Longtime language industry executive Simon Yoxon-Grant takes over from Scott W. Klein after a highly successful 12-year run.
Monterey, CA – 24 September 2024 – LanguageLine Solutions, the world leader in language access and innovation, has announced a leadership transition, with Simon Yoxon-Grant taking the helm as the company’s new president and CEO, succeeding Scott W. Klein.
Klein will now dedicate his full attention to his role as CEO of Teleperformance Specialised Services, a position he has also held for the past five years. As a member of the Teleperformance Office of the CEO, Klein will continue to oversee growth and strategic opportunities at the five Specialised Services organisations, which include:
End of an Era
Klein’s departure from the day-to-day operations at LanguageLine marks the end of a remarkable 12-year tenure, during which he directed the transformation of the company both financially and operationally. Under Klein’s leadership, LanguageLine has seen exponential growth, meeting the demands of a more diverse Western world.
The company recently surpassed one billion minutes of interpretation in a single year, and the number of linguists on its roster has grown from 3,000 to approximately 36,000. LanguageLine’s revenues grew almost six-fold under Klein’s leadership, with the company maintaining a client-retention rate of over 98 percent. Klein also spearheaded major technological investments that have ensured LanguageLine remains at the forefront of innovation in the industry. The company has been named a Great Place to Work for five consecutive years.
Klein’s leadership extended beyond operational excellence. In 2016, he oversaw the sale of LanguageLine to Teleperformance for $1.52 billion, more than doubling the price paid for any other language solutions company.
“It has been the honour of a lifetime to lead the finest language access team on the planet these past 12 years,” Klein said. “I have consistently reminded our team that there are two kinds of companies: those that change and those that go out of business. We have evolved more times than I can count, and our relentless focus on continuous improvement has created the largest and best language access company of our kind.
“Turning over leadership to Simon allows me to assume my new role with full confidence that the company is in good hands. I look forward to working with him as he assumes his new responsibilities.”
Extensive Experience
Yoxon-Grant steps into the role of president and CEO with extensive experience in the language access industry and beyond. Most recently, he served as CEO of TLSContact, successfully navigating the company through the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought the travel and tourism industry to a standstill. The company managed to rebuild under his watch and has since delivered exceptional results.
Before joining TLSContact, Yoxon-Grant spent much of his career at LanguageLine, holding key executive roles in sales and marketing across both the United Kingdom and United States. His return to LanguageLine marks a full-circle moment as he now assumes leadership of a company he helped shape.
“I’m excited and grateful for this homecoming,” Yoxon-Grant said. “I began my tenure with this company almost 25 years ago, and after a five-year hiatus, I’m thrilled to return to LanguageLine as president and CEO. Few companies, if any, benefit society more than LanguageLine does, and I am immensely privileged to rejoin our team in seeking to create a world in which language and cultural barriers no longer exist.”
The Challenge Ahead
LanguageLine continues to thrive as a global leader in language access, recently climbing to the No. 2 position globally in the $56 billion language services industry, according to independent market research firm CSA Research. The company remains the world’s largest provider of spoken-word interpretation, a title it has held since 2019, according to Nimdzi Insights.
“Simon knows the LanguageLine business and our industry well,” Klein said. “He is more than ready to take over and lead the next chapter of LanguageLine’s growth and success.”
Yoxon-Grant expressed his enthusiasm for leading LanguageLine into the future.
“The communities we serve have never been more diverse, and our industry has never been more competitive,” he said. “My intention is for LanguageLine to not just maintain its leadership position, but extend it. I’m eager to guide this evolution alongside our leadership team.”
About LanguageLine Solutions
LanguageLine has been the world’s foremost provider of language access solutions since 1982. The company offers industry-leading phone, video remote, and onsite interpreting, as well as translation, localisation, and testing and training for bilingual staff and interpreters. With a team of over 40,000 professional linguists, LanguageLine is committed to enabling communication and promoting understanding across languages and cultures, 365 days a year. As it spearheads the digital transformation of language access, LanguageLine is the preferred provider to the Fortune 100, North America’s top hospital systems, as well as federal, state, and local agencies in English-speaking countries around the world.
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