Spreading festive cheer with a cracking year
Wow, what a year this turned out to be!
Among a host of exciting projects, we celebrated awards, felt the joy of bringing people back together and laid the foundations for 2023.
I’ve taken time out to reflect on our achievements and share some of what’s to come…
SPRING MARKED THE BEGINNING OF OUR B-CORP JOURNEY
In March we started our application to become B-Corp accredited. The B-Corp movement, created to inspire business towards developing an inclusive, equitable and regenerative economy, seemed to fit perfectly with our ethos.
It’s tough to get the accreditation – businesses must meet very high standards for positive social and environmental impact.
We gathered data, showed eco-credentials and evidenced our commitment to people, and in May we were thrilled to receive certification.
At the time we were the only UK translation company with B-Corp status but we’ve since been joined by AJT who celebrated their success later in the year.
IT WAS EVERYONE OVER TO US IN THE SUMMER!
I was delighted to host our first post-pandemic event in June.
We framed it as a networking session, but really it was just me gathering clients, translators and friends together for a catch up! I was able to thank everyone who’d helped us over the last two years, including:
- Elinor and her team at Pentlands – our government support gurus
- Danielle Thompson – the B-Corp process pro
- The Chamber and Department of International Trade team
- Kate Cheer – her fitness training saved us in lockdown
- Lianne and Stacey – from Helping Hands
It was also wonderful to have my mum, Dr Isabella Moore CBE, deliver an inspiring speech. Mum founded Comtec more than 40 years ago and as a company director, her input remains invaluable.
I am also grateful to be part of several networking communities like C&W Chamber of Commerce, Agency Hackers and Helm and look forward to working together again soon.
WE BLEW INTO AUTUMN AND ADDED ANOTHER ACCOLADE TO OUR NAME
In September we attended the ATC Language Industry awards, and guess what?
We won!
We scooped ATC Company of the Year award. We were in a group of super strong contenders, so it’s a real honour to have won.
And if the win was the icing on the cake of a great night, the judges’ comments were the cherry on top – they were extremely complimentary of our commitment to being proactive partners, team players and authentic in everything we do!
WINTER WAS ON ITS WAY AND SO WERE OUR INTERNATIONAL LINGUISTS
It’s important to us to develop close relationships with our partners, and by November as global travel resumed, our linguists were straight on our guest list!
Joining us from countries including Portugal, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Germany, China and The Netherlands, we had a wonderful mix of languages and cultures to learn from, diverse experiences to share and brilliant company to enjoy.
The work they do is pivotal to our success. Meaningful, accurate translation isn’t just swapping one language out for another. It’s about capturing intent and tone, understanding culture and retaining creativity too.
They really are the stars of the show and we’re thankful to work with such a talented team!
Check out our Linguist of the Day LinkedIn series to meet some of them.
WE’VE BEEN BUILDING TOWARDS A BUSY 2023
We’ve welcomed several new team members and bolstered our senior leadership team.
Krista Linnell joined us in August as Head of Marketing, bringing a wealth of experience. Krista has already developed our Every Company Has a Story online series which launches in January.
Internally, Dan Jacob has been appointed Head of Customer Care, and we have welcomed new members of the team in Finance, Partnerships and Operations. Their knowledge and understanding of our business and the translation industry at large, is invaluable to me and our clients.
SUPPORTING YOUNG PEOPLE INTO THE WORLD OF WORK
We’re passionate about investing in young people, with many of our roles open at graduate level. It’s always a joy to see colleagues who came to us fresh out of college, progress in their Comtec careers!
Alongside our graduate focus, a goal for 2023 is to continue in our commitment to support young people to learn languages and develop the skills they need for future careers.
We’re strengthening our work placements and internship programmes to facilitate this.
On the internship front, we had Isslam join us this year. Studying for a Masters in Translation she relished the opportunity to learn new skills and boost her CV with genuine long-term work experience.
We also had 14 students from local schools with us for work experience weeks. And that’s something we’ll do more of as we develop our fully-structured work experience programme – so if you’re connected to a school in the Warwickshire area, please get in touch if this is of interest to you.
And finally, we find ourselves almost at Christmas…
It’s been a difficult year for many people, and we recognise that the cost-of-living crisis, among other issues, is hitting hard. We give back where we can and show our support for charities near and far; especially over the festive period.
Local project and all-round superheroes, Helping Hands, asked us to take part in their Christmas Shoebox Appeal and we jumped heartily on board. Christmas Jumper day was also a perfect occasion to raise money for Save the Children, who this year are supporting mums and babies in Kenya.
We also support the Coventry Refugee and Migrant Centre.
Times are tough, but If you’re able to donate to any of our nominated charities, here are the links you need:
Coventry Refugee and Migrant Centre
So, that was 2022.
It’s been quite a year!
I hope you enjoyed my reminiscing and picked up on the main thread running through everyday life at Comtec – how much we value the people we work with and the work that they do.
It’s the hook on which we hang our collective Comtec (Christmas) hats!
I wish you, and your friends and family, a fantastic festive break and look forward to catching up in 2023.
Best wishes,
Sophie