I’m Helen Robertson and I’m based in Ellon in Aberdeenshire. It’s a return to my birthplace, though I’d been away for nearly six decades before I moved here.

I took the most boring and standard route into translation possible - liked languages at school, studied German at St Andrews University, went on to the University of Kent for a post-graduate diploma where I added Dutch to my first language love, took a job in-house as a translator in Germany, first with an agency, then with tech company Carl Zeiss followed by management consultancy McKinsey & Company. All looked set for a straight path to retirement, then I broke out after a ten-year career and went ostensibly way off track, escaping back to the UK to do a Master’s in Business Administration at the Manchester Business School. Translation recaptured me shortly after graduation. The MBA wasn’t wasted: I grew my own translation business - located in various parts of North Yorkshire - from the small seed of an individual freelancer to a more or less thriving hothouse (literally - computers + large office windows) of translators and admin support, providentially downsizing again just before the big financial crisis. My remaining team members went freelance, I wouldn’t dare compare them to dandelion spores …. .

Translation is a career that moulds to your shape as you grow and change through life. Twenty years ago I was a staunch advocate of down-to-earth product brochures, contracts etc., now I love promotional work and publications. I’m particularly proud of having given talented people a start in their translation careers, and also of my fellowship of ITI.

The Newcastle conference to me looks like a hotbed of inspiration and different thinking. And this time around I will not miss out on the singing translators or the yoga.