better languages traces its origins back to 1982 when Enelia Avila, a Chilean linguist, decided to set up her own translation business. In the 1980s translations were sent and received by fax or floppy disk, and most work was with European languages, with some work into Indian languages. Clients were generally locally based within the Nottingham area. Translators were also recruited locally. Over time, a larger network of mainly UK linguists was established offering a widening range of languages and specialisms. From its earliest days the agency was characterised by a “can do”, customer orientated approach to translation, and developed a reputation for fast turnaround of work.
With the emergence of China sourcing for clothing labels, we started to work directly with our first label client based in Hong Kong in the early 1990s Faxed orders would arrive overnight, and we could process label orders for start of Chinese business the following day. This was, and still is, very time efficient for our clients, as they could send orders up to end of day their time, and have a response for start of business the next day, only these days work is processed electronically and we actively discourage clients from sending work by fax, as you get much clearer information by e-mail.
From 1993 the agency was bought by Hilary Charman, who worked first as a sole trader, and then as a partnership with Beatriz Hunter, who took over the day to day running of the agency, and eventually purchased it in 2000. At the time the business mainly specialised in label translations with a fast turnaround, and translated into around 40 languages on a regular basis. Translators were still predominantly UK based, and members of one of the two UK translators bodies, the Chartered Institute of Linguists or the Institute of Translation and Interpreting.
Mike Hunter joined the business in 2000, and started to make changes to the way the business operated. Internet developments had been allowing the agency to send and receive work by e-mail for some time, even though download speeds were slow, and we remember receiving large engineering drawings for translation which could take up to an hour to download, since then the advent of broadband has changed all that.
The business started to recruit a wider range of linguists, including in-country translators in a growing number of countries. One of the constant industry debates is about the merits of translators being based in countries using the source or target language. When recruiting translators we always look at level of understanding of both source and target languages, as well as any specialist expertise.
After four years trading in Spain from 2001 to 2005, we re-registered the business in the UK, and haven’t really looked back since. Incorporating in 2007, the business has continued to grow, currently using a network of over 150 translators in 27 countries (and counting)! We are always looking for translators offering different languages and specialisms. In financial year 2008-9 the business grew 173% against a background of global recession, and results so far this financial year suggest a further significant increase.
Our core values remain offering a client focused, and flexible service, with fast turnaround of translation projects. Several milestones have been achieved in the last twelve months including:
1) translation into new languages, including English to Catalan and Catalan to English.
2) Our fastest ever large volume job, translating 62,000 words into Polish in 5 working days.
3) Our highest volume single language project into Hungarian.
4) Our widest range of languages on a single order (29 languages).
5) Our largest ever e-business project into 11 European languages.
The agency has won new business in the US and within other EU states, and continues to serve a wide range of customers with diverse translation service needs.
