Prestige at the Legal Trade Exhibition in Liverpool

2 November 2009

Prestige Network’s Director, Mr Anthony Fleming, attended the National Legal Trade Exhibition in October 2009 in Liverpool.

With a significant growth in the requirement for fast and accurate language services, Prestige’s presence during the exhibition was a great success.  This exhibition was an event designed to promote vital support services to the Legal Sector. Mr Fleming travelled to Liverpool together with Ms Salome Wagh, following the recent set up of a new ‘Partnership Development’ department.

Salome Wagh & Anthony Fleming

Legal Trade Exhibition - Liverpool

One of the main focuses of this new department is the Legal Sector as well as Cultural Business Training, two of the fastest growing areas of business for Prestige.

Mr Fleming said: “This exhibition was a great success for us. It enabled us to meet with some of our key clients as well as to introduce ourselves and our services to many new contacts. There was a keen interest in our services and with the recent growth in language services within the legal sector, this event presented a unique opportunity to discuss our services face to face with so many legal sector clients in one day”.


Launch of a New Department!

12 October 2009

Prestige Network has launched a new specialist department for ‘Partnership Development’

The remit of this new department is to provide more focused and quality language and training services to the Legal Sector and other specific businesses and organisations.

Legal enquiries may be directed to:  legal@prestigenetwork.com

The personnel of this new department include:

  • Anthony Fleming, Director
  • Salome Wagh, Partnership Development Consultant
  • Aleks Messenger, Partnership Development Executive

Anthony Fleming commented: “My new team is very excited about this new initiative and we look forward to providing you with an even better quality of service. We already provide quality language and training services to over 150 solicitors and legal firms around the UK and we
look forward to developing new partnerships with others.”

Call us now on 01635 292 784 or email legal@prestigenetwork.com



Customer Survey Results – 95% of Customers Would Recommend the Company

1 September 2009

The customer survey results are now available and we are very pleased with the results and all the positive feedback and comments we received.

The main findings are:

  • 95% of respondents said that they would recommend us to other colleagues, companies or business partners
  • 96% of respondents said they would be confident to use Prestige Network’s services again

Many thanks to all our customers for taking the time to reply to our survey and for the valued feedback we received. Listening to our customers is of utmost importance to us and we believe this has helped to pave the way for Prestige Network’s continued success over the last 18 years.

A summary of the Customer Survey results is available on our main website.


Prestige Network makes history in the House of Commons

3 November 2009

Prestige Network has helped to make history by providing two British Sign Language/English interpreters (BSL) for a series of UK Youth Parliament debates in the House of Commons.

The ground-breaking move comes as the UK Youth Parliament also makes history – it is the only time in 300 years that anyone other than MPs has been allowed to speak from there. The
11 to 18-year-old elected Members of Youth Parliament took up the seats in the Houses of Parliament normally occupied by MPs on Friday 30th October.

Chris Barnes, Head of Public Sector Sales at Prestige Network, said: “We are very proud that Prestige Network has played a key role in the democratic process by providing two British Sign Language/English interpreters.

“The House of Commons Overseas Office placed the order with us on Tuesday, just two clear days away from the occasion itself. They were pleased that we were able to help out – they had approached several organisations, but we managed to find people for them within 15 minutes.

Find out more about Prestige Network’s British Sign Language/English interpreters.


Language services guidelines for the Legal Sector

1 October 2009

Prestige Network has been providing language services for leading law firms, the judicial system, UK and global companies and government agencies for almost 20 years.

We have found that there is an increasing use of language services by the legal profession with, for example, more and more legal firms providing services and supporting non-English-speaking clients.

With that in mind, we have produced the following guide to using language services for the Legal sector.

What to look for when choosing a language provider:

  • How long has the company been established?
  • What range of services do they offer?
  • How much experience do they have providing the kind of service you need?
  • How well do they know the market you operate in?
  • How much experience do they have providing services for the language you need?
  • Is the company accredited by the relevant Language Quality Assurance organisations?
  • Are their translators and interpreters industry aware?
  • Are their translators and interpreters culturally aware?

What You need to do

Good communication between you and a language services company is the starting point for ensuring that you achieve the best for your non-English speaking clients. Preliminary preparation is very useful.

When you make a booking, bear in mind these tips for getting the best results:

  • Have as much information on the assignment available as possible, including any relevant documents to be translated
  • If you know which language and which dialect is required, please inform us. We can help you, if you are unsure
  • In many cases, language support can be provided very quickly, but it’s best to make arrangements in advance
  • Clarify any unusual procedures or regulations involved
  • Be clear about the deadlines you need to be met
  • If the booking is for an on-site interpreter, be ready to confirm the date, duration and location
  • If you have used the company’s services before, have your account details to hand

What the language services provider needs to do

As soon as the provider receives the go-ahead, they will find their best match of interpreter/translator skills and availability for your assignment.

When finding an interpreter or translator for you, the operations team needs to ensure that he/she has an appropriate qualification in legal work (such as a Diploma in Public Service Interpreting – Law Option, or an MA in Translations and Interpreting).

Other considerations in choice of linguist could include:

  • Gender
  • Social/ethnic issues
  • Age
  • Dialects

The linguist will be briefed with as much information as is available, including any factual information and background documents about the case.

For face-to-face interpreting, a pre-session could be arranged between you and the interpreter before the client arrives. This would give you the opportunity to go through:

  • Factual information about the case
  • The aim of the session
  • Any technical terms you expect to use during the session

If you require any help please contact Prestige Network’s legal services team on 01635 292 784 or email legal@prestigenetwork.com


Highlighting Our Language Services for Local Authorities

10 September 2009

notts-town-hall_smPrestige are proud of our work with local authorities around the UK, providing services for all language needs. Interpreting and translating for local authorities can mean working across a range of disciplines – including housing advice, adult social care , children’s services, or policy departments handling safer living and community plans.

Find out more about how partnering with Prestige Network can enable your local authority to extract best value from its services or call our local authority specialist Colin Dudley on 01635 866888.

Some of the local authority services that Prestige provide translation services for:


Our USPs (unique selling points)

13 August 2009

key-staff-2009

We asked our staff what they thought were the USP (unique selling points) of Prestige and their responses are below:

  • “We Care” and “We listen” to our customers requirements.
  • We have one of the largest linguist databases in the UK (over 5000).
  • Our product range is also the most diverse.
  • As we are a family run company – there is more involvement in the business so technically the founders are still close to the business unlike many other companies our size. This has an effect on the quality of service received by clients.
  • Delivery.
  • Providing exactly what customer wants – i.e. fulfilling the exact requirement.
  • Family Business, small enough to care, big enough to deliver!
  • Our personal service.
  • Quantity with Quality.
  • Our ‘can do’ attitude.
  • We are able to provide rare languages.
  • We have the flexibility and we listen to the clients. We have no set price list, unlike our competitors. We are not a rigid company in terms of our thinking and capability as we have the resources and expertise to deliver according to the client’s needs.
  • The determination to succeed.
  • The best quality and everything is possible for Prestige…
  • We care.
  • Two rocks (the Co-Founders: Shohreh & Shawn Khorassani)

London Councils ‘Could Be Compromising The Needs of Ethnic Minorities’

11 June 2009

Colin Dudley, Local Authority Business Development Manager at language services provider Prestige Network has written an article for the www.foreignersinuk.co.uk website calling on London Councils to take their responsibilities of communicating with ethnic minorities seriously.

Colin Dudley Local Authority Business Development Manager, Prestige Network

Colin Dudley Local Authority Business Development Manager, Prestige Network

Mr Dudley said: “Being able to communicate with staff is crucial for everyone using council services: it enables people to say what they want, to understand what is going on around them and feel connected to others. Translation and interpreting services give people access to support.

“The increased demand for language services by public sector organisations and commercial companies alike is symptomatic of the need to meet the country’s continually expanding and diversifying language base.”

The full article about London Council’s need for translation services can also be viewed here.

Prestige Network caters for language and communications needs in the private and public sector (including the NHS, local government departments, charities, the police and other public organisations). It is continuing to build on its successful delivery to over 1,000 clients and recently announced a 65 per cent growth in 2008/2009. It is run by brother and sister Shawn Khorassani and Shohreh Fleming and her husband Anthony.

Presenting A Great Case For The Defence … And The Prosecution

9 June 2009

By Shawn Khorassani, Business Development Director of language services provider Prestige Network

Language services for the legal profession is a growing market, with the UK’s increasingly litigious society impacting on the provision of translation and interpreting. Here, we take a broad look at language services in action

Supporting the legal sector with language services takes many forms – from working with litigation attorneys and solicitors at court hearings, patent hearings, and fraud cases, to helping out in personal injury claims and matrimonial arbitration to legal document translating services and court transcripts.

Meryem Skinner, Operations Manager at Berkshire-based Prestige Network (with specific responsibility for the legal division), said: “We have always seen the provision of our services to the legal profession as a very important part of what we do. Different skills are employed in the translation of a legal document to those used in supporting an international arbitration case and we ensure that translators and interpreters are hand picked to suit specific tasks.

Read the full article as featured in the Norfolk Law Society Journal, Spring 2009 edition on our translation services website.