Intercultural Communication and Translation News
Archive for the ‘Press Releases’ Category
Live Q&A » Working in Translation and Interpretation
Tuesday, December 8th, 2009On Friday December 11th 2009, the Guardian Careers website is holding a live Q&A forum based around the topic of “Working in Translation and Interpretation”.
![]()
Recently, the Higher Education Funding Council for England surveyed graduates and their early careers and found the mean salary of language graduates 3.5 years after graduation is £26,823, ahead of that of graduates of engineering, mathematical sciences, physics and astronomy and chemistry.
To explore the sector in even more detail, the forum will have a panel of experts joining the forum to talk about roles in translation and interpretation. These will include Kwintessential’s Neil Payne.
As well as questioning the panel on these careers in general, this is also an opportunity to find out more about the organisations and workplaces these professionals are working in.
Fiona Harris is a staff translator with the Directorate-General for Translation (DGT) - the translation service of the European Commission. She is currently on secondment to the DGT field office in London where she is involved in a range of initiatives to promote language learning in the UK and in raising awareness of opportunities for linguists within the European institutions. Following her postgraduate studies, Fiona worked as an associate lecturer in translation before setting up her own UK-based business specialising in medical and pharmaceutical translation. She is a long-standing member of the Chartered Institute of Linguists and the Institute of Translation and Interpreting.
Angeliki Petrits is a staff translator with the DGT of the European Commission. Since 1990, when she joined the European Commission as a Greek mother tongue translator with French, Italian and English, she has been involved in several language related projects including machine translation, and the European Masters in Translation project.
Frances Thomas is founder of France Thomas Translations. After graduating, Frances worked for the Financial Times as part of its in-house translation team for two years before moving on to Temple Translations, a London-based legal translation agency, as a staff translator for just under a year. In September 2009, she went into business as a freelance translator, carrying out translations from French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese into English in various fields, including law, finance, business, tourism and marketing.
The Q&A forum will take place from 1pm — 4pm (UK time) on Friday 11 December 2009.
To visit the forum simply go to > Live Q&A
Relocating an office needs meticulous planning
Friday, August 21st, 2009If you’re relocating your business, plan everything meticulously in advance down to the last detail, advises Neil Payne.
Moving his translation company Kwintessential from London to Somerset went so smoothly that he took his first order on the afternoon he moved into the new premises.
Payne, 33, started the business in 2003 in a one-bedroom flat in London’s Hounslow, after working as a language teacher travelling around the Middle East and studying Arabic. His wife Nicola, 36, (pictured with Payne at right) worked for an international oil company, and out of their joint experience came the idea for the business.
“We saw there was a need within international business for a one-stop shop which helped people work across cultural and linguistic barriers,” he says. “We would provide the translation services, cultural awareness training and manage multi-lingual websites.”
Read more > Kwintessential
Why Somerset?
Monday, July 13th, 2009“Business needs good people and Somerset attracts very good people who also want to enjoy its quality of life”
Deborah Meaden, Dragons’ Den investor and entrepreneur

We get a lot of questions as to why Kwintessential are based in Somerset. We were born in Croydon in 2003. In 2005 a strategic decision was made by the company to move away from the bright lights of London to the more tranquil surroundings of Somerset in the South West of England. Since that time the company has grown and now boasts offices in London, Monterey (California), Buenos Aires (Argentina) and Cape Town (South Africa). The point being that a business can grow and expand without being located in a big city.
Why Somerset?
Somerset has proven to be a great home for the company offering a number of benefits including:
* Lower costs (rent, services, etc)
* Higher calibre employees
* Less competition from the translation market
* A significant number of multinationals and global market-leaders in Somerset
* Access to key regions of the UK through transport links
* Two international airports
* Excellent IT and broadband connectivity
* A cleaner, relaxed and less-stressful way of life
* A fantastic commute to work every morning! (Fields, sheep and cows rather than crammed into the 7.45 to London Victoria!)
Read more > Somerset Translation and Interpreting
Kwintessential achieve ISO 9001 Certification
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009
- Nikki Johnson receives the ISO 9001 certificate
Kwintessential are proud to announce that following an assessment by an independent body, the company has been awarded ISO 9001 certification. The certification has only been achieved by some 5% of UK businesses and this prestigious award is supported by the Government and recognised internationally.
“We have always been proud of the service we offer. We are dedicated to offering all our clients a smooth, hassle-free and simple experience and having good systems and procedures in place is the foundation for doing so. We have long strived to ensure we have the most optimum processes in place for all our work – whether translation, interpreters, cultural awareness training or multilingual website design – and now with the award of the ISO 9001 certification, this has been confirmed by outside experts,” stated Nikki Johnson.
Read more > ISO 9001 Certificate
Allium (Cotswold Restaurant) to woo Japanese tourists
Friday, January 23rd, 2009The winner of a unique business challenge to attract more overseas visitors to the West of England (Gloucestershire, the Cotswolds, Forest of Dean, Bristol, Bath and Somerset) has been announced on 13 January by South West Tourism in conjunction with Kwintessential, a regional language specialist.

Allium, the celebrated Cotswold Restaurant based in Fairford, Gloucestershire has won a multi-lingual website design package worth £500 to help it attract more Japanese visitors to the award winning restaurant and historic town.
Launched in early December the competition aimed to encourage businesses to improve their marketing advantage and global reach by allowing potential overseas customers to research holiday and business information on the South West in their own language.
Tourism operators were asked to say what they are doing already to attract foreign visitors and/or why they feel they would benefit most from a website translation. Allium husband and wife team James and Erica Graham alongside co-director Patsy Graham have owned the restaurant and adjoining delicatessen since 2004. In 2008, Allium was awarded South West Restaurant of the Year by The Good Food Guide.
Patsy Graham said: “This is great news coming at the start of 2009. We know that the Cotswolds is the number one area outside of London for Japanese visitors and we want them to be able to access information about us online. We have attended a Japanese visitors’ course to learn about etiquette and a little language. The prize translation of the website is going to be the final piece in the puzzle!”
Neil Payne, Kwintessential managing director said: “We are pleased to draw attention to growth opportunities in using language and cultural understanding to attract overseas visitors to the South West. Multi- lingual website translations reach customers in their own language and improve search engine optimisation in chosen markets. We are delighted to help the Allium Restaurant draw more Japanese customers to Fairford and the Cotswolds.”
The strategic importance of looking to overseas markets is emphasised by Malcolm Bell, South West Tourism Director. “Now is the time to be investing in marketing to attract overseas visitors. The Cotswolds is a popular destination for Japanese visitors. Reaching new customers in their own language both at the planning stage and on the move makes commercial sense and promises competitive edge.”
The presentation was hosted by Exeter Airport in their Corporate Aviation Lounge.
Cultural Awareness Training Crucial for International Working
Wednesday, January 14th, 2009
As the credit crunch continues to bite with vengeance, business across the globe are assessing how to use 2009 in order to be prepared for a possible up-turn in 2010. For many the answer will lie in working more internationally. However, a survey released today shows that businesses not only need to pay attention to costs, business processes and the like but also to the cultural awareness of their personnel.
Most analysts and business leaders acknowledge that 2009 will be a difficult year. With the flow of credit at an all time low and government policies needing months in order to take any affect, people and businesses are gearing up for a rocky year. However, businesses worldwide are approaching the downturn with a strategic response and analysing how to consolidate market positions in order to take advantage of the awaited up-turn. One strategy being implemented is to look abroad.
Looking beyond national borders offers many advantages in terms of reducing costs, finding new revenue streams and increasing market coverage. However, although going global seems an attractive proposition businesses must be aware of potential pitfalls. Apart from red-tape, local business conditions and the complexities of setting up operations, cultural awareness is critical for personnel working in foreign countries.
A survey released to today by the cross-cultural communications consultancy Kwintessential reveals at a whopping 88% of their internationally-savvy respondents agreed that cultural awareness training would have been of benefit to them prior to doing business in a foreign country. The results clearly demonstrate that businesses and their decision makers are not considering the impact sending their personnel into different cultural climates can have on the success of their operations. It could be assumed that a “we all do business the same” mentality guides such decisions.
The survey asked visitors to the Kwintessential website: “If you have worked abroad before, do you think cultural training would have helped you?” The question was posed in a manner that would only elicit responses from people who had actually been abroad for work in the past, and now using hindsight understood whether or not cultural differences had an impact on their trip.
Cultural awareness (or intercultural) training at a personal level is about helping people understand how their own values, assumptions, perceptions and ways of working can be challenged when working in another culture. Cultures differ in many ways whether it is in communication styles, how trust is built, how meetings are conducted and how people are motivated. By helping people understand themselves better as well as appreciating the culture(s) they are about to work in/with the result is greater synergy, better success rates and stronger relationships.
Cultural awareness training is a simple, cost effective and long term solution and something businesses should invest in for 2009. As part of a properly prepared international business strategy the provision of such training to staff can reap excellent rewards.
“Now is the time to invest in a business and invest in its people. Looking internationally is vital now and we all need to make sure that cultural awareness is at the top of our list as this is what can really give you a competitive advantage as well as improve chances of success,” commented Neil Payne, the company’s Director.



