Leeds language services provider to recruit over 3,500 with £120m MoJ contract

Leeds-based thebigword, the global language services company, has signed the biggest interpreting contract in Europe – a deal worth up to £120m to provide face-to-face, telephone interpreting and translations to the Ministry of Justice in the UK.

The business, which employs more than 550 people from 11 offices around the world and already has 8,000 linguists, is now set to recruit more than 100 new support staff at its headquarters in Leeds, and more than 3,500 language experts.

thebigword won the contract to provide expert linguists to organisations across the Justice System, including HM Courts and Tribunals Service, National Probation Service (NPS), Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), HM Prison Service (HMPS) and others.

Senior management have now signed the contract after finalising negotiations with Government officials.

thebigword will now help improve efficiency across the Ministry of Justice by delivering online portals that instantly connect linguists with clients needing language support.

Additionally, the MoJ contract requires the development of a trainee scheme, in conjunction with the Independent Quality Assurance supplier, which will provide career opportunities for new and existing linguists.

The new services commence from October 31 this year.

Larry Gould, chief executive of thebigword, said: “The Ministry of Justice decided to work with us because we have the experience, infrastructure and world class technology. We already work with a range of large-scale public sector organisations around the world and they know they can trust us to deliver.

“This is a fantastic deal for thebigword and further cements our position as the largest interpreting services provider in Europe. We have people and offices on every continent and we will continue to push for contracts like this in the private and public sectors as we continue to grow the business.

“We are extremely proud of the work we do breaking down language barriers around the world every day and are now looking forward to helping deliver justice in the UK. It’s also fantastic to be welcoming thousands more skilled Linguists to thebigword family.”

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