Guildhawk

Guildhawk, is a Queen's Award winning[1] [2] global technology led language services agency, headquartered in the City of London.[3] The company was founded by Jurga Zilinskiene in 2001,[4][5][6][7] and has developed into an international agency with multiple locations and over 3,000 staff, providing translation, interpreting, consulting localisation, voiceover, subtitling and more in over 200 languages. [8][9][10] The firm uses database software Zilinskiene designed and evolved from the start of the business.[11][12][13]

Guildhawk
TypeIndependent
IndustryTranslation
Founded2001
Headquarters
London
,
United Kingdom
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Jurga Žilinskienė (CEO and Founder)
Services
Websiteguildhawk.com

Guildhawk has developed productivity software and algorithms to manage people and information and in 2019 won government backing for a Knowledge Transfer Partnership [14] in collaboration with Sheffield Hallam University to develop a new software platform to manage people in the Gig economy.[15]

Previously known as Today Translations[16] and Today Advisory,[17] the company underwent a full corporate rebrand in June 2019, which included the new name, Guildhawk, new brand imagery and a new symbol and tone of voice. The rebrand process took 2 years, after company research and client feedback showed that "translations" was a limiting term which did not reflect the scope of the company's services, nor the expertise of its linguists.[18][19] [20]

The word Guildhawk is a registered trade mark with the UK Intellectual Property Office number UK00003395877. The symbol of the Guildhawk Girl with a Red Scarf is also a registered design of the company registered trade mark number UK00003395936.[21]

History

Guildhawk was founded under the name Today Translations in London by Jurga Zilinskiene in 2001. Zilinskiene funded the establishment of the company with £13,000 of her own savings.[11][12][22][13][23]

In 2003, Zilinskiene received a Shell LiveWIRE award for Young Entrepreneurs for the early success of the company.[24]

In June 2014, Guildhawk hosted representatives from the Greater Houston Women's Chamber of Commerce (GHWCC), organising and participating in a series of site visits across London. The events culminated with Today Translations announcing the founding of a London-based commerce organisation for women.[25]

The company featured on BBC News when a story about hiring the world's first Emoji Translator, Keith Broni went viral in 2016.[26][27][28] The Victoria and Albert museum and Guildhawk hosted an event as part of the Friday Late events[29] and Guildhawk provides media commentary on the evolution of emojis that gains international coverage.[30][31][32][33] The use of certain emojis for humorous purposes and with sexual connotations is popular question that Guildhawk is asked about.[34]

In June 2019, the company rebranded as Guildhawk Limited to reflect that the company's offerings extended beyond just translation.[35] The company's vision and values were captured in a one minute film called, 'Making Hopes Become Achievable' that followed the journey of a young girl and boy.[36] The film was produced by Lipsync Productions using back projection techniques[37] that were explained in a subsequent film called, 'Secrets of Cinematic Storytelling'.[38][39]

Responding to the impact of the global pandemic, in March 2020, Guildhawk pivoted its operations by launching two new technology products called Guildhawk Aided and Text Perfect, providing translations of medical research documents and moving staff to remote working.[40][41]

Corporate identity

Software development

Guildhawk uses a range of software solutions and has also developed code and algorithms to which it owns the rights. These include launching Guildhawk Aided and Text Perfect during the pandemic and Zilinskiene was quoted by Bloomberg as saying, “Instead of looking at tech as some kind of monster to take away your job, now the tech is the hero.” [42]

In 2019, Guildhawk and Sheffield Hallam University won Government funding via Innovate UK to develop a new business management software platform to power the Gig Economy.[43][44] The design and development team for the Yorkshire project were recruited[45] and in December 2020 the team was expanded.[46]

Security assurance

To provide assurance and interoperability through the supply chain, Guildhawk was the first specialist language services provider to achieve independent United Kingdom Accreditation Service - ISO/IEC 27001:2005 certification for data security throughout its global operations.[47]

Guildhawk also has a global network of subject matter experts, who advise on how to reduce the risk of fraud, bribery and cyber-crime, as well as how to enhance multilingual communication.[48][49][50] They also provide thought leadership on due-diligence and business integrity.[51][52][53][54] On 18 January 2018, the Fraud Advisory Panel charity appointed Guildhawk director David Clarke as it's chairman.[55][56][57]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company deployed its expertise in multilingual communications to produce a series of free health and safety notices that were made available to the public and business. Guildhawk also provided a series of online briefings to advise companies and the Law Society[58] on measures to protect their information and avoid cyber attacks and fraud during the crisis.[59][60] The company's external Legal Counsel and Board member Arun Chauhan,[61][62] a solicitor specialising in fraud litigation and regulatory compliance matters makes regular appearances at events and on BBC Radio and television providing advice to businesses and consumers.[63][64][65]

On 30 March 2020, CEO Jurga Zilinskiene MBE and Chairman Ian Miller MBE wrote a letter[66] to Prime Minister Boris Johnson to caution him that, “vulture funds” will use the crisis to “acquire, asset-strip and neutralise good companies”. Its warnings fell on deaf ears.[67] Zilinskiene had previously written to the Prime Minister to suggest steps the government could take to help UK companies boost international trade after leaving the European Union.[68][69] The letters followed two meeting with the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street.[70][71]

Quality assurance

Guildhawk is certified to ISO 9001, the international standard for Quality Management.[72] The company uses database software Zilinskiene designed and developed herself, which adheres to the standard.[11][12][13]

Promoting international trade

Guildhawk has been recognised on several occasions for its dedication to promoting international trade, receiving a UK Trade & Investment Certificate of Appreciation presented by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh in 2006,[73] and the Council of British Chambers of Commerce in Europe (COBCOE) 'Make Europe Work' award for Breakthrough Trade in 2015.[74]

In 2019, Her Majesty the Queen honoured Guildhawk, under its former name of Today Translations, with the Queen's Award for Enterprise, in the International Trade category.[75] It is awarded to companies who have achieved outstanding growth in overseas earning, and shown year-on-year growth over at least three years. The Award was formerly presented to members of the company by the Rt Hon Peter Estlin, Lord Mayor of London at Mansion House on 28 October 2019, followed by a further presentation by Paul Double, The Remembrancer of London at Guildhall.[76][77]

In 2019, the Queen also honoured Guildhawk's CEO Zilinskiene with membership of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for services to International Trade.

Language and translation services

In 2021, founder Zilinskiene told City Business Library how Guildhawk was established as a traditional translation company serving international brands, and steadily evolved into a provider of specialist language consultancy saying, "The work involves anything from researching business opportunities, to translating movies or company policies; developing new AI machine translation tools, to analysing and abstracting multilingual data. Basically, any and all things a client may need in order for their international business to run smoothly and successfully".[78]

Awards

Associations

Guildhawk is a member of the Association of Translation Companies, and the European Association of Translation Companies.[80] It was also a strategic partner of the Council of British Chambers of Commerce in Europe (COBCOE) prior to the merger into the British Chambers of Commerce.[81]

Locations

United Kingdom

Worldwide

Media and press

The company was noted in the media for polls to find the 'world’s most untranslatable word'[82] and another to identify 'the world’s most romantic word'.[83]

It has also attracted press attention for other events, including the hiring of regional Geordie,[84] Glaswegian,[85] and Scouse[86] translators. They have also advertised for speakers of Brooklynese.[87] The company maintains that its regional recruitment campaign was motivated by a genuine need to enable foreign business people to do business more easily in the regions. According to Zilinskiene, "We are aware that some of our foreign and UK clients can find the Glaswegian accent difficult to decipher. While it's unusual for us to want someone to translate a dialect of English, there is a clear demand".[88]

In November 2016, Guildhawk advertised for 'the world’s first emoji translator',[89] which received widespread media coverage.[90][91][92] As a result of the unusual job advertisement, Zilinskeine appeared on BBC News,[93] ITV News,[94] and Vice News,[95] as well as several radio stations.[96][97] According to Zilinskiene, the position is intended to address the "emerging area of confusion" around the usage and meanings of emojis in different cultures.[95]

Guildhawk and its experts are frequently featured in television and online news articles that range in diversity from the evolution of words and language[98] [99] to technology,[100] entrepreneurship and international trade.[101]

Philanthropy

Guildhawk supports several charitable causes, including donating a percentage of its profits to The Fairtrade Foundation [102] and sponsoring HRH Prince William's charity the Tusk Trust[103] and the Courage & Benevolence Ball with Sir Timothy Ackroyd [104] in aid of the Debra charity.[105]

In November 2019, Guildhawk supported Sheffield company Twinkl to enter the Guinness Book of Records with the most people singing relay in multiple songs.[106]

See also

References
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