AaGlobal is marking its 15th year in the city
A team of professional translators in Hull is hoping to attract oversea customers amid a new partnership with Humberside Airport. Shoppers and commuters may have seen adverts for AaGlobal Language Services on digital billboards around the city, and now the King Edward Street firm is hoping to attract the attention of international business travellers with a deal to advertise on the airport’s screens.
As the business marks its 15th year in Hull, where its head offices are based in Stonefield House, it has signed a 12-month agreement with the airport which will run until summer 2026. Bosses are hoping to pique the interest of worldwide businesspeople on some of the airport’s three flights a day to Schipol, the major international air travel hub.
Kirk Akdemir, CEO of AaGlobal, said: “Having established ourselves as the market leader in our region we feel now is the right time to reach out to a wider business audience with our services. The initial digital campaign reflects how we have grown and developed as a business since expanding to Hull in 2011, investing in technology and taking a more innovative approach.
“The partnership with Humberside Airport takes that further and as we enter 2026 will mark an important milestone for AaGlobal. It also enables us to work closely with another key player in the region’s international business community.”
AaGlobal was launched in 1992 by Mr Akdemir, and was initially based in Worcester before its expansion to Hull. The move has grown the firm’s public sector work, with the workforce rising from two to more than 40 and its number of worldwide linguists rising from 6,000 to more than 15,000 and covering more than 500 languages and dialects.
The firm counts major brands such as Toyota, JCB and Unilever among its clients. Its team has helped Toyota with translation services for major conferences held in the UK and Turkey, which brought together top executives from across Europe and Japan.
AaGlobal translators provided simultaneous translation and interpreting services in seven different languages – helping communication inside and outside of the conference hall for more than 200 delegates. As well as its automotive experience the firm has worked in numerous other sectors including education, finance and medical.
Mr Akdemir said: “The public sector is still the biggest part of our client base but our private sector track record remains strong. We have worked at a very high level with many global brands in the past and this will help us build on that by connecting with a wider audience of international business travellers and particularly those flying between Humberside and Schiphol and onwards to more than 150 destinations.
“We want to make more businesses aware of what we do by highlighting the importance to businesses of using professional language services when they are working to deliver their own high calibre services to international clients. Our approach is always to support the highest level of communications in international languages and in the often detailed, technical and specific languages of business.”
Chantelle Akdemir, AaGlobal’s business kdevelopment manager, said: “We are aware there are so many businesses in the Humber region operating internationally and travelling through Humberside Airport and we want to let them know there is a translation company in Hull which works to the level of professionalism which matches their own.
“The campaign in July was the first time we had used digital media to promote the company. We will monitor the impact as we progress and we may look at extending the campaign to other airports in the UK and across other forms of media. It’s important to consider adopting different media for different audiences – the whole process started with the launch of our print brochure at Chamber Expo.”
Tracey Frankish-Creed, business partners and marketing executive at Humberside Airport, said: “We are pleased to welcome AaGlobal, a local business with global reach, on board at Humberside Airport. Together we are helping connect the Humber region to the world.”