Bureau De Traduction Maître F. Tazerouti is the ATC’s Member of the Month

The ATC’s Member of the Month in October 2026 is Bureau De Traduction Maître F. Tazerouti, an Algerian sworn legal translation bureau working between Arabic, French and English, whose founder also happens to be one of the country’s busiest conference interpreters.

We caught up with Farouk Tazerouti, sworn legal translator, conference interpreter and the man behind the bureau in Algeria via Liverpool, to talk about running a language business in a tightly regulated market, the hunt for the next generation of interpreters, and why lifelong learning sits at the heart of everything he does.

Sworn, stamped and seriously regulated

In Algeria, becoming a sworn legal translator is no small undertaking. Candidates need a degree in translation studies, at least five years of proven professional experience working as a translator, and a pass in a national examination. That exam is organised only when the Ministry of Justice decides the country needs more sworn translators: the most recent one took place last year, after a gap of a decade.

Farouk sat it with over ten years’ experience in diplomatic missions, oil and gas and commerce behind him, and opened his bureau in 2009. Today, with a team of three, interns from local universities and a solid group of freelance translators and interpreters, the bureau serves individuals and businesses, translating visa and immigration documents into French and English, and court documents into Arabic, which is now required for anything placed before a judge.

Thirty interpreters? Not in the whole country

Legal translation is only half the story. More than half of the bureau’s revenue comes from conference interpreting, and it is clearly where its founder’s heart lies.

Farouk and his interpreter teams spend much of their time in the booth for UN agencies such as UNICEF and UNHCR, government bodies and private sector clients, and interprets for ministers during high-level visits to Algeria.

Being one of very few providers is commercially advantageous, but organising events is another matter entirely. A major UN event in November will run five parallel workshops in three languages, requiring thirty interpreters. “We don’t even have thirty interpreters in the whole country,” says Farouk. “And many of them also work in embassies or companies, so if you need someone for a five-day event, that can be a real challenge.”

Supporting the next generation is no easier. Interns who try the booth often make up their minds within the first hour. “They see the speaker going fast and us struggling in the booth, and they say: this is not for me. And there goes handing it over to the next generation!”

There is good practice to celebrate, though. Algerian universities now require translation students to complete an internship at a translation bureau, and Farouk always has one or two interns on hand, with him correcting and commenting on their work. “It’s a win-win. They learn on the go and they are work-ready when they graduate. But the offer has to come from both sides. Industry should also go to the universities and say: we need translators, and we really need interpreters.”

Learning for life, and putting Arabic on the map

Farouk joined the ATC a couple of years ago for two reasons: CPD and networking across borders.

“Life is not only about working and making money. It is also about lifelong learning,” he says. “I am obsessed with training and CPD.”

He is also passionate about giving Arabic the profile it deserves in the UK, where it is widely spoken yet underrepresented in professional networks. That fits neatly with the ATC’s commercial collaborations work helping trade associations reach Arabic-speaking export markets, and Farouk has already volunteered his expertise. “And not only the Middle East,” he points out. “North Africa is Arabic-speaking too. It’s the whole MENA region.”

For Farouk, it all forms one chain. “Markets won’t develop without properly trained translators, and translators won’t develop if languages are not valued. That’s why training matters so much, not just at university but long afterwards.”

Farouk Tazerouti was in conversation with ATC CEO Raisa McNab.