OUR STORY
The early steps for founding ORCO were taken by Dr. S.N. Paschentis back in 1982 when he was completing his PhD research at Oxford University. He conceived the idea of starting a management consulting firm in Athens specializing in information technology (IT) and operational research (OR) applications. With the rapid technological developments in those times, the need for organizational innovation and business reorientation created a huge opening in the Greek and European markets.
In January 1983, the company was founded under the official title “Operational Research COnsultants”. Soon its business spanned in fields such as energy, manufacturing, information technology, aviation, government, construction, health, banking & finance.
In 1988, the company made a strategic move by undertaking a large-scale translation project on behalf of a leading IT company and thus entered the translation and localization industry, a sector that soon became its main business activity.
Today, ORCO counts more than 35 years in the translation and localization industry with internationally acknowledged successful results. Our clients include multinational corporations, government institutions, banks, private enterprises, international organizations, and the European Union. Our core business activities include technical, medical, legal, financial, marketing and other scientific translations, as well as software and multimedia localization in various language combinations. ORCO undertakes numerous projects of large volumes reaching an average of 80 million words per year.
In 2002, we started our collaboration with Trados GmbH and became the official reseller of Trados products for Greece, Cyprus, and later Israel, a status that we hold until today under RWS. ORCO has built a solid business and technical infrastructure in order to meet the needs of these markets not only from a commercial viewpoint but also from a technical aspect, as a training center and consultancy provider.
Today, forty years after the initial “Oxford” idea, our company ORCO S.A. is still active and flourishing. We feel proud of the people working with us, who consider their work to be both creative and professionally fulfilling, embracing the company’s vision as their own. And the vision of the company is very simple: to remain one of the best translation service providers ensuring top quality, professional integrity and excellent customer service.
OUR MANAGEMENT TEAM
Heading a 40-strong in-house team and hundreds of external associates, the management of ORCO consists of senior executives with many years of experience in the localization business, and in the production, supervision, coordination, and quality assurance of projects. They are the backbone of ORCO and have associated their career with the growth and success of the company throughout its history.
Dr. Spiros N. Paschentis
Dr. Spiros N. Paschentis
Founder of ORCO in 1983.
Holder of B.Sc. in Chemical Science and B.A. in Economics, both from the University of Athens. Received his M.Sc. in Operational Research from the London School of Economics. Pursued academic research in Chemical Engineering at the University of Cambridge (Darwin College) and in Engineering Science at the University of Oxford (Oriel College) leading to his doctoral degree (D.Phil.). Published several scientific papers in international scientific journals in Europe and the USA.
For many years he was involved in numerous consulting projects both in the public and private sectors and international organizations. Elected President of the Hellenic Operational Research Society (HELORS). Appointed special advisor to the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Technology and has served as BoD member and Chairman of the Public Power Corporation (PPC) of Greece.
By 1988 he opened a new chapter in the company’s activities by undertaking very large translation and localization projects for international IT corporations. This activity soon led to widening the scope of the company and establishing ORCO as one of the first European firms specializing in this market sector. Following this orientation, he then directed the company’s activity towards large international organizations including the EU and the UN.
Christina Leoussi
Christina Leoussi
Christina’s role at ORCO is multifunctional and is primarily responsible for strategy, business development activities, marketing, sales and general operations within the company.
She has been with ORCO for more than 30 years, starting as a business consultant and data analyst before undertaking key-roles focussing on ORCO’s strategy and business development in the language services industry.
She holds an M.Sc. in Operational Research from the London School of Economics and a B.Sc. in Economics and Econometrics from the University of Geneva in Switzerland.
Eleni Theodoratou
Eleni Theodoratou
Eleni joined ORCO in 1995 as a localizer participating in a large software localization project and after a few years moved on to project management. As Production Manager she has been responsible for managing all production lines of the company for more than 15 years. She monitors and supervises all translation and localization projects of the company, always looking into ways to optimize and streamline our teams’ work.
Eleni holds a BA in French Literature from the University of Athens.
Eirini Kostopoulou
Eirini Kostopoulou
Eirini is responsible for managing the operations of ORCO’s EU department. She is also the company’s Quality Manager, overseeing the implementation of ORCO’s Quality Management System according to ISO 9001 and ISO 17100 standards.
She counts 25 years in the language services business and joined ORCO in 1998. Throughout this time, she has taken up many different roles, starting her career as a translator and moving on to project management, quality management and finally to her current role of EU Operations Manager.
She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English and Greek Language and Literature from the Kapodistrian University of Athens and a Master’s Degree in Translation from the University of Surrey, UK.
Jiota Hidiroglou
Jiota Hidiroglou
Jiota is Head of the HR and Accounts Dpt of the company.
She joined ORCO in 1984, as soon as the company was founded and she participated in the development of the finance, human resources and administrative functions in order to support the business operations and growth of the company.
Marisa Lavda
Marisa Lavda
Marisa holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Translation from the Ionian University in Greece and has over 25 years of experience in the field of translations for EU institutions and agencies, having worked as a translator, reviewer, project manager and quality manager.
She joined ORCO in 2012 and is currently responsible for developing the company’s quality policy for EU projects as well as for monitoring the quality aspects of EU contracts execution. She is also responsible for developing and delivering trainings required in this field.
Giorgos Lourakis
Giorgos Lourakis
Giorgos is responsible for monitoring all operational systems, for implementing and maintaining our technology infrastructure and security equipment, as well as for managing and maintaining security policies and procedures, manuals and user guidelines.
He joined ORCO in 2016 and he counts 15 years in the field of technical support and IT management.
He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Planning and Information Systems and a Master’s Degree in Information Technology.
Liana Nikolaidis
Liana Nikolaidis
As Sales & Marketing Coordinator, Liana is committed to the promotion of the company’s services and products. She is involved in all business development activities of the company. In addition, she is responsible for the marketing and promotion of Trados software and translation solutions in the Greek, Cypriot and Israeli markets.
She joined ORCO in 2005 and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in European Civilization from the Hellenic Open University.
Konstantina Papastamatiou
Konstantina Papastamatiou
Konstantina is responsible for recruiting qualified suppliers and personnel according to the needs of the company and the demands of the global translation industry.
She joined ORCO in 2014 and since then she has taken up many different roles in the company, at first as a linguist, project manager and finally as vendor manager.
She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Translation and a Master’s Degree in Theory and Teaching of Translation both from the Ionian University in Greece.
Maria Tagkouli
Maria Tagkouli
As Production Coordinator, Maria supports the Production Manager and collaborates with Senior Localization Project Managers in monitoring project and account viability across all teams. She helps manage vendor relations and resource requirements, supports the mentoring and training of team members, and communicates with both suppliers and clients to ensure that expectations are being met.
Maria counts 18 years in the language services business and joined Orco in 2010 as a Project Manager and Language Lead, handling key strategic accounts and working closely with team members to meet company goals.
Trust
Reliability
Giving Back
Innovation
Caring
AWARDS AND CERTIFICATIONS
At ORCO, the quality of service at all levels of our operation is an issue of paramount importance. We invest considerable effort to maintain the highest possible qualitative standards, a fact which is also evidenced in our successful accreditation according to the ISO 9001, ISO 17100 and ISO 27001 quality standards.
