London’s returning international visitors are to get a helping hand from Hull after a three-year contract to provide translation services was won with the capital’s transport network.
AA Global Language Services has added Transport for London as a major client, and from September will keep all users connected with vital information.
It follows success with the COP26 Summit in Glasgow.
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AA will provide written translation and transcription services for documents, signage, maps, posters, handouts, leaflets and more.
Work will extend across all areas of TfL’s activities and operations including bus and tube, overground rail and trams, Docklands Light Railway and even the Emirates Air Line cable car. It will also embrace the Santander Cycles bike hire scheme, London River Services, Victoria Coach Station, the London Transport Museum and the road network, with taxi services and the congestion charge also covered.
Kirk Akdemir, chief executive, said: “It’s a big responsibility for a service which is used by millions of people every day and to win it we had to demonstrate we can meet the highest standards, working across a wide range of languages and providing sensory impairment services including braille.
“The contract with TfL further cements our position as a top-tier provider of translation and interpreting services in the UK. We have built our reputation gradually over the last 30 years and have really made a breakthrough during the last 12 months by showing we can be trusted to deliver services of national and even international importance.”
It could lead to some job creation, though strategic expansion over the past two years to a 30-strong team should absorb most of it.
“We will have people in London working on the contract but the bulk of the work will be done from our head office in Hull,” Mr Akdemir confirmed. “Our workload has increased significantly during the last few years with the result that we have employed more people, with a total of about 30. We have also invested in technology to support our growth and these contract wins are the result of that.”
Last year, alongside COP, the company also landed the repeat business of providing translation and interpreting services for the test and trace project, helping the NHS reach international communities throughout the UK.
In addition AA secured a two-year contract to provide face-to-face services, phone, video and translation for the Equality and Human Rights Commission working in England, Scotland and Wales.
It comes as underground trains for TfL will soon be built by Siemens Mobility in Goole, while a huge Network Rail call centre contract has also been won in the city. Dettol, the Reckitt wonder-brand, is also keeping TfL clean post-lockdown.
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