Emerging economies fuel surge in demand for The Translation People

The Translation People is recruiting linguists at a record rate, fuelled by increased activity among UK firms in emerging economies.

Companies focused on growing their exports and developing their global operations have triggered a surge in translation projects across the so-called BRIC, MINT and VISTA economies over the past 12 months.

During this period, The Translation People has seen an 82 per cent surge in demand for translations involving Brazilian Portuguese.

Russian has witnessed growth of 31 per cent while Vietnamese and Indonesian have each risen by 20 per cent. Other significant risers in emerging economies include Latin American Spanish (+12.75 per cent) and Turkish (+7 per cent).

The Translation People has also seen demand soar among UK clients with interests in the Middle East. Translations into Arabic have surged 48 per cent in the period.

The company, which has its headquarters in Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester, has also expanded its capabilities by recruiting translators for projects in languages which are lesser-known in the UK, such as Mongolian, Northern Sotho – spoken primarily in South Africa – and Telugu, Kannada and Oriya, which are spoken in India.

The Translation People is adding 15 translators to its global network each month. Most translations involve English, but the firm is also seeing a big increase in requests where the original language is French and German.

Managing director Steve Wilde said: “We have added significantly to our languages portfolio over the past 12 months, and to the language combinations we can provide.