RWS announced its half-year results for the six-month period ending March 31, 2021 on Tuesday, highlighting the company’s significant growth. The company’s revenue during the first half of 2021 (H1 2021) was £324.4 million, nearly double that of H1 2020. In its announcement, RWS stated that it met its board’s expectations for the first half of the year and that it’s confident in the company’s continued growth through the second half of the year.

“It has been a transformational six months for the Group, with the acquisition of SDL positioning us as the global leader in language services and technology,” said Andrew Brode, chairman of RWS. “Against the backdrop of a global pandemic, the integration has progressed rapidly, and to schedule, with a strong management team in place to complete the integration plans.”

Like many other major LSPs, RWS saw significant growth during the Covid-19 pandemic, in spite of the fact that the pandemic hit many other industries quite hard. In November 2020, the UK-based language service provider (LSP) acquired SDL, a move that made RWS the largest LSP in the world. Brode said in the company’s announcement that the acquisition of SDL has allowed RWS to position itself as a “global leader” in the language industry. Since acquiring SDL, RWS also recently announced the revival of the Language Weaver platform, which SDL acquired in TK and retired in 2015.

Alongside the announcement of its steady growth during the last half-year, RWS also announced separately that the company’s chief executive officer (CEO), Richard Thompson will be stepping down from the role. Thompson has been the company’s CEO since 2017, stepping into the role after joining the company in 2012 as its chief financial officer.

“I would like to thank Richard for his significant contribution over the last nine years, during which time he has helped to grow RWS from a £240m market capitalisation in 2012 to over £2.5bn today, and to welcome Ian, who brings a wealth of experience growing substantial people and services businesses globally, both organically and through acquisitions,” Brode said. 

Thompson will be suceeded by Ian El-Mokadem, who will step into the role in July. El-Mokadem has held the position of CEO at numerous companies, including Exova Group, however this will be his first time as CEO of an LSP.

“I look forward to working with Ian and our strong leadership team to continue to drive profitable growth, drawing on the benefits of the SDL acquisition,” Brode said. “With our leading global position and expanded capabilities, scale and reach in our large, growing and fragmented markets, we are confident about the Group’s future prospects.”