ALS is speaking the language of success

A Global translation company established by Oldham entrepreneur Gavin Wheeldon is relocating to new premises in Saddleworth.

Applied Language Solutions (ALS) has opened a new UK head office at Riverside Court, Huddersfield Road, Delph.

Since it was established in October, 2003, ALS has experienced tremendous growth and to accommodate growing numbers of staff it is moving to the new office development.

Forty staff will transfer on Monday, and the company is already recruiting more people.

The translation and interpreting company is the brainchild of Greenfield man Gavin Wheeldon, who started the business from the back bedroom of his home.

He spotted that no-one was capitalising on the opportunities offered by technology in the translation industry — in terms of business generation and working practice for lowering costs.

He initially dealt with all sales, marketing and project management.

Since it was first established the firm has undergone several moves throughout West Yorkshire, the last to Brookes Mill in Armitage Bridge, Huddersfield.

Mr Wheeldon said: “The need for a new and larger office has become inevitable, not only to accommodate the current staff but to facilitate the company’s ambitious plans for future growth.

“We are all very excited about this move. The new offices in Delph are the perfect next step for Applied Language Solutions to take. They are new offices with a huge amount of space which we plan to have filled before too long.

“Until now we have provided all language solution services but our most successful service has always been translation.

“Due to the increasing demands for interpretation throughout the UK, we have spent a great deal of time developing and expanding our interpreting department and this, alongside our continued growth in all departments, has lead to an unavoidable move to new premises.”

The expansion is not restricted to the UK, with an international operation hitting sales of more than £6 million this year.

Mr Wheeldon added: “The very nature of translation and interpreting means it is an international industry and the possibilities to operate on a global scale are there to be exploited. We have grabbed this opportunity with both hands.

“We now have nine offices worldwide with more than 90 staff and over 14,000 translators enabling us to consistently supply accurate, high-quality interpreting and translation of letters, brochures, websites, contracts and technical journals into more than 150 languages.”

Applied Language first entered international waters with a new office in Bulgaria, where a large part of thproject management and IT departments are based.

This was followed by a new sales team in California enabling the supply of translation to their USA customers, followed by offices in Barcelona, Paris, Guatemala, Chicago and New York.

In 2007, Mr Wheeldon achieved a major goal — providing 24-hour global coverage with the launch of a new office in India, enabling customers to access ALS services at any time of the day.