The SOCOTEC Group, a leading name in testing, inspection and certification (TIC) services, has extended its Blue Alliance employee shareholding scheme to staff across the United Kingdom.
First introduced in France in 2024, Blue Alliance has already delivered outstanding results, with 40% of the company’s 6,500 French employees becoming shareholders. Now, eligible UK staff holding permanent contracts and with at least three months’ continuous service by 29 September 2025 will also have the chance to acquire shares in the global SOCOTEC Group.
The initiative is a central part of SOCOTEC’s Great Place to Work® action plan, further strengthening the company’s employee benefits offering and providing colleagues with a direct opportunity to share in SOCOTEC’s future success and growth.
Through this programme, staff can invest in the €1.7 billion business, which has tripled in scale over the last ten years. In the UK and Ireland, the company has also experienced rapid expansion, having completed two significant acquisitions in 2025 alone.
Lisa Massey, HR Director at SOCOTEC UK and Ireland, said: “Bringing Blue Alliance to the United Kingdom has been a very exciting move for our staff. In achieving our Great Place to Work® status, some of the feedback received was that an all-employee share ownership scheme would be welcomed. When it comes to our people, we have always had a ‘you say, we do’ mentality – so that’s exactly what we did, we went away and made it happen.
“We want to have the best employee value proposition within our sector, so we are constantly working on the improvement of our value proposition to employees, and developing solutions that make us the most attractive proposition for them in joining and staying with us at SOCOTEC.”
Matthew Marriott, CEO of SOCOTEC UK and Ireland, added: “The tremendous success we have seen since Blue Alliance’s launch in France has reinforced our belief that employee ownership helps to create a stronger, more unified organisation.
“We’re excited to extend this opportunity to our UK colleagues and look forward to seeing the positive impact it will have on our teams and throughout our business.”
SOCOTEC Group CEO Hervé Montjotin commented: “We have seen great uptake in Blue Alliance in France, where it was launched in 2024, and now the UK and Spain businesses will be able to benefit from the potential returns the scheme offers, while our colleagues in the Republic of Ireland will be invited to participate in Spring 2026.”
Operating as a trusted third-party across 26 countries, serving more than 250,000 clients and employing 14,500 people worldwide, the SOCOTEC Group remains committed to building trust for a safer and more sustainable world—while ensuring that employees share in its continuing achievements.
