Happy 10th Birthday Sure Languages!

It's our 10th birthday, so let's take a look at how Sure Languages came to be...

Where it all started

In April 2007, Sure Languages quietly launched in the beautiful city of Bath. The goal was to offer a fresh alternative to the big players that dominated the translation industry and to become a forward-thinking, professional and personable company with quality at its heart.

Prior to launch, we spent months recruiting specialist linguists so that when we opened our doors we’d have a great team around us ready to go. We developed robust operational and quality processes, built the website, and prepared ourselves for the big day. We were ready for a rush of excited and enthusiastic customers! It didn’t work out like that…

The first few months were challenging. We made mistakes, made very little money, and we realised that starting a brand new niche business with limited resources was hard. Very hard. But we persevered, figuring out what worked and what didn’t, ironing out the creases as we went.

Within a few months we started picking up traction. We began working with some great new clients and our turnover, though modest, was improving. We won a customer service business award in our first year (judged by former Dragon Theo Paphitis), and things continued to develop. We still made the odd mistake, but our client list grew, and it included a few well-known brands.

Milestone moments

We relocated to sunny Devon in 2009, and have since grown to have clients in 14 countries, over 700 established linguists around the world, and a super-talented team in our Exeter offices. Our client list now includes some of the world’s most prestigious, recognisable and innovative brands, and we have translated millions upon millions of words, interpreted in locations around the world, and produced creative multilingual artwork for web and print in over 100 languages. Most importantly, we still have passion for what we do and always look forward to the next project.

A decade since opening our doors, it’s the perfect time to reflect on how far we’ve come and where we plan to go. We’ve had an amazing journey so far, and here are some of our favourite moments:

  • Picking up the keys to our first office. We worked hard to get there, and it was great to have an office that we could call our own.

  • Getting Oxfam International as a client. This was in our first year, and we still translate for them today. Charity work is some of our favourite.

  • Winning our first really big job. It was half a million words and multiple languages. We actually danced around the office! It enabled us to further invest in our future.
  • Winning two business awards on the same night, and being able to share the ceremony with friends and family.

  • Being asked to guest lecture and give talks at universities. Sharing what we know with those starting out is hugely rewarding, and it’s great to be recognised as experts in our field.

Here’s to the next ten years

We’ve weathered a few storms along the way: the global economic recession in 2008, losing an important contract to a competitor and unpredictable currency fluctuations. Even the Brexit decision had a very costly impact, and we’re yet to realise its full implications. Despite all this, we’ve demonstrated resilience in the face of adversity and adaptability when tested.

If we can survive – even thrive – in the challenging conditions over the past 10 years, there’s no reason we can’t do it for another 10! We’ll continue doing what we do well, learning and developing as we go, and remaining true to our original values: forward thinking, professional and personable, with quality underpinning everything that we do.

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