The directors present the strategic report for the year ended 31 December 2024.

For a greater understanding of the current performance and potential future developments impacting on the company then please refer to the consolidated financial statements of its parent company, thebigword Group Holdings Limited. These are available as disclosed in note 11 to these financial statements.

The company monitors risks formally through the Group risk committee, whose membership is drawn from all areas of the business. The key business risks affecting the group, beyond the challenging macro-economic climate, are retaining our talented pool of linguists and employees and the group’s exposure to foreign exchange risk and credit risk. The company’s approach to mitigation of all these risks is explained within the Directors’ report under financial risk management.

Financial risk management

Financial risk management for the company is managed at a group level. The group's main financial risk management objectives are to ensure it has sufficient working capital and to protect the group against bad debts and adverse movements in interest, inflation and foreign exchange rates.

Management regularly monitor the company and group exposure to movements in inflation and forecast revenue and cost targets accordingly.

The group both buys and sells in foreign currencies, giving exposure to movements in exchange rates where there are inflows and outflows in individual currencies. For significant net exposures, particularly in respect of the US Dollar and the Euro, the directors monitor the potential use of hedging strategies where necessary to minimise exchange gains and losses.

The group transacts with its clients on credit terms and so has exposure to the risk of defaulted debts. However, a large proportion of the client base comprises of blue-chip private sector and public sector clients, which significantly reduces this exposure. The group also follows proactive and robust credit management policies, designed to minimise overdue accounts and the corresponding risk of bad debts.

As the company does not trade the directors do not consider there to be any key performance indicators.

On behalf of the board

The directors present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024.

The principal activity of the company continued to be that of a holding company investing in subsidiaries whose principal activities are the provision of translation services.

The results for the year are set out on page 7.

No ordinary dividends were paid. The directors do not recommend payment of a final dividend.

The directors who held office during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were as follows:

The company has made qualifying third party indemnity provisions for the benefit of its directors during the year. These provisions remain in force at the reporting date.

Going concern

The directors manage the business on a UK group wide basis, "the group", and assess going concern at both a company and group level. The going concern basis of preparation is considered applicable in the financial statements despite the group reporting a loss result for 2024. It is forecast to be profitable during the year ending December 2025 and beyond. The group is also in a strong net asset position and holds a significant positive cash balance.

The directors have considered the forecasted cash flows up to December 2026 and are comfortable with the current performance and the forecast which shows that there will continue to be a positive generation of cash to cover all liabilities which fall due over this period.

The debt within the group is currently made up of a £24.5m term loan which is not due for payment until August 2026. There is also a £5m RCF agreement of which £2m was drawn down in January 2024. These are part of the same agreement and require the same covenant compliance including cashflow cover, adjusted leverage, and guarantor coverage. The continued and forecasted improvements in both EBITDA and cash generation enables the directors to be comfortable that the group will continue to be in compliance with all covenants and that the group will be able to either roll over or replace its debt facilities before their expiry date in August 2026.

Based on the above, the directors have a reasonable expectation that the company will continue as a going concern for the foreseeable future with the necessary resources to do this.

For a greater understanding of the current performance and potential future developments impacting on the company then please refer to the consolidated financial statements of its parent company, thebigword Group Holdings Limited. These are available as disclosed in the Controlling party note in these financial statements.

The auditor, Saffery LLP, is deemed to be reappointed under section 487(2) of the Companies Act 2006.

The directors are responsible for preparing the annual report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the directors have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law).

Under company law the directors must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company and of the profit or loss of the company for that period. In preparing these financial statements, the directors are required to:

• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

• make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the company will continue in business.

The directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Each of the persons who are directors at the time when this Directors' Report is approved has confirmed that:

• so far as the irector is aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the company's auditor is unaware; and

• the irector has taken all the steps that ought to have been taken as a director in order to be aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that the company's auditor is aware of that information.

This report has been prepared in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies entitled to the medium-sized companies exemption.

We have audited the financial statements of thebigword International Limited (the 'company') for the year ended 31 December 2024 which comprise the statement of income and retained earnings, the statement of financial position and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion the financial statements:

• give a true and fair view of the state of the company's affairs as at 31 December 2024 and of its profit for the year then ended;

• have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and

• have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Conclusions relating to going concern

In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the directors' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.

Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the company's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.

Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the directors with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor's report thereon. The directors are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon.

Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of our audit:

• the information given in the strategic report and the directors' report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and

• the strategic report and the directors' report have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the strategic report or the directors' report.

We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

• adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or

• the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or

• certain disclosures of remuneration specified by law are not made; or

• we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.

As explained more fully in the directors' responsibilities statement, the directors are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the directors determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. In preparing the financial statements, the directors are responsible for assessing the company's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the directors either intend to liquidate the company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor's report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The specific procedures for this engagement and the extent to which these are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud are detailed below.

Identifying and assessing risks related to irregularities

We assessed the susceptibility of the company’s financial statements to material misstatement and how fraud might occur, including through discussions with the directors, discussions within our audit team planning meeting, updating our record of internal controls and ensuring these controls operated as intended. We evaluated possible incentives and opportunities for fraudulent manipulation of the financial statements. We identified laws and regulations that are of significance in the context of the company by discussions with directors and by updating our understanding of the sector in which the company operates.

Laws and regulations of direct significance in the context of the company include The Companies Act 2006 and UK Tax legislation.

Audit response to risks identified

We considered the extent of compliance with these laws and regulations as part of our audit procedures on the related financial statement items including a review of financial statement disclosures. We reviewed the company's records of breaches of laws and regulations and correspondence with relevant authorities to identify potential material misstatements arising. We discussed the company's policies and procedures for compliance with laws and regulations with members of management responsible for compliance.

During the planning meeting with the audit team, the engagement partner drew attention to the key areas which might involve non-compliance with laws and regulations or fraud. We enquired of management whether they were aware of any instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations or knowledge of any actual, suspected or alleged fraud. We addressed the risk of fraud through management override of controls by testing the appropriateness of journal entries and identifying any significant transactions that were unusual or outside the normal course of business. We assessed whether judgements made in making accounting estimates gave rise to a possible indication of management bias. At the completion stage of the audit, the engagement partner’s review included ensuring that the team had approached their work with appropriate professional scepticism and thus the capacity to identify non-compliance with laws and regulations and fraud.

There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures described above and the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely we would become aware of it. Also, the risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting one resulting from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, forgery or intentional misrepresentations, or through collusion.

A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: https://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor's report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the company's members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the company's members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the company and the company's members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

thebigword International Limited (‘the Company’) is a holding company investing in subsidiaries whose principal activities are the provision of translation services.

thebigword International Limited is a private company limited by shares incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is Brainworks, Unit 4 - Royds Close, Leeds, England, LS12 6LL.

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with FRS 102 “The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland” (“FRS 102”) and the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the company. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.

The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.

This company is a qualifying entity for the purposes of FRS 102, being a member of a group where the parent of that group prepares publicly available consolidated financial statements, including this company, which are intended to give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of the group. The company has therefore taken advantage of exemptions from the following disclosure requirements:

• Section 7 ‘Statement of Cash Flows’: Presentation of a statement of cash flow and related notes and disclosures;

• Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instrument Issues: Interest income/expense and net gains/losses for financial instruments not measured at fair value; basis of determining fair values; details of collateral, loan defaults or breaches, details of hedges, hedging fair value changes recognised in profit or loss and in other comprehensive income;

The company has taken advantage of the exemption under section 400 of the Companies Act 2006 not to prepare consolidated accounts. The financial statements present information about the company as an individual entity and not about its group.

The truedirectors manage the business on a UK group wide basis, "the group", and assess going concern at both a company and group level. The going concern basis of preparation is considered applicable in the financial statements despite the group reporting a loss result for 2024. It is forecast to be profitable during the year ending December 2025 and beyond. The group is also in a strong net asset position and holds a significant positive cash balance.

The directors have considered the forecasted cash flows up to December 2026 and are comfortable with the current performance and the forecast which shows that there will continue to be a positive generation of cash to cover all liabilities which fall due over this period.

The debt within the group is currently made up of a £24.5m term loan which is not due for payment until August 2026. There is also a £5m RCF agreement of which £2m was drawn down in January 2024. These are part of the same agreement and require the same covenant compliance including cashflow cover, adjusted leverage, and guarantor coverage. The continued and forecasted improvements in both EBITDA and cash generation enables the directors to be comfortable that the group will continue to be in compliance with all covenants and that the group will be able to either roll over or replace its debt facilities before their expiry date in August 2026.

Based on the above, the directors have a reasonable expectation that the company will continue as a going concern for the foreseeable future with the necessary resources to do this.

The group guarantees the continuing operations of thebigword International Limited.

Interests in subsidiaries are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost less any accumulated impairment losses. The investments are assessed for impairment at each reporting date and any impairment losses or reversals of impairment losses are recognised immediately in profit or loss.

A subsidiary is an entity controlled by the company. Control is the power to govern the financial and operating policies of the entity so as to obtain benefits from its activities.

Cash is represented by cash in hand and deposits with financial institutions repayable without penalty on notice of not more than 24 hours. Cash equivalents are highly liquid investments that mature in no more than three months from the date of acquisition and that are readily convertible to known amounts of cash with insignificant risk of change in value.

The company has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.

Financial instruments are recognised in the company's statement of financial position when the company becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.

Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the financial statements, when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.

Basic financial assets, which include debtors, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.

Financial liabilities and equity instruments are classified according to the substance of the contractual arrangements entered into. An equity instrument is any contract that evidences a residual interest in the assets of the company after deducting all of its liabilities.

Basic financial liabilities, including creditors, bank loans, loans from fellow group companies and preference shares that are classified as debt, are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.

Debt instruments are subsequently carried at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method.

Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of business from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

Ordinary shares are classified as equity. Incremental costs directly attributable to the issue of new ordinary shares or options are shown in equity as a deduction, net of tax, from the proceeds.

Dividends and other distributions to the company’s shareholders are recognised as a liability in the financial statements in the period in which the dividends and other distributions are approved by the shareholders. These amounts are recognised in the statement of changes in equity.

The tax expense represents the sum of the tax currently payable and deferred tax.

The tax currently payable is based on taxable profit for the year. Taxable profit differs from net profit as reported in the income statement because it excludes items of income or expense that are taxable or deductible in other years and it further excludes items that are never taxable or deductible. The company’s liability for current tax is calculated using tax rates that have been enacted or substantively enacted by the reporting end date.

Deferred tax liabilities are generally recognised for all timing differences and deferred tax assets are recognised to the extent that it is probable that they will be recovered against the reversal of deferred tax liabilities or other future taxable profits. Such assets and liabilities are not recognised if the timing difference arises from goodwill or from the initial recognition of other assets and liabilities in a transaction that affects neither the tax profit nor the accounting profit.

The carrying amount of deferred tax assets is reviewed at each reporting end date and reduced to the extent that it is no longer probable that sufficient taxable profits will be available to allow all or part of the asset to be recovered. Deferred tax is calculated at the tax rates that are expected to apply in the period when the liability is settled or the asset is realised. Where items recognised in other comprehensive income or equity are chargeable to or deductible for tax purposes, the resulting current or deferred tax expense or income is presented in the same component of comprehensive income or equity as the transaction or other event that resulted in the tax expense or income. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are offset when the company has a legally enforceable right to offset current tax assets and liabilities and the deferred tax assets and liabilities relate to taxes levied by the same tax authority.

Transactions and balances

Foreign currency transactions are translated into the functional currency using the spot exchange rates at the dates of the transactions.

At each period end foreign currency monetary items are translated using the closing rate.

Non-monetary items measured at historical cost are translated using the exchange rate at the date of the transaction and non-monetary items measured at fair value are measured using the exchange rate when fair value was determined.

In the application of the company’s accounting policies, the directors are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.

The following judgements (apart from those involving estimates) have had the most significant effect on amounts recognised in the financial statements.

The company makes estimates and assumptions concerning the future. The resulting accounting estimates will, by definition, seldom equal the related actual results. The estimates and assumptions that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next financial year are addressed below.

The company considers whether investments in subsidiary undertakings are impaired. Where an indication of impairment is identified the estimation of recoverable value requires estimation of the future cash flows and net asset values from the subsidiary undertaking. See note 6 for the carrying amount of investments held.

Auditor's remuneration in respect of audit services (audit of the financial statements) amounting to £4,000 (2023: £3,000) will be borne by Link Up Mitaka Limited, a fellow group undertaking.

In accordance with SI2008/489 the company has not disclosed the fees payable to the company's auditor for 'other services' as this information is included in the consolidated financial statements of thebigword Group Holdings Limited.

The average monthly number of persons (excluding non-remunerated directors) employed by the company during the year was:

The directors' emoluments are paid through the fellow group undertakings Link Up Mitaka Limited and thebigword Inc. and are disclosed in the financial statements of the company's parent undertaking, thebigword Group Holdings Limited.

The actual charge for the year can be reconciled to the expected credit for the year based on the profit or loss and the standard rate of tax as follows:

Details of the company's subsidiaries at 31 December 2024 are as follows:

Registered office addresses (all UK unless otherwise indicated):

Amounts owed by group undertakings are unsecured, interest free and repayable on demand.

Amounts owed to group undertakings are unsecured, interest free and repayable on demand.

Rights preferences and restrictions:

The share carries a voting right and a right to participate in any discretional dividends.

The Company is a subsidiary undertaking of thebigword Group Limited, a company incorporated in Great Britain and registered in England and Wales.

thebigword Group Holdings Limited is the parent company of the largest group for which consolidated financial statements are drawn up.

Copies of the consolidated financial statements of thebigword Group Holdings Limited may be obtained from, Brainworks, Unit 4, Royds Close, Leeds, England, LS12 6LL.

The Directors do not regard there to be any ultimate controlling party due to the ownership structure of the Group.