Surrey Translation Bureau (STB), a Farnham-based translation agency, celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. Since its formation in 1984, STB has upheld a steadfast commitment to excellence, innovation and client satisfaction, which has driven its growth and success over the years.
STB was originally founded as part of a language school, and soon after became a comprehensive language services provider, expanding its team to over 500 language professionals and managing more than 3000 projects a year for its diverse client base.
“Since we started, STB has continued to evolve with changing client demands and technology, knowing that staying ahead is crucial. Continuous learning has been the key to our progress.” reflects John Cooke, Founder of STB.
The company has been recognised for its commitment to quality and industry standards, achieving and maintaining three ISO certifications and winning multiple awards, solidifying its position as a trusted partner to its clients.
STB continually evolves its services in response to client feedback and the changing landscape of the translation industry, diversifying beyond its core translation services to offer desktop publishing, subtitling and post editing of machine translation, and more recently exploring AI integration.
This willingness to adapt is further reflected in STB’s approach to emerging technologies alongside its unwavering commitment to high-quality linguistic services, an approach that has been instrumental to STB’s success.
“We have been working with STB for the last ten years on several challenging multi-language projects and they have always delivered quality work in a timely manner. In the field of healthcare it is of primary importance that work is accurate, and we have every confidence in STB in delivering on that front. They are very professional and efficient and it’s always a pleasure to speak to their team.” – PatientView, a long-standing client.
As an active member of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) and the Association of Translation Companies (ATC), STB engages in knowledge sharing within the industry, and inspires the next generation to take up a career in translation by participating in outreach programmes to schools and universities.
STB has also embraced its corporate social responsibility (CSR) and has developed internal policies in support of this, engaging in charity fundraisers, sustainability initiatives and community involvement. It has earned recognition for these continued efforts in CSR, including being named as a finalist in the sustainability category for a recent business award.
Despite facing external challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic and Brexit, STB has demonstrated resilience and adaptability, ensuring operational continuity and continued client satisfaction.
Looking ahead, George Cooke, Managing Director of STB, underscores the company’s commitment to innovation and a client-centric service, stating, “Central to STB’s growth is our unwavering commitment to supporting clients not just as a supplier, but as an extension of their teams. That’s probably the reason why over 35% of our clients have been with us for over a decade.”
