A Day in the Life: Kavish Dave, SOCOTEC's Business Development Manager in the Indian market

But how does he approach bringing British testing capabilities to the Indian market, and what does he hope to achieve in the future?

We sat down with Kavish to discuss both further…

Kavish on…his role at SOCOTEC

“I’m based in Mumbai, primarily, but travel across the country representing SOCOTEC, going out there and meeting our clients. My involvement goes back to a chance meeting at an exhibition with Tim Barnes [Operations & Commercial Director in Environmental Science at SOCOTEC].

“At the time, the company was keen on introducing an Indian presence, with a lab potentially on the cards further down the line, but Tim and his team knew they first needed to test market demand before making that kind of investment.

“Tim has told me a lot since taking me on in the team that having me here, on the ground, makes things so much easier for us, in terms of getting out to clients and delivering great customer service for them.”

Kavish on…bridging two business cultures

“I'm the bridge between two extremes, and I'm fortunate that I'm able to communicate in both aspects.

“Balancing UK process and pricing logic with Indian relationship-driven, emotionally invested business norms is central to my role. This extends to managing logistics and trust, whether it is reassuring clients about shipping samples to the UK, and sometimes proactively warning them of lab delays rather than risking disappointment later, for me, honesty always comes before the sales pitch.”

Kavish on…the future

“The interesting thing is, this is just the start of our work in India, the beginning. If we do India right, trust me, the next 15 years you don't have to worry.

“Our ambitions extend beyond sales calls. We see ourselves eventually consolidating India's sample logistics through a future Mumbai office, and are convinced of the region's long-term potential for us - it’s very exciting times for us at SOCOTEC!”