'Bad Language' Costing Small Businesses

Poor foreign language skills is costing small businesses billions, warns the Forum of Private Business

The group was responding to evidence showing that poor foreign language skills cost British businesses £21 billion per year by launching a new language service for SMEs in conjunction with Peak Translations.

Now, Forum members will gain preferential access to specialist Peak Translation's services.

Expert translators in all major languages with experience in a wide range of industries will be on hand to help translate tenders, contracts, manuals, corporate literature and websites, localised to suit specific markets, and provide face-to-face and telephone interpreting services.

Cardiff University's 2007 'Costing Babel' research revealed that UK businesses miss out on £21 billion annually in lost contracts.

It followed an earlier study showing that the demand for non-English language skills in large European companies is greater than the demand for English - often seen by UK SMEs as the international 'lingua franca' of business.

The 2006 ELAN Project survey, which emerged from the European Commission's 2000 Lisbon strategy to stimulate economic growth and employment, said there was evidence of 'Anglophone complacency' within small firms.

The report highlighted the importance of language skills, as well as an awareness of cultural differences, to export success.

Four elements of language management were found to be associated with successful export performance: having a language strategy, appointing native speakers, recruiting staff with language skills and using professionally qualified translators or interpreters.

An SME investing in these four elements was calculated to achieve an export sales proportion 44.5% higher than one without these investments.

"Export markets can be extremely lucrative for British businesses but too few are trading internationally at present or exploring it as an option," said the Forum's Chief Executive Phil Orford.

"The Government is working to address this, for example by expanding the export credit guarantee scheme and laudably championing British businesses overseas, but there remain significant practical cultural and language barriers that UK SMEs see as preventing them from embracing export markets.

"The Forum of Private Business provides practical solutions to real business problems, both lobbying for changes to the enterprise environment to help our members grow and become more profitable and providing them with the right tools so they can help themselves.

"That is why we are delighted to launch this language service."

Ian Gordon, Managing Director of Peak Translations, said: "We are delighted to support members of the Forum of Private Business with this initiative and shall enjoy working closely with them to maximise their success."

(BMcC/GK)