a café to learn quickly how to make an espresso, substituting a pizzaiolo sticking a pizza into the over or stopping people on the streets to translate into Italian phrases that made up a mosaic of words to move on to the next step. We managed to please a group of 40 young corporate workers with an outdoor Fresco lesson, including colors, pallets and subjects to depict … we were able to animate groups with our bike tours in the city centre where we combined together exploring the city and enjoying a bike ride. For even more energetic companies we divided the group into smaller groups whom through the day they visited the city, enjoyed a cooking class in a historic Florentine restaurant, had a ceramics making class, and met up for lunch to then switch activities in the afternoon. Some companies requested a sail boat race on the Tuscan sea, we even organized private events on a historic sailboat with refreshments and a Dj set. In many occasions we had pic-nics set up outdoors in front of castles and in medieval boroughs. We assisted events of historic cars, special services such as Cigar Bar, Crupiers Casino style, medieval artists, jugglers, flag throwers, musicians ranging from classic music to camera orchestra, Florentine folklore, Italian, pop and gospel music. A meticulous selection of suppliers such as florists, caterers for small and large groups, audio sound and video technicians and delivery service make our organization efficient, creative and impeccable. Florencetown had great success in organizing events for Jaguar, BnP Parisbas, Damiani, Hermes , Le Figaro, Findus, Meiolanum, Axa, Toyota, Bombay Sapphire… just to mention a few. And even more with our individual clients demanding the most incredible requests, worthy of the greatness of Florence. Company Profile Travel Industry about Florencetown Jason Miller Roberta Caucino Caroline Courteau David E. Lowy Director of Sales Lungarno Collections CTC, President - Renshaw Travel Ltd. We look forward to entrusting our clients and friends into the hands of our Florencetown partners. When working with Florencetown, it’s just like working with our Italian office! Whether it’s the personal touch of a specifically chosen guide or amenity, or something as grand as a dinner under the statue of David, the Florencetown team delivers every time. Florencetown, a great group of “Tuscan ragazzacci”! They are Ambassadors of Tuscan culture and heritage, always very professional, passionate and true to their Tuscan origins…and with them you will discover this magic region of Italy. It has been a pleasure working with Urbano and his team at FlorenceTown. They are a valuable partner and know the hidden secrets of our city. They are able to open doors to some of the most private places of the city. Nobody knows Florence and Tuscany better than our partners at Florencetown. They open closed doors and make magic happen which thrills our clients. Florencetown is extremely important to our business. Founder and CEO - The Accomplished Traveler, New York Director of Sales - Castiglion del Bosco, Tuscany Fabio Datteroni Jack S. Ezon President - Ovation Vacations Senior Sales Manager Savoy Hotel Firenze Francesca Pretin Simone Giorgi I met Urbano and Luca at the very beginning of their enthusiastic Florencetown project and now, few years later, I am very pleased to see how well this has been developed with their entrepreneurial spirit, passion, vision, attention to details, never stopping in delivering high service & quality, reliability (you can count on them to make you shining in your clients eyes), all of this keeping spreading worldwide their Tuscan Smile and same enthusiasm Our friends at Florencetown are incredible partners of ours and the go-to resource for anything Tuscany related. Not only are they prompt and professional, but they are extremely creative and more-so, probably the most connected team on the ground there is in Florence. Whether it is inside access to the Vasarian Corridor on a moment’s notice or visits to private gardens, unique venues or interactive, fun activities for a multigenerational family, Florencetown can make it happen with great flair, always making us look like heroes to our clients. How better way to see and discover the beauties of Florence but from a “local eye” ? that is exactly what I look for when I travel on vacation…to see and live the city the way the local do! That’s the real essence of the team of Florencetown, they get you and your clients discover the way we “live” and the way we enjoy this magnificient city which goes a way beyond the big famous sights and museums such as the Old Bridge, the Accademia or the Vasarian Corridor, by offering a real inside local experience! So go for it and be sure that you will come back being a bit “Fiorentino” “The best way sell a city/destination is by having someone passionate about their job and that has fun doing it.. ..and Florencetown does it perfectly” General Manager - Castello del Nero, Tuscany General Manager - VILLA CORA, Firenze Company Profile Shelby Donley Owner - Camelback Odyssey Travel “Urbano and team are wonderful partners of Camelback Odyssey Travel. With consistently positive feedback from our clients we feel very confident partnering with Florencetown when creating unique and memorable experiences for our clients traveling through Florence and Tuscany.” Bell O. de Souza Vice President & C.O.O. - Mansour Travel Company “Luca Perfetto and Urbano Brini have assembled a unique and unbeatable team at Florencetown who have created some extraordinary, bespoke experiences for our clients in Tuscany. We know that our best clients are in good and capable hands with them.” Aaron Kaupp General Manager - Villa San Michele, Firenze “Urbano and his team at Florencetown provide that essential, yet hidden Florence experience that no one else can find or create, a absolute delight to collaborate with them “ Stacy Small President Elite Travel International Whenever we have clients heading to Tuscany, my first call is to Florencetown as no one knows more about this region of Italy than founder Urbano Brini. Whether it’s sourcing a private venue otherwise unavailable for public access for a client looking to host a blow-out birthday party or to offer insights on local properties we are unfamiliar with or setting up authentic cooking classes and experiences, I know I can always count on Florencetown to execute in a way that makes us look like a hero to our clients. Arlene C. Thompson-Brantley CTA - Vice President at Rudi Steele Travel, Inc. “I encourage those who visit Florence and tour Tuscany to engage Florencetown to gain access to unique venues, enrich their experiences with an insightful and knowlegable guide and share the passion that the Florencetown staff has for Italy. Florencetown provides professional service with the philosophy to provide their guests with a cultural education combined with fun, off-the-beatentrail ideas, once in a lifetime memories and a true engagement in the moment!” Kate Corey Mickey Weill Giampaolo Ugolini “Florencetown is our go-to for all things Tuscany and beyond. We’ve formed an invaluable partnership and trust their team with our clients - no matter the size or scope of the request. We look forward to many years of continued Italy collaboration to come!” “I love the young, dynamic energy that Urbano and his team have created at Florencetown! They have exceeded expectations over and over again with their expert knowledge of Italy, and I am confident that Florencetown will continue to deliver unique and memorable experiences for our valued Protravel clients!” Cooperating with Florencetown has been and is stimulating, funny, pleasant, smooth, and not only! The entire staff is very professional, and flexible. So able to capture the “changing needs of the modern traveler”. The perfect partner for The St.Regis Florence Hotel and The Westin Excelsior Florence Founder Nomadic Souls Vice President Sales Development - Protravel International LLC Director of Sales St. Regis, Excelsior - Firenze Company Profile Tools Our offices are open all year-round, everyday from 7.30 am to 8.30 pm from March to October and from 9.00am to 6.00 pm from November to February. Our headquarters are located in the very heart of Florence, between the Duomo and the Signoria Square. Our Booking Staff is at your complete disposal for any info or enquiries. During these years Florencetown further excelled in its Customer Care, developing programs specifically directed for staff improvement . Delivery of service is anticipated and with the use of diverse techniques our clients’ satisfaction levels are constantly monitored , from the moment we greet them to the moment of their good-bye. All our private tours in Florence have included as amenity a gift upon arrival for our guests and delivered directly to their hotel rooms. Delicious Tuscan specialties as a warm welcoming gift together with a letter reconfirming our services. Florencetown’s Website is the platform where you can find out more about all our tours and where you can also book an activity. A login and password will be issued for direct access to the reserved areas. Meet Florencetown team at the major International fairs, we are present every year at the most important Tourist exhibitions. We often visit the States to participate at the workshops and meetings in sector. Contact us for an appointment. Florencetown is going Social. Contact us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest news , to follow us backstage and to see our hundreds of clients enjoying their experiences in Tuscany . FLORENCETOWN SRL Tour Operator Via de’ Lamberti, 1 - 50123 Firenze (FI) ITALY P.IVA 01811660503 Sign up on the Florencetown mailing list for more news, ideas of the city and all that revolves around our company. Tel. (+39) 055 28.11.03 Fax. (+39) 055 53.70.730 You can book directly through our website or contact us by email for a customized itinerary or for any special requests. Our team is at your full disposal. www.florencetown.com facebook.com/Florencetown General Enquire: [email protected] Regular Tours Booking Office: [email protected] Private Tours Booking Office: [email protected] Sales and Marketing: [email protected] Accounting Department: [email protected] Company Profile