From High Wycombe to Glasgow, a night of glitz, glamour and an unforgettable achievement for the Silent Sounds team.
There are some evenings you never forget, and Thursday 22nd October 2026 is certainly one that will live long in the memories of everyone at Silent Sounds Communications.
We are absolutely delighted to announce that Silent Sounds Communications has been crowned Company of the Year at the prestigious 2026 ATC Language Industry Awards!
The award was presented during a spectacular gala evening at the Voco Grand Central Hotel in Glasgow, as part of the Association of Translation Companies’ (ATC) Gold Conference, celebrating an incredible 50 years of championing the language services industry. The category was judged by Geoffrey Bowden, General Secretary of EUATC on three key elements: People & community, innovation & growth, and resilience.
And what better way to celebrate than with a room full of industry professionals, an evening of glitz and glamour, and a rather special award to bring back to Buckinghamshire? We don’t often get the opportunity to swap our usual working attire for black ties, elegant dresses and polished shoes, but the occasion certainly called for it. The Silent Sounds team scrubbed up rather well, even if some of us were considerably more comfortable navigating complex interpreting requirements than navigating a formal dress code!
Of course, the real highlight of the evening wasn’t the outfits. It was hearing the words “Silent Sounds Communications – Company of the Year!”
Three nominations, one incredible achievement
Heading into the awards evening, we already had plenty of reasons to celebrate. As we shared in our previous announcement, Silent Sounds had been shortlisted for three prestigious ATC Language Industry Awards:
Team of the Year Celebrating the extraordinary efforts of our colleagues in successfully migrating more than 12 years of operational and booking data to a new platform without disrupting essential services.
Young Professional of the Year Recognising our colleague Osman Hussain for his outstanding contribution to Deaf awareness, accessibility, training and inclusion.To be recognised in three separate categories was already a tremendous achievement. To then walk away with Company of the Year makes the occasion even more special.
A little glamour, a lot of hard work
While the evening itself was about celebrating achievements, the journey to this award has been anything but glamorous. Behind the polished shoes, sparkling outfits and celebratory photographs are years of hard work, early starts, late finishes, complex bookings, urgent interpreting requests and a dedicated team that consistently goes above and beyond.
Since our beginnings in 1999, Silent Sounds has grown into a national provider of professional interpreting, translation and accessible communication services, supporting organisations across healthcare, local government, education, social care and the private sector. Today, we work with a network of more than 11,500 interpreters across over 350 languages, helping ensure that people can access essential services regardless of their language or communication needs. From British Sign Language (BSL) interpreting and face-to-face appointments to telephone interpreting, video remote interpreting and written translation, our mission has always been about breaking down communication barriers. And although winning awards is undoubtedly enjoyable, particularly when it involves dressing up and celebrating with colleagues, it’s the difference our services make to people’s everyday lives that matters most.
Innovation, teamwork and putting people first
One of the achievements we are especially proud of is the continued development of innovative language solutions that improve accessibility. Our InterpretCart mobile video-interpreting solution is helping bring professional interpreting directly into NHS healthcare environments, providing access to qualified interpreters across more than 150 languages. Importantly, our approach to innovation is not about replacing interpreters with technology. It is about using technology to make professional human interpreting more accessible, responsive and effective. Alongside technological development, the dedication of our internal team has been central to our success. Our Team of the Year nomination recognised a particularly ambitious project involving the migration of more than 12 years of operational data, successfully completed while maintaining continuity of service for clients and service users.
We’re equally proud of Osman Hussain, whose Young Professional of the Year nomination reflects his exceptional work as a Deaf professional, helping organisations develop a better understanding of Deaf culture, inclusive communication and accessibility. These achievements demonstrate something we have always believed at Silent Sounds- our greatest strength isn’t simply the number of languages we provide, but the people who make those services possible.
Osman, Hussain, ATC Young Professional of the Year 2026 Finalist.
Celebrating 50 golden years of the ATC
Of course, this wasn’t just a celebration for Silent Sounds. The ATC Gold Conference marked an extraordinary milestone: 50 years of the Association of Translation Companies. For half a century, the ATC has played an important role in representing language service companies, promoting professional standards and creating opportunities for organisations across the industry to collaborate, share expertise and develop. The Gold Conference brought together language service providers, industry experts and professionals to reflect on the sector’s achievements, explore its challenges and discuss the future of professional language services. At a time when technology, artificial intelligence and evolving client expectations are transforming the industry, opportunities to come together, exchange ideas and celebrate the value of professional human language expertise have never been more important. We would like to extend our sincere thanks to Raisa McNab, ATC CEO, Corinne Smith, ATC Chair, and the entire ATC team, alongside everyone involved in organising and delivering the Gold Conference and Language Industry Awards. Organising an event of this scale is no small undertaking, particularly when celebrating such a significant anniversary. The planning, coordination and attention to detail involved deserve recognition of their own. We would also like to thank the event sponsors, speakers, judges and fellow ATC members who contributed to the occasion. The ATC has every reason to be proud of reaching its golden anniversary, and we were privileged to share in the celebrations. Here’s to the next 50 years!
A night to remember in Glasgow
The iconic historic Voco Grand Central Hotel provided a wonderful backdrop for an occasion that combined industry recognition with a well-deserved opportunity to celebrate. It was a chance to catch up with familiar faces, meet new industry colleagues and reflect on everything the language services sector has achieved. And, naturally, there was the small matter of celebrating our own success.
With a Scottish ceilidh and disco also part of the evening’s programme, there was certainly plenty of opportunity to put those carefully polished shoes to the test. Whether everyone’s dancing abilities matched their interpreting and translation expertise is, perhaps, a question best left unanswered!
A heartfelt thank you to everyone who makes Silent Sounds what it is.
Although the Company of the Year trophy may have been presented to Silent Sounds Communications, this achievement belongs to so many people. To our dedicated office team, thank you for the energy, professionalism, resilience and care you bring to your work every day. To our interpreters and translators across the country, thank you for your expertise, commitment and the essential role you play in helping people communicate and access services. To our clients and partners, thank you for continuing to place your trust in us and allowing us to support the communities you serve.And to everyone who has contributed to Silent Sounds’ journey over the years, this award is a reflection of what we have achieved together.
Karen Thomson, Managing Director at Silent Sounds Communications, said:
“This award belongs to everyone who contributes to Silent Sounds, from our dedicated internal team to the thousands of interpreters and translators who represent us every day. It also reflects the trust our clients place in us to provide essential communication services to the communities they support.
“Since 1999, our ambition has been to break down communication barriers and ensure that everyone has access to the professional language support they need. To receive this recognition from our industry peers is an incredibly proud moment for our organisation.”
The trophy is coming home, but the work continues
As we return from Glasgow, hopefully with the trophy safely secured and our dancing shoes given a much-needed rest, we do so with enormous pride and renewed motivation.
Being named Company of the Year is a wonderful endorsement of everything we have worked towards, but it also reminds us of the responsibility we have to keep improving.We will continue to invest in our people, support the professional interpreting and translation community, develop innovative solutions and champion accessible communication.
Above all, we will remain committed to the values that have guided Silent Sounds since 1999. Professionalism inclusion, integrity and ensuring that communication is never a barrier.
From everyone at Silent Sounds Communications, thank you to the ATC for this incredible honour, and congratulations on 50 golden years!
Now, where are we going to put the trophy..?
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