8 September 2026
By:
Nick Haunton,
Partner, Authorised Translator (Swedish to English)
Bugli has been around since 1964, making it one of the oldest translation companies in Sweden. Bugli sounds like it could be an acronym, or an invented brand – the kind of name a founder dreams up in a meeting room. It isn’t. Bugli is a surname – Ralph W. Bugli’s own – and the company has carried his name, unchanged, for six decades. It’s a story worth telling properly, starting with the man himself.
From the World’s Fair to SEB
In the mid-1960s, Ralph Bugli was working as a project manager for PR and English-language materials for Swedish companies at the “Creative Sweden” pavilion, part of the 1964–65 New York World’s Fair – a showcase built specifically to present Swedish industry and enterprise to an international audience. In 1964, he opened The Bugli Company Inc. in New York City, and SEB became one of his first clients.
Household names, one commute at a time
His client list grew quickly. By 1965, Ralph was regularly commuting to Stockholm to serve a widening roster of Swedish corporate clients – including some of the country’s best-known: Alfa Laval, Atlas Copco, LKAB, Swedish Match, Volvo.
A start with Ericsson
One relationship in particular set the direction the company would follow for the next 60 years. Ralph helped establish Ericsson’s first corporate communications unit and – commissioned by Marcus Wallenberg – helped write Ericsson’s English-language annual report. This marked the beginning of Bugli’s six decades of language and translation services for Swedish industry: the moment a communications and PR practice began shifting into something more specific, and more lasting.
Välkommen till Stockholm
The 1970s brought a physical foothold in Sweden. The first Stockholm office opened its doors at Artillerigatan 26, and the company was formally registered as The Bugli Company AB – no longer just a US company working with Swedish clients from afar, but a Swedish company in its own right.
A change of focus
Through the 1980s and 1990s, Bugli found its shape. The company phased out its PR operations in the US and closed its photosetting department and graphics studio, narrowing its focus to translation and language services – the work it had, in practice, been building toward since that first Ericsson annual report. Two senior employees, Chris Hurst and Gary Edwards, took over the Swedish company, while Ralph remained President of The Bugli Company Inc., overseeing its North American operations. Following their retirement in the early 2000s, ownership of the company was passed on to two other key employees: Donald Hughes and Patrick Ronan.
Ralph’s legacy
Ralph W. Bugli passed away in late 2003, at the age of 90. He was active in the company until the end – a founder who never really stepped away from the business that carried his name.
More than 20 years on, it’s still his name on the door. Today, Bugli is led by James Dowling, Nick Haunton, John Lightowler and Katie Shannon, carrying forward a company that, at its core, has always been one man’s name and the standard he set for it. It’s a story we’re proud to keep telling.
Curious about the people carrying Ralph’s legacy forward today? We’d love to tell you more.
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