Last month, at a special event held in Sandton, global testing, inspection and certification company Bureau Veritas officially inaugurated the company’s new office.

The event was attended by local employees and the regional leadership from South Africa, Zambia and Namibia.

This relocation places Bureau Veritas “at the centre of Southern Africa’s financial and commercial hub”.

Following the inauguration, the Bureau Veritas team conducted visits to oil and gas and energy clients in neighbouring Maputo, Mozambique, bringing together key stakeholders and partners, reinforcing Bureau Veritas as the preferred partner in the testing, inspection and certification sector in the region.

It comes as Bureau Veritas Mozambique celebrated its fifteenth anniversary in April, with celebrations taking place at its new offices in Maputo.

Bureau Veritas Middle East, Caspian and Africa executive VP Khurram Majeed says that, as part of Bureau Veritas’ LEAP | 28 Strategy, Southern Africa has been identified as a key region for growth.

“I was pleased to visit the teams here and see the strength and commitment across the region, and their passion and expertise show that we are driving real impact for our clients,” he added.

Bureau Veritas’ LEAP|28 strategy – launched in April last year – aims to deliver a step change in growth and performance, built around three pillars: portfolio, performance and people, with sustainability at the core.

The company also has an active portfolio management strategy designed to enhance leadership positions through organic growth, accelerated mergers and acquisitions and portfolio high-grading.

Other strategies include performance programmes to identify meaningful efficiency and productivity benefits for operational leverage, functional scalability and innovation.

Further, Bureau Veritas’ ‘evolved people model’, will leverage the group’s “deep-rooted knowledge and expertise” to train and develop the competencies needed for future growth.

It will also be fully engaged to deliver on its corporate social responsibility commitments, in line with its efforts to “shape a world of trust by ensuring responsible progress”.

Speaking on the regional head office move Bureau Veritas Southern Africa area chief executive Gavin Hefer says that moving into Sandton positions the company at the heart of the Southern African region’s commercial and innovation ecosystem.

“We are closer to our clients, partners and key stakeholders and better positioned to serve them. “We are excited about our prospects in Southern Africa and there is a lot of energy within our teams to continue driving value for our clients,” he concludes.