Language firm gets £3m investment boost

Claire Alvarez

Private equity firm Foresight Group has invested £3m in Altrincham-based firm DA Languages.

DA Languages is a fast-growing interpreting and translation services business with nearly 60 staff based at its head office.

It has a network of thousands of vetted professional linguists, who speak more than 450 languages, from Polish to Abkhaz and Zulu and complete thousands of interpreting and translation jobs each month.

The company offers three core services, face-to-face interpreting, telephone interpreting and written translation services to corporates, charities, NHS Trusts and local authorities.

The company was founded in 2007 by Actar Arya, when she recognised a gap for high quality and reliable interpretation services after her husband had witnessed an interpreter making an error in court.

Foresight’s investment will build on DAL’s rapid growth, and will be used to further expand and professionalise the company as it continues to grow.

Alongside the investment, Foresight has introduced a new finance director, Christina Tamblyn who was formerly with Ascribe, a healthcare software business.

Claire Alvarez, Senior Investment Manager, Foresight, said: “DA Languages is a rapidly growing a successful business, whose services support and enable the increasingly multicultural and diverse society here in the UK.

“With an already strong market position, we are looking forward to helping DAL further diversify into the private sector translation market. We are confident that the company will continue to go from strength to strength.”

Actar Arya, Founder and Managing Director, DA Languages, commented: “I have loved setting up DAL, providing useful services to those who need them.

“The company has grown rapidly and I am excited to bring further support on board to continue the business’s expansion plans.”

James Livingston, Partner, Foresight, added: “DAL marks the eighth investment made by the Fund which has now deployed more than £22 million into smaller growth businesses across the region.

“At the end of last year, our investees in the region had created over 160 jobs, a 35% increase from the previous year. DAL is a good reflection of the entrepreneurial culture that is so prevalent in the North West.

“FRIF now has a broad and diversified portfolio with several further new investments imminent. We look forward to working with DAL on the next step of its journey.”

Click here to sign up to receive our new South West business news...
Close