Lifeline Language Services has won a £250,000 tender for “Translation & Transcription Services” for a large EU department (we’re not allowed to say which), running for 2 years from November 2014, to deliver language support for casework right across Europe. But it was a close thing…
Managing Director Lynn Everson says: “We’ve already handled some thousand pages and 10 languages for this client following a previous smaller tender win, and being selected for the next, much bigger, phase is really exciting! We know this time we were up against tough competition from other big players right across Europe; however, the tender authorities seem to have recognized our exceptional capability and experience in translation and transcription in their languages – we actually handle over 150. The award notification says our submission scored 97% against the tender’s technical criteria!”
However, it almost didn’t happen – despite being despatched in plenty of time, the vital tender documents disappeared somewhere in transit. Alex – Lifeline’s Customer Manager for this client – picks up the story:
“We were checking constantly whether the documents had arrived, and time was ticking by… we realised they probably wouldn’t get there, which would be instant disqualification. The client had already told us they wouldn’t accept an emailed version, even in these circumstances – then we had an idea that the local UK Embassy may be able to help! We tracked down the number, called and explained the situation, and the Embassy staff were GREAT – we could email the documents across to them, where they were printed off, bound and packaged, then labelled to the EU’s (challenging!) requirements and bundled into an Embassy car to arrive with literally 10 minutes to spare!”
A large bouquet will shortly be winging its way to the Embassy in question, with grateful thanks from a very pleased (and relieved) Lifeline Language Services!
Lynn wraps up: “My husband Mark (our Production Director) and I were on holiday while all this was happening so couldn’t do anything to help – but we didn’t need to. We’re proud of the way our team rose to the challenge and beat the odds to this great win – there’s no substitute for having good people!”
Photo: Production Director Mark Everson holds the winning tender pack
