A leading language services business has unveiled a bright new brand created to celebrate the completion of 30 successful years in business and to reflect the modern approach to serving clients worldwide.
AaGlobal was founded in 1992 when Kirk Akdemir, who had previously operated as a one-man band, took on his first member of staff plus four translators and opened an office in the extension of his home in Worcester.
At the time the only translation offered was Turkish, but within eight years the company had taken over the entire house, grown to a team of four and built a network of 100 translators working in 10 languages.
Milestones in the company’s development include a move to its first commercial premises in 2007 and expansion to its first Hull office in 2011. Along the way the client base grew, both in the public and private sectors. Toyota Motor Corp, secured in 2006 as AaGlobal’s first multinational contract, is still the company’s longest running business relationship.
The AaGlobal team also grew as the business relocated to bigger premises in Hull which subsequently became the new headquarters. At Stonefield House in King Edward Street, AaGlobal now employs 26 people who use the latest, state of the art video and VOIP solutions to serve private and public sector clients worldwide, and to connect with more than 14,000 linguists able to translate every language and dialect spoken on earth.
Kirk, now the CEO of a business which he has built up from scratch, said the ongoing success puts AaGlobal on course to outgrow its current home in the next 12 months, bringing the need for further expansion which is already being planned carefully.
He said: “In recent years the strategy has been to build on our success and safeguard the future by investing in technology and in the young people who we see as the future of the business.
“The new brand is part of that, giving us a more modern profile to reflect our high-tech capabilities and the energy and innovation of our team. Our anniversary celebration was largely in-house because we wanted to recognise the part played by our people and thank them for their contributions.
“Our timeline surprised me by reminding me how much we have achieved. I want our team to be inspired by that but also challenged by it. We’ve got an impressive history of achievement but what we are doing now is all about the future. We continue to grow and we are planning now for the changes we need to make to support that.”
