Bill Wilson is Chairman and Managing Director of North West Interpreters Limited. Bill oversees the operation of the business and is responsible for the sales and marketing functions.

Bill led the team of volunteers and community workers in the Holy Trinity area of Ashton under Lyne who created North West Interpreters more than ten years ago. When Bill met the first group of unemployed people in a church hall in Ashton he immediately saw the incredible range of knowledge and skill  they possessed and was very angry that these did not seem  to be recognized or valued  by society.

The first group  included people from many different backgrounds and cultures and many different nationalities. including Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Egyptian,  Polish,  Somali, Congolese, and Ethiopian.

The group shared an enormous appetite for learning and, besides their mother tongue, spoke English and many other languages as well.

With support from Tameside Council and training from the WEA, Bill enabled the group to qualify as Community Interpreters and formed our Social Enterprise company; North West Interpreters Limited

Before working as a business adviser specialising in Social Enterprise, Bill had been self employed as a director of his own and family companies for over twenty years.

Whilst earning his living in the private sector Bill devoted much of his own time to working as a volunteer with charities and other community organizations. He was an early supporter of Lifeshare in Manchester and helped found Manchester Action on Street Health many years ago. Bill was a Director of Hyde community action and Tameside Third Sector Coalition.

Bill Wilson - in disguise!

He was a founding director of Tameside Home Services Ltd (Tameside’s most successful Social Enterprise)

Bill blends significant small business experience with a passionate drive to help others.

He is currently Vice Chair of the international charity, The Optimists, based in New York. The Optimists work to support the education of over 400 disadvantaged children in Bangladesh. He is Chief Adviser to the UK Optimists organisation.

Bill spent a month in Bangladesh two years ago and will return soon to build a community business with village weavers in a Monipuri village in rural Bangladesh.

Community support in Bangladesh

Bill is a director of Gortonia Republic of Art Limited CIC and a general committee member of its sister community association. Bill retains directorships in family businesses.

Bill lives with his extended family on the edge of the Peak District National Park and is often to be found cooking for family and friends. With children aged between eleven and forty-something, the Wilson household is rarely dull.

Growing up near Maine Road, Bill is, by default, a Manchester City supporter and occasionally enjoys a football match though his first sports love is Ice Hockey, with his son Tom playing for the Manchester Universities club and his grandson Max having captained England to their best ever 2^nd place in the world championships a couple of years ago.

Grandson number one, BJ ,combines studying medicine at Keele with helping run the Tameside basketball club and training the junior teams. The undoubted sport star is however Bill’s grand daughter Isabella who combines playing basketball with riding and caring for her pony (appropriately called Billy)

As a man of the sixties, Bill loves to listen to the voices of his generation most especially Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Leonard Cohen.

Bill’s wife Diane says that they occasionally sneak off to their favorite hotel on the river Tay near Perth in Scotland where Bill can practice his latest hobby of fly fishing and we can watch the grass grow for a few days.

Despite his diverse and full life, Bill continues to maintain a strong commitment to NWI.

When you contact North West Interpreters you know you will be in good hands.

Forhana Ahmed is the Company Secretary and Operations Manager for North West Interpreters. She is a fluent Sylheti (Bangla) speaker and has worked for NWI since 2006.

Initially working as a volunteer with NWI Forhana took a contract with the company. She now has responsibility for all day-to-day management of the service and provides the primary contact with our clients. Forhana has unrivalled knowledge of our team of translators and interpreters enabling her to make the perfect match between client and team member.

With previous experience in the banking sector,  Forhana has an especial eye for detail and ensures that the often complex and sensitive nature of our work is completed to the clients satisfaction. Forhana maintains our database of interpreters and translators checking the accreditations and qualifications of applicants and ensuring compliance to company guidelines and statutory requirements (including CRB checks where appropriate.)

Forhana follows up the issuing of job instructions with both client and interpreter to ensure that all a clients needs are met, she then logs feedback into our system. She also occasionally completes interpreter assignments when her particular expertise in the children’s sector is needed.

From her earliest years in south Manchester Forhana was learning about business from her father Sajidur Rahman one of the North’s leading Sylheti entrepreneurs owner of the now famous Chittagong restaurant in the Salford of the sixties.

As a mother of four and an enthusiastic cook Forhana could rewrite the book on work-life balance, juggling the needs of two school age boys and the demands of teenage daughters. The board of directors always look forward to meetings as Forhana is often accompanied by dishes of her favourite Bengali food creations

Forhana became interested in interpreting when her eldest son was hospitalised as a baby and she was introduced to the complexities of the National Heath Service and all it can provide. She was concerned when she was asked to help other Bengali people with little or no English struggling with the information needs of clinical and administration staff. Her skills were soon in demand more widely as other health care professionals began to recognise her talent and value her understanding. When North West Interpreters was launched, Forhana joined a group of volunteers to help develop the business. As the fledgling social business struggled in this strange new world, it benefited from the support of many volunteers, including Forhana and her businessman husband.

When you contact North West Interpreters you know you will be in good hands.