Kitemark company BSI tries to raise the standard in China and Antarctica
THE COMPANY behind the Kitemark is exporting its quality checks as far afield as China and Antarctica.
The British Standards Institution (BSI), set up in 1901 to ensure steel products were up to scratch, today posted a seven per cent rise in yearly revenues to £271.8m.
Operating profits fell nine per cent to £28.3m, which the group pinned on the recent purchase of Australian assessment group NCS International and the refurbishment of its product testing centre in Hemel Hempstead.
“We will continue to invest in the organic growth of our business and will complement this with targeted acquisitions,” said chief executive Howard Kerr.
The BSI, whose work as the national standards body is partly funded by the Department for Business, last year signed a deal with its Chinese counterpart to recognise each other’s work and collaborate on standards for information modelling and city planning. The group also completed an environmental audit for the Australian government’s Antarctic Division.
The organisation issues quality certificates on everything from double glazing to condoms. It makes more than a fifth of its revenues checking standards in the Americas and 24 per cent in Asia Pacific.