Meet The Team  

City & Village Tours was founded in June 1988 by Gyll King who is still, 23 years later, the company’s Managing Director. Gyll used to guide the trips and there are still many customers and coach drivers who remember her turning up on her push bike which would then go in the back of the coach for the rest of the day ready for her to cycle home from wherever the tour finished. Today Gyll steers the marketing of the company and says that her favourite part of the job is developing the new itineraries, a task made even more fun now she has learned to drive. 

The daily process of getting groups booked in for great days out and making sure that group organisers, coach drivers and tour guides are all singing from the same hymn sheet is in the care of the “Operations Twins” Emma Plumer and Jade Venton.

Emma has a design degree and in addition to the operations responsibilities she is instrumental in the design of our brochures, adverts and websites. Emma has been with us for five years and has recently returned from maternity leave following the arrival of baby Amelia in August 2010 – the same day in fact as the Prime Minister’s new baby!

Jade came to us three years ago from Sainsbury’s where she had worked in the office since leaving school, rising to the responsibility of rostering 350 staff. 

Craig Beadle joined in October 2010 fresh from University where he obtained a degree in Business Management. Over 100 people applied for the job as Gyll’s Marketing Assistant but there was unilateral support for appointing Craig who hails from Rochester and is the first employee to be younger than the company itself! 

Claire Rai has known the company for many years as she is married to our Company Secretary. Claire is our Finance Manager and is known to one and all as Miss Moneypenny. To contact Claire direct you can mail moneypenny@cityandvillagetours.com. 

Raman Rai has been the company secretary since 1988. A Global Network Supremeo, he has also always looked after the companies computers and phone lines.

Fred Little recently joined the company having studied as a criminologist. He had already worked here during the summer of 2008 and so has settled as part of the team very quickly.

The City & Village Tours office was in the centre of Greenwich for the best part of two decades but in 2007 moved a mile down the road to brand new offices in a gorgeous development at the bottom of Blackheath Hill just opposite Greenwich Magistrates Court. Gyll says she was sold on the scheme by the beautiful avenue of Lombardy Poplars and everyone enjoys the light and airy office space with two walls of windows and the on site perks which include a trendy Tapas restaurant, gym and swimming pool. We would very much like for you to believe we use the gym and swimming pool on a daily basis. 

We work with a team of about 40 tour guides, all of whom hold the coveted Blue Badge, the highest guiding qualification in the land. Our award-winning team of tour guides has been chosen not just for their knowledge but for their clear speaking voice, sense of humour and kindness.  

Gyll King says:  

“We have spent 23 years providing our customers with the very best tour guides in England. The simple truth is that if we start to work with a new tour guide and they are not up to the standard of the others they don’t last five minutes - our customers can tell straight away – it’s a Darwinian survival of the fittest process that has kept us at the top of our game for all this time.”

Sarah, Owen, Jeanie and Carol have worked with City & Village Tours for the past two decades and as part of the training structure for new Guides have variously trained or examined some of our newer tour guides including Martin, Christine and Sean.

Blue Badge Guides are often though to have been actors or school teachers in their pasts but this isn’t as common as you might think. Carol was an accountant, Owen a social worker, Jeanie has a degree in archaeology, Sean was a marketing manager and Martin a Scots Guard.

Amanda	Catherine	Christine
Doug	Jeanie	Marian
Martin & Gail	Owen	Sarah
Sean	Gavin	Gillian
Liz G	Pat	Liz F
Diana	Barbara