thebigword, the Leeds-founded language technology and services group, has been named a finalist in The Dext Innovation Award at The Lloyds British Business Excellence Awards 2026, with its AI-powered interpreting platform, WordSynk Virtual, central to the nomination.
Established in Leeds more than 40 years ago, the business has grown from a traditional translation provider into what it describes as one of the world’s largest technology-enabled language companies, supplying interpreting, translation, localisation and accessibility services at scale. Finalists were announced in July 2026, and winners will be revealed at a ceremony at Grosvenor House in London on 10 November 2026.
Technology built for time critical work
The company’s stated mission is to eradicate communication barriers and make essential services accessible to organisations and communities worldwide. thebigword works across public sector, healthcare, justice, legal, policing, local government, corporate and international enterprise markets, where accurate communication is often time critical and high risk. Clients depend on the firm to support multilingual service users, patients, citizens, customers and employees in both spoken and non-spoken languages. According to its website, the company covers more than 250 languages, and its WordSynk technology is used by clients including British and US government departments.
In a competitive global language services market, the business says it stands apart through secure technology, AI-enabled platforms and deep public sector expertise. WordSynk Virtual, its latest video and audio interpreting platform, offers round the clock access from any device, AI-powered interpreter allocation, automated workflows and rapid reconnection of dropped calls.
The numbers behind the nomination
According to the company, the platform is expected to handle 442,000 interpreting assignments in 2026, a 36 per cent increase on 2025. It also reports that WordSynk Virtual has contributed to a 25 per cent rise in new contracts, booking times that are 40 per cent faster and a customer retention rate of 97 per cent.
The financial picture has strengthened alongside the technology. The business reports that turnover grew from £71.3m in 2024 to £74.2m in 2025, while EBITDA rose from £7.5m to £9.4m over the same period.
Recognition ahead of November
The shortlisting follows a strong 2025 on the industry awards circuit. thebigword was named Company of the Year by the Association of Translation Companies and won Innovation of the Year at the British Business Awards. In an announcement published in October 2025, the company’s newsroom said the Association of Translation Companies had also named it Innovator of the Year for WordSynk Virtual at the trade body’s Language Industry Awards.
thebigword now joins the shortlist for The Dext Innovation Award 2026, one of the categories contested at the Lloyds British Business Excellence Awards, the national programme celebrating UK business achievement. The company says it is continuing to scale internationally while improving access to essential services worldwide, an ambition it will carry into the ceremony this November.
