Appointments Bi Language (ABL), an agency in London, has won a major new contract for translation, and says it is already feeling the effect of the Olympics in 2012.

"We've had requests for candidates from the Olympic Development Agency," said founder Nicole Debson. She pointed to the need for construction companies to recruit staff, and said this would boost the demand for linguists, especially those with East European languages. She expects this to result in new business soon.

ABL has also just won a major translation contract from Hong Kong-based QI, a holding company with 18 subsidiaries in different sectors. The contract is to translate QI's website articles from English into Arabic, Farsi, Chinese, Indonesian, Cambodian and Portuguese. The contract includes translating additional material daily on the website.

Translation at professional level means the person doing it has to be translating back into their mother tongue. So ABL has had to find people who are native speakers of such languages.

In terms of quantity, finding applicants is not a problem. Debson explains: "We get 250-300 CVs a day." She takes personal responsibility for ensuring that every one is acknowledged, although the exacting demands of assignments mean that not all applicants are placed.

The company gets about 50% of its annual £3.3m revenue from investment banking giants such as Credit Suisse, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs. However, this sector had accounted for 90% in the firm's early days. Despite the increasingly diversified client base, banking remains important to ABL. Debson points to strong demand for back office roles.

ABL employs 26 staff and opened an office in Sydney, Australia, earlier this year to deal with increased trade in countries such as the Philippines. Debson sees great growth prospects in markets such as China, but is wary of some of the "hype".

Debson emphasises a gradual, cautious growth strategy. She has never borrowed money to fund the business, but says that if the right investor came along, this might help it to grow it faster.

Debson founded the company in 1991, in a 50-50 venture with Marie Eichler. They have now been working together for nearly 20 years, having started at another recruiter, Senior Secretaries.