April News

A leading Midlands businesswoman has returned to the region and bought back the company she started almost 30 years ago.

Isabella Moore – who rose to become the first female president of the British of Chambers of Commerce – has teamed up with her daughter Sophie Howe and colleague Hazel Stewart to buy Comtec, a leading translation and language services company.

Moore, who was awarded the CBE for services to commerce, has left her role as the chief executive of the National Centre for Languages – the body which promotes and monitors the teaching of languages at all levels of education – to develop the business in Leamington Spa.

Her daughter was a management consultant, based in London, working across a range of industries, industry in London while Hazel Stewart was responsible for finance and administration at Comtec.

Moore sold the company to American owned Dictations and Transcriptions Ltd in 2002 but is now looking to grow it as a stand-alone enterprise.

She said: “I have spent four years working in the public sector specialising in all aspects of language education in the UK. It was a very valuable experience and, I believe, will better equip me to help build Comtec, which has always been my first business love.

“Sophie has gained extensive experience in industry while Hazel continued to work for Comtec after we sold it, and she knows the business inside out.”

Moore, an AWM Board member for 6 years, started the business in 1981 developed an extensive range of clients in the automotive, high-tech engineering, environmental and public sectors.

The company uses a network of approved translators across the world and can translate work into more than 200 languages.

Howe said: “Comtec has an excellent reputation for its level of expertise and service and we now aim to take it to the next level while staying true to those principles.

“We believe there is a real opportunity to expand the company and already we are winning work in new sectors including automotive, environmental sciences, education and training and high-tech manufacturing technologies

“We undertake mainly technical work and our clients include blue chip names such as Jaguar, Marks and Spencer and Virgin, as well as a host of other companies across the UK.

“Although Comtec has always been based in Leamington, we could have relocated but we believe that the Midlands offers great potential for growth because of the number of companies who are trading across Europe and beyond.

“Word has already spread that we have a new management team in place and that Isabella is back with the company again and we are winning new clients as well as doing more work with existing companies.”

The company has moved from its previous base in Dormer Place and is now located in Brandon Parade.