WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
In 1982, a little girl from Lithuania sold seeds at the local market
It wasn’t long before she became a pioneering trader led by her principles of trust. In fact, she was one of the first to demand better working conditions for her fellow ‘hawkers’, or market sellers. But it was her groundbreaking idea for a precision language services company that brought our founder, Jurga Zilinskiene, to the UK.
In the years since, Guildhawk has grown into a business that employs thousands of translators across the world for hundreds of clients. We put our continued success down to the value we still place on trust, all these years after that little girl started selling seeds. In 2019, we were awarded a Queen’s Award for International Trade in recognition of our work’s value in breaking down global barriers. Today, we’re ready to put all our experience to work for you.
2001
Our CEO and founder, Jurga Žilinskienė, launches the business with £13,000 of her own savings.
2003
The company’s rapid success leads to Jurga winning a Shell LiveWire Award for young entrepreneurs.
2004
Guildhawk identifies the world’s most difficult word to translate as ‘Ilunga’ from the Tshiluba language spoken in southeastern DR Congo.
2005
Work begins on developing Version 1.0 of the QCS+ digital project management software platform.
2006
Our Lithuanian office opens during a UK trade mission later recognised by the monarchy.
2012
Guildhawk sponsors the Courage & Benevolence Ball at the Café de Paris with Sir Timothy Ackroyd in aid of the Debra Charity.
2013
2013 Guildhawk becomes the first language services company in the world to be accredited under ISO 27001.
2013
Guildhawk stages Dracula in the Dark, an adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel with Roger James Elsgood, Sir Timothy Ackroyd and John Challis.
2014
Guildhawk forges bilateral trade between the UK and Texas, hosting the GHWCC trade mission to the UK.
2015
Guildhawk wins the COBCOE “Make Europe Work!®” Award for Breakthrough Trade.
2016
Guildhawk graduates from the Goldman Sachs 10K Businesses programme.
2017
Guildhawk recruits the world’s first emoji translator, Keith Broni.
2018
Jurga Žilinskienė is included on 100 Lithuanian Women, a list of inspirational female leaders.
2019
Guildhawk sponsors the Uzupis Constitution written in the Scottish Gaelic language to mark 20 years of continuous promotion of Scottish traditions and culture in Lithuania.
2019
Chatham House invites Guildhawk’s CEO to address Shaping the Future We Want: Female Leadership – What it Means.
2019
Guildhawk visits the Guildhall to sponsor prestigious police awards for 15th year.
2019
The Prince of Wales invites Guildhawk to attend Buckingham Palace for Queen’s Award reception.
2019
Guildhawk CEO is invited to Brexit discussions with Prime Minister Boris Johnson at Number 10 Downing Street.
2019
In recognition of our achievements, we are honoured to receive a Queen’s Award for International Trade.
2019
Guildhawk CEO Jurga Žilinskienė is awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to international trade.
2020
Guildhawk promotes relations between the UK and Lithuania, sponsoring the prestigious Burns Night Supper at Vilnius with the British Ambassador.
2020
Guildhawk and Sheffield Hallam University forge new Knowledge Transfer Partnership with support from Innovate UK to build powerful new software platform.
2020
Guildhawk launches Guildhawk Aided – the first in a series of technology-focused service offerings.
2020
Sir Charlie Mayfield’s Be the Business movement appoints Guildhawk’s CEO as a global ambassador and UK regional lead for Yorkshire.
2020
Following the success of its other technology offerings, Guildhawk launches its content authoring solution, Text Perfect.
2021
Guildhawk CEO Jurga Žilinskienė is named on list of 8 women who changed the history of technology.
Why we exist
We believe the world is better when we work together as one – rather than against each other. We exist to unite people through language.
Most organisations depend on hiring talent from outside. We believe in harnessing the ambition of our own people and creating opportunities for them. We encourage everyone at Guildhawk to dream harder and achieve great things.
Because the lives, careers and wellbeing of our people matters to us, we offer training to help them realise their full potential and reach positions where they can flourish. Being challenged, meanwhile, helps us grow and broaden our horizons. We provide a platform from which our people can push themselves further in a safe environment.
Clients and other organisations feel safe working with our people because they know that their business is being looked after by professionals – always with a level of care that we love to show in our work.
Careers at Guildhawk
Do you have a love and passion for language? To enquire about joining our team of trusted specialists in translation, project management, business development and technology, please get in touch.