Fiona was born in England but grew up in the Netherlands. Having studied at both Oxford and Amsterdam University, Fiona started her career in journalism with Reuters in London. A move to financial news agency AFX News resulted in postings in Milan and Amsterdam, where she became bureau chief. After sixteen years as a journalist it was time for a change and she teamed up with colleagues Lucia and Mark to focus on business translation. In addition to Dutch and English, Fiona speaks Italian, German, French, some Spanish and a smattering of Greek. She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL) and the Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI). 

Lucia has been a sworn translator for over 34 years. After completing her studies and an extensive period of travelling around the world she settled in London, where she was employed as an editor for Financial Times Information for over six years as well as doing freelance translation work. Upon her return to the Netherlands, Lucia worked as a senior editor for AFX News (later Thomson Reuters) and Dutch news agency ANP for eight years before joining forces with Mark and Fiona to set up Abacus Translation.

Born and raised in Canada, Mark moved to the Netherlands after secondary school to earn a degree in translation at the Dutch state school of Translation and Interpreting. After working as a translator for seven years, both freelance and at ING, Mark spent five years in the fast-track world of financial reporting at AFX News and Dutch news agency ANP. He returned to ING to experience financial communication from the other side of the fence, working nearly two years as a spokesman before deciding to join forces with Fiona and Lucia. Mark is a sworn translator in English, Dutch and French.