The Translation People Acquires Scotland’s Sure Languages

In March 2023, UK-based language service provider (LSP), The Translation People, completed the acquisition of Edinburgh, Scotland-based Sure Languages. 

The Translation People declined to share the purchase price or revenue / profit figures for Sure Languages. However, the company’s Managing Director (MD), Jasmin Schneider, told Slator that Sure Language’s three staff members will join The Translation People’s team of 44. She added, “The two outgoing owners have left the business.” 

Outlining the rationale behind the acquisition, Schneider noted that “Sure Languages has an excellent record in sectors that complement our own, such as NGOs and retail. This will allow us to become a bigger player in these areas. Their customers will have access to additional services such as machine translation and live captioning.”

According to the MD, both The Translation People and Sure Languages use “well-known” third-party software for translation management (TMS) and translation memory (TM) technology, while The Translation People also has a proprietary customer portal.  

The Translation People was introduced to Sure Languages by Mobeus Equity Partners, the London-based private equity firm that invested in The Translation People in December 2022 to support a management buyout (MBO). 

Schneider said Mobeus “began the due diligence process on Sure Languages last year, with the plan for The Translation People to acquire the business as soon as possible after our own deal with Mobeus.” Sure Languages will retain its original trading name. 

As regards current trading, The Translation People has “had a very busy start to the year and trading is up on 2022,” Schneider said. The LSP grew more than 4% to revenues of GBP 7.5m (USD 9.1m) in 2022. 

The Translation People now has at least two acquisitions under its belt — having also bought Cicero Translations in 2018. Future acquisitions look set to follow as the company embarks on a private equity-supported buy-and-build strategy. 

Schneider said, “We would like to make several acquisitions in the next few years and build a scalable business with a strong international presence, focusing on our three key markets – UK, France, and Germany. In addition, we will also invest in our sales and marketing teams to strengthen our organic growth.”

Image: (from left) Sam Bennett, Operations Director, The Translation People; Olivia Andrew, Project Manager, Sure Languages; Abbie Walters, Project Manager, Sure Languages; and Rhys Stevenson, Senior Project Manager, Sure Languages