Case studies

RLN London has collected a number of case studies which show just how different London enterprises have tackled language and culture head on - and reaped the rewards! Click on the headings below to view and hide stories about a range of different businesses.

Trading internationally

Body Clock Health Care (68KB, PDF)
An East London company exporting electronic pain relief devices, and enjoying success across Europe by working with translators, localising their website and employing key staff with language skills.

Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (69KB, PDF)
City-based not-for-profit mediation service has grown its international caseload through recruitment of language speakers and use of translation services.

Geeta's Foods (64KB, PDF)
Indian speciality food company based in North London, exploring worldwide markets. The multicultural team have learned new language skills for export markets, and adapted and translated their packaging.

Northern Edge International (71KB, PDF)
An Ilford-based health food company has developed its cultural knowledge, translated its website, adapted packaging and taken on a Spanish student to help market their product worldwide.

Prestige International (65KB, PDF)
Multilingual contact centre solutions company based in Hammersmith, operating worldwide by employing a team of multilingual customer service representatives.

Tequila (107KB, PDF)
Soho-based marketing business Tequila helped staff to learn Spanish during their lunch breaks - reinforcing the company's international outlook.

The Big J (70KB, PDF)
A North London company's international communications plan – looking at their brand, packaging, customer communications and staffing – smoothes the way to export success.

Welcoming visitors

Hotel la Place (68KB, PDF)
An award-winning family-run hotel with international service from its multilingual staff at the heart of its success. The welcome they offer is further boosted by a multilingual website, translated menus and cultural briefings.

London Underground (PDF 69KB)
Serving visitors and residents of London in their language is a big challenge for London Underground. They make the most of native speaker language skills and encourage staff through language training and use of a phrase book.

World Duty Free (67KB, PDF)
The airport retailer at Heathrow airport has made the most of its employees' native language skills, and strengthened their customer service through further language training and translated signage and flyers.

Multicultural workforce

Agroni Research (PDF 100KB)
The world of research often focuses on Black and Minority Ethnic groups. Agroni believes that employing people with a matching background – who understand the culture and speak the language – really improves the quality of their research.

EDF Energy (236KB, PDF)
With French as the official corporate language of the EDF group, the Learning and Development team have developed a language training programme for their employees.

Greencore Sandwiches (68KB, PDF)
A West London company has met the challenge of supporting a workforce with over 25 languages, through clear communications, translation and promote of cultural awareness.

Punjab National Bank (International) Ltd (PDF 100KB)
Arriving in London in 2007, Punjab National Bank opened its first branch in Southall and makes a point of speaking to customers in their language – whether Panjabi, Hindi, Urdu or English.

Public and voluntary sector

Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) (PDF 116KB)
Representing the UK overseas requires understanding of a huge variety of languages and cultures. The FCO actively looks for employees from ethnic minority communities in London and elsewhere in the UK.

Pearl Linguistics (PDF 134KB)
A specialist provider of translation and interpreting services, City-based Pearl Linguistics employs a multilingual team and works closely with communities in London.

Other

John Laing plc (102KB, PDF)
John Laing has encouraged staff to develop their French, German and Spanish language skills through a fun and innovative 'Language Club' – showing how languages can be valuable both at work and at play.

RLN London has also created a range of case studies to highlight the value of Community Languages in London - and picked out a range of stories from the media which portray role models from London's communities whose first language is not English.

Community language case studies

RLN London spoke to five very different businesses to find out why Community Languages spoken in London were important to them. Whether in finance, government or research, these employers are really making the most of the talent in London’s communities.

Pearl Linguistics (PDF 134KB)
A specialist provider of translation and interpreting services, City-based Pearl Linguistics employs a multilingual team and works closely with communities in London.

In the media

Thelondonpaper in 2007 ran a series of bilingual articles in different Community Languages highlighting the success of London-based entrepreneurs whose first language is not English.

Read about the founder of Cobra beer in English and Hindi