Irish interpreting company combats Brexit with expansion to UK

Cork-based Language Solutions Provider, TRANSLIT, has expanded its operations to the UK after the successful launch of their new app last month.

The interpreting and translation professionals developed a new Remote Simultaneous Interpreting (RSI) technology and will now add a London presence to their Irish centres in Cork and Limerick.

TRANSLIT has acted to combat any complications surrounding Brexit by offering a remote alternative for UK clients who are seeking in-demand remote interpretation during the global pandemic.

The onset of Covid-19 meant conferences and meetings had to move online in 2020, and TRANSLIT RSI offers an affordable and easily accessible interpretation via a mobile app or web interface.

TRANSLIT CEO Alex Chernenko moved to Ireland in 2003 and set up the company six years later. And he is delighted to help deliver ISO certified professional language services from another country.

“Despite the UK leaving the EU, TRANSLIT will continue serving our existing clients there. We want to get new business and at the same time participate in local public tenders,” said Mr Chernenko.

“Recently we have looked at the procurement sector in the UK. There have been new tenders published. TRANSLIT has already made efforts to participate in the British framework. This will allow us to continue serving our UK clients, and become more competitive by having a local base.

“In 2016 there were only four of us in the company, now the team is 15 and it’s growing. I am thrilled to have this opportunity to move to the UK and grow it further.

“I am pleased to be surrounded by a fantastic team and thankful for the funding we have received from Cork City Local Enterprise Office. I am grateful for all of the support from the team and Irish LEOs.

“TRANSLIT now has a presence in London and over the next few months we will be recruiting local people on the ground, that would be mainly sales and admin support staff. They will aid our expansion to the UK.”

TRANSLIT recently invested in technology and launched a Centralised Interpreting Management Platform and Interpreters Marketplace, www.translit.com, in late 2019. During the lockdowns last year they started a new interpreting training division. And in January 2021, they added a new RSI technology to the TRANSLIT portfolio.

Having acquired rivals, Instant Translation, in 2017 and, Modern Polyglots, in 2018 they are looking to become a leading global player in interpreting and translation.

TRANSLIT also specialise in voice-over, localisation, document legalisation and proof-reading, but Mr Chernenko believes there is a gap in the market for an Irish interpreting firm.

“I set up the company intent on removing language barriers and helping people understand each other. Communicating the message and promoting understanding has been at the core of TRANSLIT with interpreting being a primary focus,” said Mr Chernenko.

“After that we managed to raise finance and launched our platform, TRANSLIT.com. It was just before the world was broken up with lockdowns and restrictions. Everything went from on-site interpreting to remote. Once we focused on remote interpreting we managed to beat our goal and we got 2,300 users of TRANSLIT.com last year.

“We also set up TRANSLIT PRO, which was initially an experiment. In April 2020, when all of the interpreters had no work, myself and the team said we would invest time into learning. We created a couple of training, educational and learning events. Our first webinar had 600 registrations and it grew from there.

“We are an innovative company, the name TRANSLIT comes from TRANSLation and IT, Information Technology. And we have heavily invested in technology.

“We were missing one piece of the puzzle, a system that could deliver the interpreting service. So we launched our own, TRANSLIT RSI, at the start of the year. Over 1,300 registered for the launch event.

“It has been a great start to 2021 and I am excited about what lies ahead for us.”