Nottingham translation company branches out
Could the export of words about timber ever count towards improving our trade deficit? Yes they could – and soon will thanks to a new initiative by Nottingham-based translation specialists AST Language Services (AST).
Andrew Schlich, the company’s founder and managing director, has added a new industry sector to the firm’s specialities – forestry, with a focus on the German market as part of the firm’s growth strategy.
It’s a specialism that Andrew, 58, is well-qualified to lead, as a tree enthusiast whose family associations with forestry can be traced back four generations:
“The German forestry industry is much bigger than ours and the potential for us in that sector is huge, so I’ve been planning this development for some time. Sustainable forestry is a vital part of the German economy.
“So we’ve just launched a new forestry section on our website (https://www.astlanguage.com/industry-sector/forestry-and-timber-industry/) and will be targeting timber exporters, forestry websites, wood industry trade magazines and so on.
“In fact any wood industry manufacturer or saw-milling company with a need to translate their marketing website, product manuals, safety guides or training documents into European, Asian or Middle Eastern languages would be grist to our mill.”
Forestry accounted for 1.3m jobs in Germany in 2019 and had an annual turnover of over $150 billion. Some 33 per cent of Germany’s land area is forest.
Contrast this with the UK, where according to the Forestry Market report from Savills, the UK market in 2021 was valued at £262.7m. Forest covers only 13 per cent of UK territory.
“This is a natural area for us to focus on because everyone employed by the company – all 10 of us – are German speakers. We cater for over 65 different languages but not many of our competitors could say that everybody in the company can speak the same second language. We are effectively a bilingual company.”
You might also say that forestry, trees and the German language feature in Andrew’s bloodline like sap. “My great grandfather was German and he came over to the UK in 1880. He had been head of the Indian forestry service for the British Raj and was appointed to set up the School of Forestry at Oxford University. ”
He stayed, had a family in this country and took British nationality: “He was knighted for his services to the empire and to Oxford, Sir William Schlich. He was a bit of a big shot in our family.”
AST also has an office in Oxford and Andrew’s family has strong academic links: “My dad was a German teacher and I’ve always had a great fascination for the language. It’s a wonderful, rich language. My son also studied German at Birmingham University and recently graduated.”
In addition to all this, Andrew established the independent, not-for-profit organisation Trees For Nottingham 14 years ago, because of his love for trees, and is a sponsor of the Future Trees Trust, a timber industry research organisation devoted to propagating disease-resistant trees in species such as elm and ash that can profitably benefit the British timber industry.
“I started Trees For Nottingham through a genuine interest in greening the city. With Nottingham’s Sherwood Forest associations and Nottingham Forest football club and its tree branding, I just felt that this could be something new and different that could be unique to Nottingham.
“The website (https://treesfornottingham.org/) was re-launched a few months ago. We have modernised it and made it more colourful.”
The organisation offers businesses a sponsorship package enabling them to secure the planting of single trees or to take part in larger planting schemes. Plantings have been sponsored by local companies including T&S Heating and Thomson-Reuters.
Another good omen for AST’s forestry future is the actual name of the company. “A recently-recruited translator here, Tom Dixon, who is also a tree enthusiast, pointed out to me that ‘Ast’ means branch in German…
“It’s entirely coincidental – but it does seem like a sign of things to come.”
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