Who we are

Boutique localization:
Where human expertise meets cutting-edge tech

Our teams supply clients in various industries with high-quality localization and bespoke content creation.

Since 1987, Alpha CRC has supported the world’s most successful enterprises in their global growth, helping them to create relationships built on trust and excellence.

Founded in 1987 by Isabelle Weiss, who remains linguistic director, Alpha CRC has grown to become one of the world’s leading translation and localization companies. Expanding from a single site in Cambridge, UK, to a global operation spanning continents, the company’s fundamental ethos has nevertheless remained the same. From the start, Alpha CRC was built around a model that focuses on localization as a collaborative undertaking in which multidisciplinary teams of specialists work together to solve problems, exchange ideas, and create better client outcomes.

Alpha Intelligence: Human expertise with the power of tech

Alpha CRC has long lived at the cutting-edge of the localization industry. AI is now offering exciting development potential in the localization industry. That said, we aren’t looking at implementing emerging technology as a wholesale replacement for existing workflows. Alpha CRC believes that the true magic happens when our in-house experts work alongside specially developed AI tools. Our tools are a platform which helps us to brainstorm, to refine, or to free up time to focus on the tasks that will truly benefit from the human touch. We’ve even developed a name for this collaboration: Alpha Intelligence. See what we did there?

Meet our global contacts

Our people are our business, and they support Alpha’s global client base. Meet our leaders around the world: they will support and help you achieve success in every local market.

Vassilis Chamalidis

Location: Cambridge, UK

Role: Chief Executive Officer

Contact Vassilis

 

Bio: Vassilis brings significant international experience to Alpha. He has worked in business development and general management positions in a number of international companies, including Procter & Gamble, Mercer Management Consulting and Brambles Industries in France, Italy, the Czech Republic, and the US. Prior to joining Alpha, Vassilis was the CEO of LinguaNet, a localization company with offices throughout Europe. He holds an MBA from Stanford University and is fluent in English, French, German, Italian, and Greek.

Manfred Sossna

Location: Berlin, Germany

Role: Business Development Manager

Contact Manfred

 

Bio: Business Development Manager with in-depth, 23 years of experience in the documentation and localisation industry, including 10 years at Alpha CRC. Manfred is based in Germany and operates mainly within the automotive and engineering sector.

Dmitri Kanarjov

Location: Tallinn, Estonia

Role: Chief Engineering Officer

Contact Dmitri

 

Bio: Dmitri has degrees in IT and Management. He started his career in 2004 as a Functional QA engineer and spent 8 years working in FQA services. He then spent 6 years as a Localization Project Manager, until becoming Head of QA and Engineering in our Tallinn office.

Manuela Furtado

Location: San Jose, USA

Role: Director, Localization and Globalization

Contact Manuela

 

Bio: Manuela has represented ALPHA in the US for the past 15 years, promoting its profile and growing its portfolio of customers in North America and specifically in the Bay Area. She has consulted clients approaching localization for the first time and supported existing ones in growing their global investment. She started her career as a Project and Account Manager at Int’l in San Francisco and later directed the localization team at Uniscape/Trados with the first GMS workflow solutions. She is a parliamentary interpreter by training and studied Languages, Literature and Communication at the I.U.L.M. University in Milan. She speaks English, Italian and French; loves reading, foreign and independent movies, art history, beautiful cities, and… the shores!

Mette Tingey

Location: Cambridge, UK

Role: Chief Commercial Officer

Contact Mette

 

Bio: Born in Denmark, Mette has been with Alpha for more than 20 years in various production and commercial roles. Throughout her tenure, Mette has held pivotal positions in linguistic QA, project, program, and account management, providing her with a comprehensive understanding of the entire localization process. Her ability to successfully navigate complex projects and manage diverse teams has earned her a reputation for excellence within the industry.

Ken Chang

Location: Cambridge, UK

Role: Head of AI Development

Contact Ken

 

Bio: Ken earned an Honours degree in Computer Science from the University of Bath and has accumulated over 10 years of experience in the localization industry. During his career, he has held various roles, gaining substantial knowledge and expertise in the field. Currently at Alpha, Ken is actively involved in the development of AI-related products and services. His proficiency in Machine Learning, Large Language Models, Natural Language Processing, and Generative AI significantly contributes to the company’s initiatives in the AI sector. Beyond his technical expertise, Ken is passionate about fostering growth and opportunities for the younger generation. He believes in extending opportunities to talented individuals, helping to nurture and develop their skills to adapt in a constantly changing world.

William Schwartz

Location: San Jose, USA

Role: Director Business North America

Contact William

 

Bio: William has over 30 years of international business management experience in software, technology, supply chain, sales, and operations. William’s expertise is in business management, development, strategic supply chain, account management, international operations and manufacturing. He has extensive experience in building, directing and leading high performance international strategic and tactical teams.
As Director of Alpha CRC’s North America business, William builds on his relationships globally to deliver the best experience for Alpha’s Clients. William has a BS in Industrial Technology and Operations Management from California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo. He joined Alpha CRC in 2010.

Min Lin

Location: Shanghai, China

Role: Country Manager

Contact Min

 

Bio: Min has 10 years’ experience in the translation industry. As well as being responsible for the operation of the Shanghai office, including teams and business responsibilities, she is an expert in localization and provides professional consultation to clients or potential clients on any questions related to localization.

Charlotte Virgoe

Location: Cambridge, UK

Role: Chief Operations Officer

Contact Charlotte

 

Bio: Having started her career in localisation on the client side with several multinational companies, Charlotte has now been with Alpha for 15 years. She previously held the roles of Head of Project Management and Account Director and now leads Alpha’s Consumer division, a discrete and growing part of the business.

Dan Martindale

Location: Cambridge, UK

Role: Business Development Manager, Alpha Games

Contact Dan

 

Bio: Dan Martindale works as a Business Development Manager for Alpha Games. He is responsible for developing and building strategic relationships and partnerships with publishers and developers around the world. Dan has been at Alpha for 2 years having previously been a QA Manager and Game Developer & Designer for over 8 years.

Darren Hughes

Location: Cambridge, UK

Role: Director, Alpha Graduate programme

Contact Darren

 

Bio: Darren joined Alpha in 2003 in business development and was instrumental in on-boarding a number of Alpha’s key clients. In more recent years he has played an active role in the restructuring of the organization across a number of departments to meet the demand generated by Alpha’s growth. This includes Operations, HR, Finance and Vendor Management. Currently his role is running the Alpha Graduate programme, as well as supporting Alpha’s Management team in identifying new sales opportunities and HR-related issues.

Renaud Spilmont

Location: Montpellier, France

Role: Country Manager and Sales Consultant

Contact Renaud

 

Bio: Renaud holds a degree from the Ecole Supérieure d’Interprètes et de Traducteurs (ESIT) of Paris and brings more than 25 years in the translation industry as translator and proofreader from German and English into French.
He is our specialist in Automotive and translates technical content for a major player of the industry on a daily basis.
Renaud has held different positions for several LSPs such as Quality Manager, Language Program Manager and has been managing local translation offices for years. At present, manages our French office in Montpellier.
Renaud is an amateur wildlife photographer, loves travelling, sports and good food.

Case studies

Discover more about Enterprise Localization processes and resources covering AI, MT and NMT, Transcreation and Translation, A/V, Graphics and Design, Multilingual Copy and LQA.