All the latest news from us

Bla recently provided Welsh translations for a popular national brand on their expansion as they introduced a café at some of their stores.

Amongst other signage to be displayed in their cafés, one of the most prominent signs they needed translated was as follows:

Take a Break

Our Translators worked as a team to offer a fitting Welsh translation. Having thought of a few strong contenders, they drew upon their professional experience to narrow down their options and select the best translation for this client, which was:

Saib am Sbel

The important thing here is that the translation resonates with Welsh speakers from all parts of Wales and across all Welsh generations, in a country where countless different dialects all exist inherently. We are confident that no Welsh speaker will be turning to the English to understand this Welsh sign!

The signs can now be seen in selected stores in Wales. They have taken their place perfectly and have been warmly welcomed by Welsh speaking customers. One of whom even shared a photo online, praising the company for investing in a professional Welsh language expert to ensure a correct, impactful and familiar-feeling translation – localisation at its best.

If you are a business operating in Wales, then it is in your best interest to demonstrate awareness of the area in which you trade. The easiest and fastest ways of doing this is by incorporating Welsh language signage in your buildings. This is such an impactful means of showing that you as a company value your customer base, their language, their culture and their way of life.

We have all seen incorrect Welsh signs being circulated on social media, but this is a great example of a national company going about things the correct way. We are thrilled to have contributed our expertise to this project.

A successful translation once again by our dedicated team and another happy client!

Contact us to discuss any localisation requirements you might have!

You might have seen on our socials that we have recently re-introduced Bla₂, our international languages unit, which is very exciting.

We had initially lunched Bla₂ at the beginning of 2024 following our success in the Association of Translation Companies’ Awards Ceremony where we were named Translation Company of the Year.

As we have been such busy bees with our Welsh translation service (which, not to worry, will be continuing at the highest standard with no change in how we work), we weren’t able to invest as much time as we would have liked on developing our international languages unit. As such, we required additional staff to support our expanding operations.

And so began our recruitment campaign to appoint both Welsh Translators and a Business Officer. With great success, we welcomed 3 new linguistic staff and Elliw, our Business Officer, last year. They all hit the ground running and have since settled in nicely.

With Elliw’s help, we have been able to invest more time and effort in further establishing Bla₂, exploring more exciting sectors and meeting even more like-minded professionals in the international translation industry. As such, our new service is in full swing.

To learn more about Bla₂, the languages we cover, and to request translation work, head over to our Contact Form and one of our advisors will be in touch as soon as possible.

We can’t wait to hear from you!

It is our pleasure to announce that two members of team Bla have recently had exam success. Mari and Elena have both succeeded in the Association of Welsh Translators and Interpreters’ written translation exam – amazing news!

Both Mari and Elena benefitted from the expert direction of Nerys, our Translation Manager (Quality), to upskill and polish their natural talents ahead of the exam held in April.

We’d like to thank all three for their hard work and dedication and, of course, we send huge congratulations to Mari and Elena on their new accreditation.

Nice one, team Bla!

This year, we are once again sponsoring Gŵyl Cefni, a festival celebrating and promoting Welsh music. The festival will be held in the car park next to our offices in Llangefni on the w/c 2^nd June 2025.

Organised by our neighbours Menter Môn, this is a much-anticipated annual event in Anglesey’s calendar and offers support for new and upcoming Welsh artists as well as those Welsh icons we love.

Bla is proud to be sponsoring this event once again this year, supporting the team in charge of organising to continue with their great work and hopefully helping to secure the future of such festivals on our doorstep.

All we need to do now is cross our fingers for good weather!

Translation in Hospitality: Partnering with The Inn Collection Group

Our team at Bla recently had the pleasure of working with The Inn Collection Group, a national hospitality and hotel group based in Newcastle. The Group own and run countless hospitality establishments across the UK, two of which are based on our doorstep here in North Wales.

Having acquired The Swallow Falls Inn establishment at Betws-y-Coed as of late, the team at The Inn Collection Group were eager to incorporate the Welsh language into this new project which saw the old, timeworn hotel being brought back to life.

Back in early January 2025, the project team requested a meeting with Anna and Elliw at our Business Unit here at Bla to discuss their Welsh translation requirements for the project, and, most importantly, the timeline to which they were working. As they had an agreed launch date for the hotel, we were required to return work within a strict period to ensure that the team’s workflow continued to run smoothly and on time. A delay in returning translations can impact a whole project, but with excellent project management skills and disciplined linguistic staff here at Bla, the team at The Swallow Falls Inn were in the best hands.

Our team at Bla provided their expertise in language services to translate various food menus (a challenging task if undertaken before lunch time!), drinks menus, press releases, signage for the site, as well as staff recruitment packs for The Swallow Falls Inn. The menus required post artwork proofreading, after their graphic designer had completed the typesetting, which is arguably the most crucial step in the translation process. These are the final checks before going to print to ensure that no errors have been introduced during typesetting – an essential step which must not be overlooked in any translation project.

What a mammoth effort this was for The Inn Collection Group and our team at Bla were delighted to have partnered with them as their chosen Welsh translation provider. Swallow Falls Inn has now opened its doors and we wish them the best of luck.

The Inn Collection Group is a fantastic example of a private company based beyond Wales showing respect towards our Welsh culture by firmly putting the Welsh language centre stage – take a bow!

If you want to reap the benefits of translation in your hospitality business, then complete our Contact Form and one of our advisors will respond as soon as possible.

In the latest edition of the ITI Bulletin, our Director Alun Gruffydd reports on his presentation at the Nordic Translation Industry Forum’s conference in Malmö back in November 2024.

This particular conference focused on the role of humans in the translation industry against a backdrop of AI’s rapidly developing momentum. Alun, who has previously expressed his scepticism of AI, centred his presentation on defending the traditional approach to translation – with the magic of a human touch!

Alun presented comparisons of idioms of four languages – Welsh, English, Finnish and Norwegian (all of which we translate into here at Bla!) as he was eager to demonstrate the various layers of languages and how that only a trained human Translator can fathom such richness.

In addition, he stressed that we should not forget the “academic and professional journey of the linguist”, which is already so often overlooked, especially so in the context of the Welsh language. Not only will allowing clients to become self-qualified lead to a decline in the population of Translators, but also bares immense risk on the quality and accuracy of written content.

Click here to read Alun’s insightful article titled ‘Another Country’ in the ITI Bulletin and scroll down to page 33.

At Bla, we have over 13 years’ experience of serving our valued clients with expert Welsh translation services. Over the years, we have had the privilege of serving returning clients as well as welcoming new ones. One thing all of them have in common is the questions they ask regarding Bla’s services. Therefore, it is our pleasure to outline below a few frequently asked questions:

1) What services do you offer?

Our team specialises in document translation, editing, and proofreading. Due to our varied client base, we are familiar with a whole range of subjects, from Engineering to Education, Climate Change to Current Affairs and everything in-between. We are comfortable with providing short and catchy translations for those attention-grabbing marketing materials as well as hefty, technical reports. Discuss your requirements with our Business Unit so that our translation team can achieve the best outcome for you and your goals.

2) What qualifications do your linguistic staff hold?

We have 8 qualified Translators and 1 Trainee Translator here at Bla, as well as access to a pool of around 20 qualified Freelance Translators who have all been approved to work with us by our Director. Our qualified in-house team hold relevant degree-level qualifications (and post-graduate qualifications in some cases). Our Trainee Translator is currently undergoing a tailored training programme under the supervision of our Translation Manager – Quality and Director, which also involves an element of expert training by external providers. For more information about our experienced staff, please see our About page.

3) What are your prices?

Our fees vary depending on the service you require and are very much in line with the translation industry. Usually, translation services are priced based on wordcount. You’re more than welcome to fill in a contact form here outlining your requirements and we’ll get back to you within 24 hours.

4) What are your return times?

We provide a return time based on various factors: your requirements, the document’s complexity, our capacity in terms of resources, therefore our return times vary. We will always communicate the expected return time with you before beginning any translation task. If you have a specific return date in mind, please feel free to inform us with your enquiry. We value honest communication with our clients and, therefore, we will never make any promises that we cannot keep.

5) Do you use AI?

We do not use AI in our line of work. Rather, we use a TM Software which is a translation ‘memory’ our human Translators feed into and maintain regularly. Our TM of choice is MemoQ – a reputable and widely used software package. Using a TM has many advantages; improves consistency across documents, speeds up the translation process, facilitates collaboration within our team which, ultimately, improves the service we offer to our clients.

6) What other languages can you translate?

In 2023, we established Bla₂, which is our International Languages Unit. This means that organisations can turn to us with all of their translation needs, streamlining their supply chain and benefitting from Bla’s famous top-class customer service. Apart from the Welsh language, we specialise in Arabic, Urdu, Romanian, Polish and French, however we can undertake translation projects in a whole host of other languages beyond these. Head over to our Bla2 page to learn more.

If we haven’t quite covered your questions above, then you’re urged to reach out to us by submitting a contact us form here and one of our team members will respond promptly.

Bla Translation’s offices are based on Ynys Môn (Isle of Anglesey) where we are surrounded by idyllic beaches, interesting landscapes and breathtaking scenery. It is no surprise then that our home is a honey pot for tourists wishing to escape from the hustle and bustle of their busy lives to the tranquillity of Môn Mam Cymru. In our latest blog, we explore how translation services can boost the tourism industry.

1. Immersing in our culture

Using the Welsh language in the tourism industry will provide more authentic experiences for visitors who come here from outside of the country, helping them to immerse in our rich culture in Wales. Our language is what makes us unique as a nation, so why not reap the benefits of that competitive advantage we have here in Wales? It helps to distinguish Wales as a holiday destination compared to other similar honeypot areas within the UK that lack this special feature. You are missing a trick if you are a business owner in Wales and not taking every opportunity to display our country’s unusual charm.

2. Welcoming Welsh-speaking tourists

There are so many things to see and do across Wales, and when the weather’s in our favour, then it is very difficult to beat God’s own country. It is no surprise then that many of us who live in Wales opt for a staycation every now and then. Hearing and seeing the Welsh language will no doubt boost rates of return visits as it shows respect towards our rich culture. It will also offer a more enjoyable and comfortable experience to those who do speak Welsh, or are learning the language, which could inspire further visits. Imagine going to Spain and not being immersed in their language and culture?! It’s such an important part of a holiday.

3. Greater sense of place

Along with our strong food and drink scene, striking historical buildings and abundant wildlife, our language makes a significant contribution to our sense of place and help tourists to forge a connection with the area. Welsh place names, for example, strengthen our identity and help us to connect with places on a deeper, emotional level – and we all know that emotions are powerful in sales. It is exceptionally important that we preserve the Welsh language so that we maintain and improve our sense of place.

The Welsh language has to be central to our tourism industry in Wales, not only to create opportunities to immerse in our culture and to be inclusive, but most importantly, to ensure a prosperous future for our ancient mother tongue.

If your organisation relies heavily on the tourism industry, you must put the Welsh language centre stage. Not only does this help to secure the language for future generations, but it will also help you stand out in a tough, saturated market.

We all know that the Welsh language is the oldest language in Britain, but it was once in decline, thanks to the sufferings it has endured. Continued efforts over the last few years, however, have ensured it’s revival. One of the most significant milestones in this effort was the establishment of The Welsh Language Standards. These Standards are a set of legally binding requirements that facilitate the Welsh language in Wales, protecting and promoting its use in daily life and public services. Let us delve deeper into these Standards:

What are the Welsh Language Standards?

The Welsh Language Standards were introduced by the Welsh Language Measure (Wales) 2011. Briefly, this Measure aims to ensure that the Welsh language is treated equally to the English language in Wales. The purpose of the Standards are to:

• Promote and encourage the Welsh language across various sectors
• Ensure that the language is used in the delivery of public services
• To make it easier for people to access services in Welsh if they choose to.

Who is required to comply with the Welsh Language Standards?

All public sector organisations in Wales must comply with these Standards. This includes organisations such as local authorities, police, health boards, public education establishments.

The Standards are enforced by the Welsh Language Commissioner, who is responsible for overseeing them and ensuring that organisations comply. If an organisation fails to comply, then the Commissioner has the right to impose a penalty.

Do you need help?

At Bla, we have worked with countless organisations who are required to comply with the Welsh Language Standards. From local authorities to health boards and near-enough everything in-between, we have provided our expertise to ensure that these establishments operate bilingually. We’re here to help so please do reach out to us for assistance:

(01248) 725 755

business@bla-translation.co.uk

As a translation company with over 11 years’ experience in the industry, at Bla we have acute knowledge of the importance of ethics when it comes to translation. Translators play a crucial role in conveying information, and respecting the principles of translation is key to providing a successful translation service. We outline these ethics below:

1. Staying true to the source text –
   
   The source text is the original document, written in the author’s unique voice. Translators must stay true to the source text by conveying the message in full, adopting the correct language register and conveying the purpose in an appropriate manner in the target language. There are some cases in which this guidance is more loosely adhered to, such as creative translations, but cultural sensitivity must always be respected in such cases.
   
2. Produce a grammatically accurate translation –
   
   Correct grammar is paramount in translation. Without it, the meaning will no doubt become distorted between the languages. Your written materials are a direct representation of you/your organisation/brand. Choose your Translator wisely to ensure that the service you receive is error-free, helping you to make the best possible representation of yourself in the target language.
   
3. Putting personal feelings/thoughts to one side –
   
   As Translators, we naturally work on highly varied translation tasks. Through our work, we are exposed to a range of different subject matters and/or opinions – some of which we may disagree with. We are professionals, therefore, we will always maintain transparency when undertaking such translation tasks and will always be led by the source text only.
   
4. Privacy is the magic word –
   
   Privacy is critical in translation and is just as important as grammatical accuracy. In our work at Bla, we handle documents that contain highly sensitive information on a daily basis. When choosing a Translator, you need to be sure that such confidential information will be safe in their hands.
   
5. Fair business practices –
   
   Translators should always be transparent with their pricing structure. In this field, the price is usually based on the number of words to be translated. There should be clear communication in terms of costs with the client before undertaking the translation task so that the client isn’t unpleasantly surprised by any unexpected fees. At Bla, we offer free, no obligation quotes.

If you are searching for a professional, reliable and *double* award-winning translation company, who have over 10 years’ experience of delivering accurate services to a diverse client base, then get in touch with our Business Unit who will be more than happy to advise you: business@bla-translation.co.uk