Bureau Veritas to double headcount by 2015

Global quality certification major Bureau Veritas today said that it is planning to double its headcount in the country in the next three years, and is considering acquisitions.

"We plan to more than double our headcount here to around 9,500 by 2015. This will make India our second-largest presence in the world. We also plan to increase our offices and labs to 120 here during this period. From 60 million euros revenue now, we plan to grow to 160 million euros by 2015," Bureau Veritas Chief Executive Didier Michaud-Daniel said here.

The France-based company plans to invest both in capacity expansion, which includes new equipment and laboratories for inspection and assessment, as well as in "inorganic growth" through acquisitions, he said.

However, he did not disclose the quantum of investment to be spent for buyouts.

Organic growth would include setting up additional testing facilities and labs here, he said.

Bureau Veritas recently acquired a domestic company Civil Aid that has four testing labs. It has already commissioned two full-range laboratories for testing of construction materials, one each in New Delhi and Mumbai.

"At the moment, this company which we have acquired, has four testing labs. It will soon set up two more labs in Delhi and Mumbai," Bureau Veritas regional Chief Executive for South Asia Naresh Gupta said.

Michaud-Daniel said the Indian sub-continent is a very crucial market for his company owing to its size and economic growth.

"Employed skilled personnel like engineers, auditors and technical inspectors are our main asset, and we believe in constantly reinforcing our human resources by identifying and training talent.

"Apart from investments in infrastructure, we plan to increase its workforce from the existing 4,000 employees to over 9,500 employees by 2015," Bureau Veritas executive Vice-President for India, Russia, West Asia and Africa, Tony Mouawad said.