Leeds translator firm named as Top 100 Apprentice employer

Headquartered in Leeds, thebigword, atranslation and interpreting company, has been named as one of the UK’s Top 100 Apprentice Employers and has been congratulated by Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg.

thebigword joins Virgin Media, Airbus, Serco, BT, and Jaguar Land Rover on the Top Apprentice Employers’ list.

It is one of only 11 companies in Yorkshire and the Humber to feature on the list, which is compiled by the National Apprenticeship Service and City & Guilds.

The accolade follows thebigword’s award at the Leeds section of the National Apprenticeship Awards earlier this year where it won ‘Large Employer of the Year’.

thebigword’s apprentice scheme was launched in January 2011, since when 107 apprentices have gone through the scheme and nearly half of those who completed their apprenticeship have gone on to permanent roles within the company.

Apprentices were originally appointed for Translation Operations but following the success of the scheme, apprentices now work in Interpreting Operations, Technology, Linguist Recruitment and HR.

In congratulating thebigword, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg wrote to the company saying: “I am delighted to inform you that, in recognition of your impressive work with Apprentices, your company will be included in the list of England’s Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers 2013.

In addition, I would also like to take this chance to congratulate you on your success at this year’s National Apprenticeship Awards.

“Apprenticeships are at the heart of our drive for a stronger economy: equipping people of all ages with the skills employers need to help their businesses prosper and compete in a global market.”

Karen Milner, Head of Human Resources at thebigword, attended the Awards event with Darian Wainwright, an apprentice in the company’s Learning and Development department.

She says: “For thebigword to be included on this list alongside some of the world’s most prestigious businesses is a tremendous achievement that reflects our long-term commitment to training and development.

“Apprentices are, and will continue to be, an important part of our human resources strategy as we continually work to raise the skills of our workforce to meet the requirements of our customers.

“We’re incredibly proud of the apprentices who have successfully moved on to permanent jobs at thebigword”.

thebigword is one of the world’s most successful language services companies, employs nearly 500 staff worldwide. Every month thebigword interprets over the telephone two million minutes of speech in 235 languages and in addition, its linguists carry out 14,500 face-to-face interpreting appointments throughout the US and UK. The company also translates 35 million written words every month into hundreds of languages.