RWS HOLDINGS PLC
RWS Holdings plc is a public limited company registered in England and Wales under company number 03002645, incorporated on 16 December 1994. Its current status on the Companies House register is active, and its registered office is RWS Compass House, Vanwall Business Park, Vanwall Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 4UB.
RWS Holdings plc is a technology-enabled language, content and intellectual-property services company. It combines artificial-intelligence tools with human linguistic and technical expertise to provide translation and localisation, content management, and patent translation, search and filing services to businesses operating internationally, serving customers across sectors including life sciences, technology, automotive and finance.
The RWS business traces its origins to 1958, when it was founded as M.H. Randall & Partners, a specialist translation company. The group in its current form was created through a 1982 merger with the patent- and technical-information business Woolcott & Co. On 4 November 2020, RWS Holdings plc completed an all-share combination with SDL plc, a competing language-technology group, in a transaction valued at approximately £854 million, substantially expanding the company’s international operations and software offering.
RWS Holdings plc is listed on AIM, a market operated by the London Stock Exchange, under the ticker symbol RWS.
For the financial year ended 30 September 2025, RWS Holdings plc reported group revenue of £690.1 million, a decrease of approximately 4% on the prior year, with adjusted profit before tax of £60.4 million, down from £106.7 million. For the six months ended 31 March 2026, the group reported revenue of £360.3 million, up 5% year-on-year, adjusted EBITDA of £45.7 million, up 20%, and adjusted profit before tax of £24.0 million, up 33%. The company has reported that AI-related services accounted for approximately 32% of group revenue in this period. These figures represent consolidated group results rather than the standalone results of RWS Holdings plc as a legal entity.
On 6 January 2025, Benjamin Faes joined RWS Holdings plc as Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Ian El-Mokadem.
- Company fundamentals
- Corporate linkage & group structures
- Digitized company financials
- Firmographics — websites, social profiles, revenue and employee estimates
Shareholders
RWS Holdings plc is a publicly listed company on AIM, London Stock Exchange, so its shareholder register is not filed in full at Companies House. Instead, holders whose stake crosses the 3% disclosure threshold under the FCA’s Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules (DTR5) must notify the company via a TR-1 form, which is released to the market as a regulatory announcement (RNS).
The largest disclosed individual shareholder is Andrew Brode, a long-standing RWS director since April 2000, reported to hold approximately 24.4% of issued share capital. Other disclosed significant holders include Liontrust Asset Management plc (approximately 10.6%) and Jupiter Fund Management plc (approximately 3.65%), based on aggregated market shareholding data rather than a directly retrieved individual TR-1 filing for each holder. Octopus Investments Limited notified a holding of 25,941,418 shares, equal to 6.99% of voting rights, in a TR-1 filing dated 12 August 2026, down from a previously disclosed 7.03%.
This is a major-shareholders-only disclosure regime: only stakes at or above the 3% notification threshold are visible, and the complete shareholder base, including retail and smaller institutional holders, is not publicly enumerated.
### Ultimate beneficial ownership
Companies House records a live statement, first notified on 5 November 2020, that RWS Holdings plc “knows or has reasonable cause to believe that there is no registrable person or registrable relevant legal entity” with significant control. This is consistent with the company’s widely held share register: its largest disclosed individual shareholder, Andrew Brode, holds an estimated 24.4%, below the 25% ownership or voting-rights threshold that would normally trigger PSC registration. Mr Brode was previously registered as a PSC, with more than 25% but not more than 50% of shares and voting rights, from 26 June 2017 until 4 November 2020, when his notified control ceased around the time of the SDL combination. No individual currently meets the criteria for a registrable UBO.
### Data availability
Major shareholders only: UK-listed company disclosure rules make holdings at or above 3% visible via TR-1 notifications, but the full shareholder register is not public. Companies House PSC data is current as of the live statement above; retrieved 16 September 2026.
### Sources
– Companies House, persons with significant control filing, https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/03002645/persons-with-significant-control, retrieved 16 September 2026
– Kalkine Media, “Octopus Investments Lowers Stake in RWS Holdings Plc to 6.99% After August 2026 Share Disposal”, https://kalkinemedia.com/uk/news/announcements/octopus-investments-lowers-stake-in-rws-holdings-plc-to-699-after-august-2026-share-disposal, retrieved 16 September 2026
– MarketScreener, RWS Holdings plc shareholders, https://www.marketscreener.com/quote/stock/RWS-HOLDINGS-PLC-39431602/company-shareholders/, retrieved 16 September 2026
Officers
5
Companies House records 8 active officers for RWS Holdings plc, comprising 7 directors and 1 company secretary, alongside 35 resigned officers in the company’s filing history. The current board includes Chief Executive Officer Benjamin Faes, appointed 6 January 2025, and longstanding director Andrew Brode, who has served since 10 April 2000. Company Secretary Jane Hyde has held that role since 3 October 2022. The most recent board change is the appointment of director Stephen Lamb on 2 March 2026. This information is drawn from the live Companies House register, retrieved 16 September 2026.
### Recent officer changes
– Appointment: Stephen Lamb appointed as director, effective 2 March 2026 (Source: Companies House).
– Appointment: Benjamin Faes appointed as director and Chief Executive Officer, effective 6 January 2025, succeeding Ian El-Mokadem (Source: Companies House; RWS Holdings plc press release, “Benjamin Faes joins RWS as Chief Executive Officer”).
– Resignation: Ian El-Mokadem resigned as director, effective 6 January 2025 (Source: Companies House).
### Data availability
Full: Companies House publishes current and historical officer appointments for UK companies, including appointment and resignation dates and, for natural-person directors, disclosed nationality and country of residence. Correspondence addresses shown at Companies House are service addresses, not home addresses, and have not been used to infer nationality or residence. Occupation is not separately disclosed for all officers in the current filing.
### Sources
– Companies House, officers filing, https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/03002645/officers, retrieved 16 September 2026
– RWS Holdings plc, “Benjamin Faes Joins RWS as Chief Executive Officer”, https://www.rws.com/about/news/2025/benjamin-faes-joins-rws/, retrieved 16 September 2026
Group Structure
RWS Holdings plc has no verified parent company: its own Companies House persons-with-significant-control record shows no registrable controlling entity, and it is the top company shown in its own group structure. RWS Holdings plc has a verified direct subsidiary, RWS Global Holdings Limited (company number 14988287, England and Wales), confirmed through that subsidiary’s own Companies House PSC filing. Zavia’s registry-sourced group data additionally records a broader multi-tier international subsidiary network beneath RWS Holdings plc, spanning entities such as SDL Limited and RWS Group Limited in the UK and further subsidiaries across the United States, Canada, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany and other jurisdictions, consistent with the international operations RWS gained through its 2020 combination with SDL plc. Ownership percentages below the first tier have not been individually reverified against primary filings in this research pass. Information current as of 16 September 2026.
### Verified corporate relationships
| Entity | Country | Registration number | Relationship | Ownership | Status | Information date |
|—|—|—|—|—:|—|—|
| RWS Global Holdings Limited | United Kingdom | 14988287 | Direct subsidiary | 75% or more of shares and voting rights | Active | 7 July 2023 |
### Recent structural changes
– 4 November 2020: RWS Holdings plc completed an all-share combination with SDL plc, valued at approximately £854 million, bringing SDL’s subsidiary network into the RWS group.
– 7 July 2023: RWS Global Holdings Limited was first notified as a Companies House PSC filing showing RWS Holdings plc as its controlling shareholder, indicating this intermediate holding company was established or restructured around that date.
### Data availability
Partial: the top-tier relationship between RWS Holdings plc and RWS Global Holdings Limited is independently verified against a primary Companies House filing. The wider multi-tier subsidiary structure shown elsewhere on this profile is sourced from registry-filed shareholder data but was not individually re-verified entity-by-entity in this research pass, and ownership percentages for those deeper-tier entities are not disclosed here.
### Sources
– Companies House, RWS Global Holdings Limited persons with significant control, https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/14988287/persons-with-significant-control, retrieved 16 September 2026
– Wikipedia, “RWS Group”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RWS_Group, retrieved 16 September 2026
RWS HOLDINGS PLC
United Kingdom
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Frequently Asked Questions
What does RWS HOLDINGS PLC do?
RWS Holdings plc is a UK public limited company (registered no. 03002645) providing AI-enabled translation, localisation, content-management and intellectual-property translation, search and filing services to international businesses.
Who owns RWS HOLDINGS PLC?
Disclosed significant shareholders include director Andrew Brode (approximately 24.4%), Liontrust Asset Management plc (approximately 10.6%), Octopus Investments Limited (6.99% per a TR-1 filing dated 12 August 2026), and Jupiter Fund Management plc (approximately 3.65%). Only holdings at or above the 3% DTR5 disclosure threshold are publicly visible.
Who is RWS HOLDINGS PLC's UBO (Ultimate Beneficial Owner)?
Companies House records that RWS Holdings plc has no registrable person of significant control (statement notified 5 November 2020), consistent with its widely held share register; its largest disclosed individual shareholder holds below the 25% PSC threshold.
What is RWS HOLDINGS PLC's company registration number?
RWS HOLDINGS PLC's registration number is 03002645, filed with Companies House in United Kingdom. Its current status on the register is active.
Is RWS HOLDINGS PLC still an active company?
RWS HOLDINGS PLC's status on Companies House is listed as active.
When was RWS HOLDINGS PLC incorporated?
RWS HOLDINGS PLC was incorporated on 16 December 1994, according to Companies House.
What is RWS HOLDINGS PLC's registered address?
The registered address on file for RWS HOLDINGS PLC is Maidenhead, United Kingdom.
What legal structure is RWS HOLDINGS PLC registered as?
RWS HOLDINGS PLC is registered as a Public Limited Company in United Kingdom.
What is RWS HOLDINGS PLC's revenue?
RWS Holdings plc reported group revenue of GBP 690.1 million for the financial year ended 30 September 2025, and GBP 360.3 million for the six months ended 31 March 2026.
Is RWS HOLDINGS PLC listed on a stock exchange?
RWS Holdings plc is listed on AIM, a market of the London Stock Exchange, under ticker RWS.
Who are the officers/directors of RWS HOLDINGS PLC?
RWS Holdings plc has 8 active officers at Companies House, including CEO Benjamin Faes (appointed 6 January 2025) and director Andrew Brode (appointed 2000); the most recent appointment is director Stephen Lamb on 2 March 2026.
Does RWS HOLDINGS PLC have a parent company or subsidiaries?
RWS Holdings plc has no verified parent company. Its confirmed direct subsidiary, RWS Global Holdings Limited, is 75%-or-more owned; the wider group includes subsidiaries added through the 2020 all-share combination with SDL plc.
Can Zavia monitor changes to RWS HOLDINGS PLC's ownership over time?
This profile reflects a point-in-time snapshot from Companies House. Zavia's monitoring API can track changes to RWS HOLDINGS PLC's registered shareholders, officers, and group structure going forward, flagging updates as they're filed rather than requiring a manual recheck.
Can I access RWS HOLDINGS PLC's data through an API?
Yes. Zavia's API connects directly to official government ownership registries across 195 countries and territories, including United Kingdom, so records like RWS HOLDINGS PLC's registration, shareholder, UBO, and group-structure data can be queried programmatically instead of viewed one page at a time.
Where does this company information come from, and how current is it?
This record is sourced directly from Companies House and was last synced on 15 September 2026.