Specializing in technical building control and in the inspection and certification of infrastructure and industrial installations, the Socotec group intends to accelerate in this last segment. In France, it plans to generate 30% of its turnover in industry and energy in 2028, compared to 20% currently. “We have always been exposed to industry, and in a context of reindustrialization dynamics, we wanted to go further”indicates Delphine Villard, general director of services and industry activities in France.
Socotec carries out 45% of its activity in France. The group (1.4 billion euros in turnover, 13,000 employees, in 27 countries, with 95% of turnover and workforce in Europe and the United States) particularly targets development and reconversion of existing industrial sites. He develops a consulting activity on restarting industrial sites, with technical analyses.
Between 2017 and 2021, Socotec also acquired three companies specializing in the non-destructive testing of tanks and pipes, in the testing of the tightness of tanks and pipes, and in the testing of welds. Furthermore, since the fire at the Lubrizol factory in Rouen in 2019, new obligations apply to manufacturers classified ICPE (installations classified for environmental protection), including the fact of having to carry out environmental measures in accident case. Socotec has thus pooled 250 of its customers around a technical on-call service available 24 hours a day.
An announced development in nuclear power
Another industrial issue is that of energy. In Fos-sur-Mer (Bouches-du-Rhône), Socotec recently worked on the establishment of a giga-factory for the production of photovoltaic panels for Carbon, by carrying out environmental studies upstream, just like in Alsace, for the establishment of a large data center.
“EDF is our first customer. We are very attentive to clients, such as Orano or Framatome”continues Hervé Montjotin, the executive president of Socotec, who is banking on the announced development of the nuclear sector in France. Training camps have been set up in Gravelines (North), Cherbourg-en-Cotentin (Manche), Chinon (Indre-et-Loire) and Tricastin (Drôme). 300 people work on the work carried out in EDF power plants, a figure set to increase with the Penly EPR2 project (Seine-Maritime).
Last part of this strategy linked to industry, the creation of technical training platforms in Lille and Dunkirk (North), on machines and electricity), and the launch, at the beginning of September, of a promotion of apprentices , via a CFA created internally, around the energy renovation of buildings. A learning offer around the verification of electrical installations has existed since 2020.
Source: www.usinenouvelle.com
