21 August 2013
Translation firm racks up
£15m loss
Controversial Delph-based Capita Translating and
Interpreting suffered a £15 million loss last year.
The company - formerly Applied Language Solutions -
reported the loss after struggling to deliver on a language services contract
for the Ministry of Justice, which provides translation and interpreting
services to English courts. The company insists investment in the service has
brought about improvements.
The firm — based in Huddersfield Road — won a
five-year contract to provide translation and interpretation services for
police and courts, but has been dogged by controversy and accusations of
blunders. One led to the collapse of a burglary trial, another to an
unqualified man standing in for his wife at a murder trial when the firm’s translator
failed to turn up, and other issues.
ALS’s founder and chief executive Gavin Wheeldon
sold his business to Capita in 2011 in a deal worth £7.5 million. He remained a
director until his resignation in July last year.
