From Seeds to Software
In 1982, a little girl from Lithuania sold seeds at her 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 ground-breaking idea to unite people through language and better software solutions that inspired Jurga Zilinskiene, to found our company in 2001.
In the years since, Guildhawk has grown into a business that unites thousands of translators across the world. Moreover, we are inspiring the next generation of young people to learn languages and become entrepreneurs or ‘hawkers’ like our founder.
We make AI work for people.
We design and develop artificial intelligence software and create human and SaaS Machine Translation solutions that save lives, and increase productivity. Our vision is make smart cities of the future safer, happier places for generations to come. Let us help you create a better world.
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 and Jurga is recognised by HRH Prince Phillip for creating and leading the first UK trade mission to Lithuania.
2012
Guildhawk creates and hosts 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 the international standard for information security.
2013
To promote the arts, 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, planning and 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 named as one of the 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, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II honoured Guildhawk with the Queen’s Award for International Trade.
2019
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II honours Guildhawk CEO Jurga Žilinskienė with the MBE for services to international trade in her Queen’s Birthday Honours List
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 a 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 software solution, Text Perfect.
2021
Guildhawk CEO Jurga Žilinskienė is named on list of 8 women who changed the history of technology.
2021
Launch of Guildhawk Voice multilingual avatar presenters that turn text into speech in over 60 languages
2021
Guildhawk Voice multilingual avatar officially launches the new Joint Venture partnership with Gammon Construction Hong Kong supported by the UK Department for International Trade
2021
Historic moment as Guildhawk Voice avatar provides Chairman’s address at the AGM of the Fraud Advisory Panel
2022
Sheffield Hallam University appoints Jurga Zilinskiene as their new Entrepreneur-in-Residence, to help support women and businesses in technology
2022
Innovate UK Scaleup Programme selects Guildhawk onto the initiative to help the company scale up its world leading digital technologies
Language is an infinite journey of discovery
“When you open the doors to language you embark on an extraordinary journey that presents infinite possibilities for you, your business and future generations. Open that door.”
Jurga Zilinskiene MBE
What the children’s journey means
Trusted in Any Language
You can trust Guildhawk to help you solve even the most complex problem because we care about the future. Our teams combine expertise in language and culture with technology and industry. Safety of people, the environment and data will always be vital so we constantly seek to introduce solutions that are better and safer than anyone else. We don’t stand still, our project management systems are dynamic and thus make us completely agile and rigorously reliable. We care just as much as you do about getting it right, first time. Because when our clients thrive, we do too. So here’s to thriving, and building a better world!
Why we exist
We believe the world is better when we work together as one – rather than against each other. We exist to improve lives 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 deep respect for people and our planet that we love to show in our work.
Careers at Guildhawk
Do you have a love and passion for language, coding and how they can make our world a better place? To enquire about joining our team of trusted specialists in translation, project management, business development and technology, please get in touch.