SOCOTEC UK & Ireland HR Director Q&A:
Insights on HR Trends

Lisa recently spoke at two high-profile events, the 2025 Global Annual Conference and the Fuel Learning Conference, leading the conversation at both events and utilising over 35 years of experience.

So read on to find out what she recently told a prominent BBC News presenter, as well as whether or not she met the Prime Minister and all the latest on key topics in the HR world.

Let’s start with a bit of your background: you’ve been at SOCOTEC since 2021, what attracted you to the company?

“I have worked in HR for 35 years, and within that time, I’m lucky to have worked around the world, in Indonesia, and in my UK-based positions, I’ve supported Europe and US for different companies.

“I’ve been in sectors as diverse as manufacturing, distribution, retail and now testing, inspection and certification. I joined SOCOTEC in 2021, and there’s a connection to the DNA of the company for me. When I worked for Norbert Dentressangle, a French logistics company, the company’s namesake was the owner of the business. The CEO of the business was Hervé Montjotin (current CEO of SOCOTEC Group).

“Norbert  Dentressangle went on to sell his business, and shortly thereafter, Hervé left to come to SOCOTEC. When I heard there was an opportunity to join SOCOTEC as HR Director, I was excited as it was somewhere that had the same DNA - the services are completely different, but the culture was very similar.

“The ‘You Grow, We Grow’ philosophy was one Hervé brought to SOCOTEC, it was vital to me moving to SOCOTEC and has proven to be true.”

What has been the biggest change you’ve seen at SOCOTEC since then?

“From an overall perspective, our growth has been extraordinary. When I joined, we were looking at around £120m revenue each year, now we are around £200m and we have a clear goal of reaching £300m by 2028.

“From the perspective of HR, the biggest change has been the increase in development and career pathway opportunities for our staff. We currently have 200 active apprentices within the company, and have had 400 apprentices across 26 different programmes over the last four years.

“A third of those apprentices are early careers, with the remaining two thirds being made up of people wanting to change career or enhance their skills. Apprenticeships can be for anyone at any stage in their career.

“There’s been a wider benefits transformation, focusing on our Employee Value Proposition, and what attracts, retains and rewards our talent. We have more family friendly policies, an increase in leave and holiday buying opportunities, we have specific long service awards in place and more broadly recognise ‘milestone’ birthdays too.

“Since being introduced last year, the SOCOTEC Boost scheme has exploded too – there have been around 177 Boost Awards distributed, which totals a value of £89,000. This is the best thing about SOCOTEC, our culture, innovation, agility and entrepreneurial ambition – the desire to do better.

“In the last month we have launched our Blue Alliance share ownership scheme for all employees. Giving employees the chance to invest in the SOCOTEC group and ultimately benefit from its growth and prosperity. This has proven to be hugely popular, with employees investing at a 20% discounted price.”

At the Fuel Learning Conference, you discussed the 5% Club – how would you describe it, to someone who is unaware, who would you recommend it to, and why?

“The 5% Club recognises an employer that has 5% or more of its staff on a programme of accredited learning. It could be an apprenticeship, or another form of learning that lasts a year or more, such as a graduate or Masters programme and professional charter programmes, such as those we offer with the likes of RICS.

“I’d recommend it to other companies as it is a statement of commitment. Whether to those people who may join you or those who are with you. It is evidence of our ‘you grow, we grow’ culture and that we have now spent around £2m alone on our apprentices.”

And then, at the British Chambers of Commerce 2025 Global Annual Conference, you talked about ‘boosting access to an employable workforce’ – what were the key takeaways from the panel?

“We were talking about a range of interesting topics. We clearly need to improve careers services across the country, so that young people leaving education are better informed about career opportunities outside of the top ten professions, like teacher, doctor, lawyer etc. We should be focusing on what else there is.

“Nobody says Asbestos Surveyor or Environmental Consultant - there are so many different roles aligned to the construction industry that no one has ever heard of. We’re faced with regulatory changes in the sector from the Building and Safety Act, where one of the unintended consequences is an exacerbated skills shortage with business across the sector really struggling to fill key roles to support the construction and house building sector.

“Fire engineering is another area that is struggling, as well as asbestos surveyors - asbestos exposure is still an issue in older buildings and yet there is a national shortage in surveyors.

“We need to address the million or so people who are economically inactive at the moment. Many left the workplace during COVID, and were comfortable enough not to have to work full-time anymore. What we need to do is to make employment more accessible for people, whether that is looking at the format, employment contract arrangements that we can offer, as well as any reasonable adjustments that might help people.

“There are still lots of people out there who have an enormous amount to offer, we shouldn’t need to encourage that experience back into the workforce.”

After attending two major conferences in the last few weeks, what would you say are the major talking points when it comes to the HR world at the moment?

“The proposed changes to the Employment Rights Bill, if and when they will be introduced, it’s tricky as some are being diluted and pushed back, meaning there is no imminent impending change and we are all in limbo at present.

“From an employment perspective, we need to get the balance right. Since Brexit, it has become increasingly expensive for us to recruit skilled workers from overseas – we now formally sponsor 45 people to work for us in the UK, which used to be just one pre-Brexit. These are for skills we cannot recruit for easily in the UK. Recent changes have again made this more difficult.

“The wellbeing of employees is a very hot and important topic and is perhaps a reflection of the mental health crisis in the UK.  Our skills and ability to have good conversations at work, the question of poor mental health vs poor physical health and how we are a lot more comfortable discussing the latter, rather than the former. We need to help every one be comfortable discussing their health and well being and ensure every one is aware of the support networks and services that are available to them through an EAP and through our Equipsme health insurance.”

How will your learnings feed back into the work of you and the HR team, here at SOCOTEC?

“As a HR team, we have come together to discuss further the implications of the Employment Rights Bill, and shared feedback gathered at the British Chambers of Commerce event.

“We were focused on the unpredictability of the economy. As a HR team, we have to help the business be as agile as possible, to help people understand that the job you do today, won’t be the same as tomorrow, and may not exist in the future. It’s about thinking of your career, continuous learning, training and development options and perhaps changing career two or three times in a lifespan.

“These are all things that need to be appreciated with the acceleration of AI. While change has always been inevitable, it’s more the speed of this ongoing change curve that we all need to adjust to.”

You were on the same speaking bill as Sir Keir Starmer at the 2025 GAC, did you get to meet the Prime Minister?

“No, our paths didn’t cross - but I did meet BBC News business correspondent, Simon Jack…”

Which leads us onto our final question: what did you say to BBC News at the 2025 GAC?!

“Well I did say to Simon that, ‘Asbestos surveying is exciting’, because to me it is! Asbestos surveyors are protecting people in their homes and workplaces from a deadly material. As I discussed earlier, I hope more and more people consider working in these areas that are really suffering with a skills shortage at present.”