Contract Translation Services UK

What is a contract translation service?

Global LTS provides certified contract translation services for businesses, law firms, and individuals dealing with cross-border agreements. We translate NDAs, employment contracts, shareholder agreements, M&A documentation, franchise agreements, and terms and conditions from and into 120+ languages. All translations are completed by qualified legal translators with subject-matter expertise, certified to ISO 17100:2015, and accompanied by a signed Certificate of Accuracy. Our contract translation services sit within our broader legal translation services — for litigation documents, court filings, and immigration paperwork, see that page.

Types of Contract We Translate

 Non-Disclosure Agreements

NDAs are among the most time-sensitive contract translation requests we receive. Whether for an M&A process, a new supplier relationship, or an employment arrangement, a poorly translated NDA can leave obligations undefined or unenforceable in the target jurisdiction. Our translators understand the legal effect of confidentiality provisions across different legal systems and translate accordingly.

 Employment Contracts

Employment contracts for staff working across borders must reflect both the governing law of the contract and the employment law requirements of the jurisdiction where the employee works. We translate employment contracts for multinationals, HR departments, and law firms, working in all EU languages and beyond.

Shareholder and Investment Agreements

Shareholder agreements, subscription agreements, and investor term sheets require precise handling of financial and corporate law terminology. Mistranslated provisions around drag-along rights, anti-dilution clauses, or exit mechanics can create significant disputes. We work with corporate law firms and in-house legal teams on transaction documentation across jurisdictions.

Mergers and Acquisitions Documentation

M&A transactions generate large volumes of contract documentation — sale and purchase agreements, warranties and indemnities, disclosure letters, and ancillary agreements — across multiple languages and often under tight deal timelines. We have experience handling M&A documentation packages with fast turnaround and strict confidentiality as standard.

 Franchise Agreements

Franchise agreements involve complex provisions around territorial rights, intellectual property licensing, operational standards, and dispute resolution. For franchisors expanding internationally or franchisees taking on foreign-law agreements, accurate translation is essential before signature. All franchise translation projects are handled under NDA.

Terms and Conditions

Website terms, service agreements, and consumer-facing terms and conditions require translation that reflects both legal accuracy and the natural register of the target language. Consumer protection requirements vary by jurisdiction — terms drafted for a UK audience may need structural adaptation, not just translation, for use in EU markets.

Common mistakes people make when working with contract translation services

According to Contract Counsel, the three main challenges of contract translation are language subjectivity, differences in legal systems between countries and subject matter complexities. Pay attention to these when dealing with a contract translation company.

Language is not objective

It often happens that words don’t have their direct equivalent in other languages. This means translators need to use more than one word to convey the same meaning. For this reason, we only use professional legal translators for your contract translation projects. They have experience in which phrases and clauses work best in the target countries and languages.

Differences in legal systems

For instance, France’s legal system is Civil Law and the United States legal system is Common Law. This can create situations where some clauses in translated contracts will not be applicable. Only professional and experienced translators will be able to translate contracts with the appropriate understanding of these differences.

Subject matter complexities

When translating business agreements, especially for technical manufacturing deals or the pharmaceutical industry, translators need to know both the legal and the scientific terminology to create a high-quality technical translation.

Our translators understand business terminology, can translate complex documents with scientific terminology and are legal experts.

Case studies

Category: Legal

Description: Legal compliance

Clients: Hughes Technologies

Source Languages: French, Dutch, Romanian, Slovak, Russian, Norwegian, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Turkish

Target Languages: English

Hughes Technologies is a leading supplier of broadband satellite terminals. Some of their clients include Tesco and BP garages, where their technology is used in customer payment systems.

Global LTS assists them whenever they receive legal documents from countries in which they operate their systems. This can include regulatory guidelines, new legislation etc. Our translators make sure the Hughes legal team has access to certified English translations of these documents. We sometimes translate from English back to the source language too when such correspondence is required.

Category: Legal Translation Services
Description: Written Translation
Client: Woodfines LLP

Size of the project: 5,000 words of Spanish to English translation

Woodfines is a firm of solicitors based in Bedford, Cambridge, and Milton Keynes, providing legal services for both commercial businesses and individuals.

Our cooperation started in 2017 and the most recent project involved translation of legal documents from Spanish into English.

Category: Legal Translation Services

Description: Written Translation of Case Documents

Clients: Heald Solicitors

Source Languages: Bengali, German

Target Languages: English

In this example, our customer had a client who was selling a business. To assist with the case, they needed a number of documents translated from Bengali and German to English.

The translation was carried out by a specialist legal translator to ensure that the translated document contained the correct terminology.

Category: Legal Translation Services

Description: Written Translation of Tender Documentation

Clients: Airborne Systems

Languages: French to English translation & English to French translation

Airborne Systems is the world leader in the provision of military parachutes from design through manufacture.

Airborne Systems is the world leader in the provision of military parachutes from design through manufacture.
We have helped Airborne Systems with a tender process. The inital French tender documentation was reviewed at the client’s offices. After the initial assessment, the most crucial parts were translated from French into English. And, the Airborne Systems’ reply to the tender was translated from English into French.