Socotec, the reinvention of an old hand in the French compliance control business

After the Second World War, it was time to rebuild and, to make sure that everything was done according to the rules, the French State needed competent, trusted third parties. Bureau Sécuritas, a not-for-profit association, had been in charge of this control since 1929. However, the number of files became so great that it became necessary to change scale by transferring technical control and paid inspections to a company, Socotec. Generations of engineers thus created and developed technical control methods appropriate to the different structures. The company was driven by demand, at the risk of falling asleep. In 2013, it was relaunched through an LBO. Then, in 2016, Hervé Montjotin was recruited to speed things up. He explains how he led the reinvention of the company, which has grown from 5,000 people and €500 million in sales to 11,000 people and €1.3 billion, with the aim of becoming the global benchmark in its field.