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AaGlobal has enhanced its private sector activity with a key appointment as it enters its 25th year. As the newly-appointed Business Development Officer specialising in the private sector, Chantelle Akdemir is tasked with raising the company’s profile across the north of England. Chantelle, daughter of AaGlobal CEO Kirk Akdemir, has already been working from the company’s Worcester office for nearly three years. AaGlobal’s work is divided between the private and public sectors and the company holds a number of significant contracts with local authorities, health authorities and purchasing organisations. Expansion to Hull in 2011 was part of AaGlobal’s strategy of developing a private sector client base which includes local and international operators. The company is also a corporate supporter of the Hull and Humber Chamber of Commerce International Trade Centre. Kirk said: “We opened in Hull in anticipation of the buzz which the city and surrounding region is now experiencing and we are being rewarded for our confidence in the area. “We also operate around the world – during 2016 we serviced another international convention for Toyota – and the focus of Chantelle’s work will be to build that private sector business by linking with clients directly and by representing us within organisations including the Chamber and the Bondholders. “Chantelle has been heavily involved in our production department and she will be drawing on her comprehensive understanding of all our processes in looking after the needs of our private sector customers. She also has considerable marketing expertise and heads our social media activities, which is another area that we are looking to develop.” Chantelle said: “My new role means that I’ll be spending more time in Hull supporting existing clients and making new contacts, and that’s something I’ve already started doing with the help of the Chamber. “It’s an exciting time for AaGlobal as we build on the success already achieved by our team in Hull and look to deliver our services much further afield. It is also exciting for me personally to be spending more time in the UK City of Culture, something which we are sure will bring great opportunities for a wide range of businesses.”

The Hull-based team of an expanding language and translation business has marked the fifth anniversary of its arrival in the city by completing its biggest private sector project. AaGlobal Language Services Limited provided the full range of translation and interpreting services as world-leading motor corporation Toyota held its European conference in the UK. The event at Toyota’s Burnaston plant near Derby, was the third to be serviced by AaGlobal, which had worked at previous conferences in the UK and Turkey. But it was the first to be managed from the Hull office and Kirk Akdemir, Chief Executive of AaGlobal, said the success of the project demonstrated the progress made by the business. He said: “We launched the business in Worcester nearly 30 years ago and we expanded to Hull to develop our services in the midlands and the north. We only came here in 2011 and it was 2012 before we opened our office at Hull Marina but the growth since then has been significant. “We started with one person in Hull and now we have 12. Their efforts, working closely with our team of 10 in Worcester, have helped us expand our client base in the public and private sectors and increase our database of translators and interpreters to around 14,000 covering 500 different languages and dialects.” The latest event brought together senior management from Toyota’s entire European network and was also attended by top executives from the head office in Japan. AaGlobal provided simultaneous translation and interpreting services in seven different languages and ensured effective communication inside and outside the conference hall for more than 200 delegates. Kirk said: “We held a debrief with our clients and were praised for our professionalism and for our part in the smooth handling of an event which is extremely important to their business. I am extremely proud of our Hull team as it was their first time taking part in a big event, and they do not come bigger than the Toyota convention.”

AaGlobals commitment to apprenticeships is giving young people from Hull the chance to take a trip around the world without leaving their desks. We have recruited a second batch of apprentices to the team at our Hull office and Chief Executive Kirk Akdemir says the company is likely to bring in some more. The apprentices have come in from Chamber Training Humber and from Hull College and they're dealing with AaGlobal's clients from much further afield as they operate a booking system which links around 6,000 interpreters and translators with a growing customer base. Chloe Hollands joined the company in the summer after leaving Wyke College and attending an interview with Chamber Training because she didn't want to commit to three years of university study. She said: "I decided to look for a business admin apprenticeship and I started with AaGlobal a few weeks after the interview with Chamber Training. It's giving me good experience of the world of business and of the world generally – by talking to so many people from so many different countries you get a better understanding of cultural issues." Scott Briggs, who joined AaGlobal just over two years ago, applied to AaGlobal after finding out that the company specialised in language services. He was put forward for the apprenticeship by Hull College. Now a permanent Client Support Officer, Scott said: "The job involves a lot of work under pressure and at first it was quite daunting. I know a lot more about languages now than when I started and I am planning to learn some. I think I'm learning things without realising it but I've got a lot more to do yet." "It's not important to speak a foreign language but it is important to know the difference between languages because some countries have more than one. People ask for Africa and you have to find out which language they want, and you learn the difference between Cantonese and Mandarin." Kirk said: "Our numbers are increasing as we secure more private sector clients in addition to our extensive public sector work. We have been very pleased with our apprentices and they play an important part in helping us manage our bookings system, making sure all requests for interpreters are dealt with, liaising with clients and with our 6,000 interpreters and translators." "We will look to take more in the future. It is a good opportunity for young people from the local area and they have been good for our business."