Grey Trading Company
Grey Trading Company is a vastly successfully kingdom-wide merchant, trading, and transport company that over the last forty years has dominated all trade in the Durlon Kingdom. Grey Trading Company has an exclusive contract with the royal family of Durlon to provide their services. In 9721, the company is celebrating its sixtieth anniversary.
Structure
Grey Trading Company leadership works out of the headquarters located in the capital Freehold. Each department in the headquarters has a dedicated staff that works with each department to fulfill their duties.
Headquarters Structure
Executive Leadership
- Trademaster: Head of the company and has the final say on company policies, company investments, and company structure. Since the creation of the company a member of the Grey family has always held this position.
- Vice Trademaster: Responsible for the day-to-day operation of the company; works regularly with the Board on any new plans or policies which are then brought before the Trademaster for final approval.
Board Leadership
- Director of Transportation: Overseeing the operating administration of the trade route network and policies to provide the most efficient and economical transportation system.
- Director of the Treasury: Oversees the overall company finances coming in and going out from the top level of the organization as well as maintaining bookkeeping standards at all remote offices.
- Director of Commerce: Oversees the regulation of trade within the kingdom and continent-wide. Implements new trade agreements local and foreign and supports technological, engineering, and scientific research and development.
- Director of Labor: Oversees the regulations for hiring and termination of employees, ensure the safety of the workplaces, sets wages and hours regulations for the company.
- Director of Infrastructure: Oversees the acquisitions of company locations, resource site survey and acquisition, and land and property acquisition and maintenance.
- Director of Security: Oversees all security for trade routes, resource sites, company locations, personnel, and equipment. Maintains intelligence division for the protection of company resources, personnel, and information.
Locations located in other cities are known as "Divisions" and each has its own leadership structure that runs each location.
Division Structure
Division Leadership
- Division Manager: Manager of the division location and is responsible for overseeing operation for the region their division supports. Autonomous responsibility for the location but is required to make a monthly update to the board on the state of operations.
- Vice Division Manager: Supports the Division Manager by working directly with the staff of the location to run operations and support. Fills in for the Division Manager should there be a need for or may replace the Division Manager if the need is called upon.
Division Personnel
- Treasurer: Maintains the finances and bookkeeping for the Division location. Also responsible for payroll and approving purchases from Division personnel and employees.
- Quartermaster: Responsible for overseeing Division supply as well as maintenance, repair, and stock. All requisitions for equipment must go through the Quartermaster for initial approval.
- Personnel Manager: Works with the employees of the Division. Maintains needed staffing levels, personnel disputes, hiring and termination of employees, and serves as the point of communication between the employees and management.
Public Agenda
Grey Trading Company's goals work towards gaining control of all possible trade in the Durlon Kingdom eventually expanding beyond the kingdom when they have financial resources and external connections. To achieve this agenda, Grey publicly works with each city's government to fund community and civic projects, such as orphanages, schools, churches, and public spaces. In turn, they are given prime trading contracts with the city causing smaller guilds to be acquired through attrition or driven out completely.
Assets
Grey Trading Company has amassed a substantial portfolio of assets and wealth. Besides their large headquarters based in Freehold, they have a division location office in every major city in Durlon. Grey employs over 500 citizens and contracts out to many hundred more for various work needed in its multiple operations. To support the services of the massive operation they own and maintain many types of caravan/wagons, ships, horses, oxen, and Malmuths ready to move any type of cargo they can imagine and be prepared for the cargo they may not even consider as of yet. Between properties, land rights, equipment, contracts, and goods, it has been estimated that they are worth millions in gold.
History
Grey Trading began in 9662 as, Grey Lumber, which was a small lumber and transport outfit in the town of Forres by the twins, Marcela and Marshall Grey, who were looking for new business ventures after their parents died and the farm failed. Using what money they had saved they bought equipment and land rights to as much acreage as they could afford. They developed a new technique to more efficiently cut and prime lumber and became the top provider in the area. They moved their goods from Forres along the northern coast of Durlon and offering transport of goods from other cities they traded through for a small fee undercutting many of the larger merchant caravans in the area. They guaranteed that any good they moved would always arrive safely and on-time or their money back. Never once did Grey's lose a shipment and word of their success quickly spread across the coast.
Their claim to fame was on a simple transport of building good and near-collision sent a few of their cargo boxes falling off the wagon. One of the boxes that crashed the ground burst open to find a young boy, tied, gagged, and unconscious inside. The boy was King Alard Durlon kidnapped youngest son, Varen Durlon. Caring for and returning the boy to Freehold they were celebrated by the king and given a large reward and contracted for exclusive services to the royal family. With that money, they built their new headquarters in Freehold to support their new position. Fame and opportunity go hand-in-hand and this event brought enormous new business to the company.
The Grey twins continued over the next two decades to invest and expand their business opening up what started as a small satellite office in other cities along the northern coast as well as the cities along the three major rivers of the kingdom. These satellites eventually expanded into full division offices for the company. The twin had also started to buy into rights for resource and crafting operations which in turn saved them money on growth into the future. As their interests, resources, and supply grew they began to expand into the merchant business with the opening of, Gray Traders, a general store chain that could supply goods from the farthest areas of the kingdom and beyond. These shops began to open in cities where a division office was located as well as smaller versions in other towns.
Everything For A Price
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