Biel/Bienne’s text agency since 2005
Sandra Lo Curto, a former journalist and public relations expert with over 30 years of experience, created SCRiBE on 1 October 2005, at the same time as her communications agency. Her command of three languages and her close relationship with translation and proofreading professionals quickly made SCRiBE a leading translation and proofreading agency with a client base across Switzerland. The choice of Biel for our headquarters is no coincidence: this bilingual city on the border between German and French-speaking Switzerland, where the founder also lives, symbolises her intentions.
Initially located at Hauserpark (near the Omega headquarters), SCRiBE moved to Brügg, on the site of Notz Metal Ltd. In 2010, it finally moved to Quai du Bas 23, a mere 5-minute walk from the main railway station. Since 2017, the agency has been a Sàrl (LLC).
Languages were already important in Antiquity
The first great cultures in human history, such as the Phoenicians, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, attached great importance to writing and formulating texts. However, this practice was only limited to a handful of experts, known as scribes at that time. Today, several thousand years later, we have all become scribes of sorts. At the computer, we generate a myriad of texts, intended for other people to read. But are these texts composed correctly? Do they express what they are supposed to say?
SCRiBE offers professional text services including editing, proofreading, editorial services and translating.
Scribe n. [lat. scriba, scribere, engl. to write; cf. gr. ska`rifos – a splinter, pencil, style (for writing), engl. scarify] One who writes; a draughtsman; a writer for another; especially an official or public writer; an amanuensis or secretary; a notary; a copyist.
The agency with a heart and mind
What makes SCRiBE stand out? Without doubt our love of language, or rather languages!
And the high-quality network of translators and proofreaders who work for us, some of them since the very beginning. We pay our freelancers in Switzerland and abroad a decent rate and regularly take on paid interns who are finishing their studies in Translation at university. We are convinced that valuing our network is part of achieving better quality in all we do.
Aspiring to excellence
Another element which distinguishes us is our everyday use of many languages, job after job, with passion and intelligence!
Since we aim for linguistic excellence, we sometimes go over our texts several times before delivery, while always respecting deadlines.
Not only do we apply the “four-eyes” principal with a native-speaker checking conformity with the original, we sometimes have a third or even a fourth person carry out stylistic improvements too. This is particularly important for websites, magazines, flyers or advertising brochures.
Don’t hold a grudge against us …
… if we sometimes turn down a job. The excellence we aim for means we have to know our limits in terms of deadlines and quality assurance.
We are therefore unable to accept a 30-page text to be translated for the next day as we would have to split it between several translators and this would affect the quality and the coherence of the end result. This is something we do not accept.
We prefer to have limits in terms of our professional ethics and respect for language. In the end, this is also in the best interests of our clients.