Testimonials

PV Sunil in Chennai, India

PV Sunil is Area Manager for the Chennai Area in Bureau Veritas India.

"I started my career at Bureau Veritas 20 years ago and have been working in the company since then. I started as a surveyor and auditor and then became Head of the Industry activity in Chennai. My main domain of expertise is in inspection of critical equipments: I have performed inspections from simple raw material to some of the largest and critical pressure equipments made in the country. Also, I have gained experience in the inspection of pipe lines, from water pipe lines to largest Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) pipe line projects and from simple storage facilities to critical heavy Water projects.

 In 2006, I became Area Manager for the Chennai Area.
   

The Chennai area is an important business hub for Bureau Veritas in India as we have nearly 1,000 Certification clients and there is a good potential in the industry business. My role is to maintain the growth in Certification, to increase our growth in Industry and to develop business in Construction, Health, Safety & Environment as well as in International Trade. I am also responsible for geographical expansion by adding new offices while ensuring a good growth of existing offices. This involves visiting potential clients extensively as well as sourcing new business opportunities.
As a team manager, I spend time in building the team, motivating the team members and guiding them to achieve the organization’s objectives as well as their personal ones. And last but not least: as a team, Chennai area makes excellent contributions by recruiting, inducting and deputing surveyors to large projects in the country.
The main challenge in my present job is getting the right talents. Having the right kind of people is a key element in our performance; this is especially true in a fast growing market such as India and the Middle East. Retaining our talents and growing further in numbers is a challenge I have to face everyday and which I am learning to tackle.

Another challenge I have is achieving the targeted budget. This is common to most Bureau Veritas managers as it is our main performance assessment. Although there is a solid industrial growth in the country, the competition scenario calls for untiring efforts to reach our targets.

These are exciting challenges as I am confident of Bureau Veritas’ growth and I am proud to be a part of it. "

Tim Plowman in Saint Louis, United States

Tim is Director of Business Development for Bureau Veritas’ National Elevator Inspection Services.

"Before joining Bureau Veritas I worked for 19 years in the Elevator Industry in several world leading companies. My career included a variety of sales, application, management and marketing positions. I became Regional Vice President of Modernization Marketing for a renowned company in the elevator field.

Now, at Bureau Veritas, I am the Director of Business Development for Bureau Veritas’ National Elevator Inspection Services. My main responsibility in this role is to develop the Marketing and Business Development function for elevator inspections, witnessing of safety tests, and plan reviews. Concretely, this means continuing to grow the business and maintain our position as the largest elevator inspection company in the United States!

The main challenge of my job is learning the numerous variations each Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) has regarding elevator code compliance and adoption. This will be essential in developing quality relationships and solutions for municipalities, hospital organizations, retail groups, property management companies, etc. throughout the U.S."

Eva de la Cruz Lancha in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Eva de la Cruz Lancha is a building and facilities business manager at Bureau Veritas Abu Dhabi.

"Before joining Bureau Veritas I worked as a site manager for a construction company in Spain. I was responsible for the administrative, technical and financial aspects of projects, overseeing a number of employees and subcontractors. In October 2000, I joined Bureau Veritas in Spain as a site inspector and health and safety coordinator, taking on a managerial role alongside this. After two years I became building and facilities manager for Castilla la Mancha and Extremadura Profit center, working on hotel, power station and shopping mall construction projects.

My new role is building and facilities business and development manager in Abu Dhabi. This involves dealing directly with clients to discuss planned constructions, managing my team and organizing projects, both financially and administratively. I also source potential business in the region.

I am currently involved in the "Tameer Towers" project. This is a Site and Supervision Inspection contract and it is a great challenge. Now is an exciting time for the construction industry in the Middle East, with many new developments and plenty of projects ahead".

Mohamed Tidjani in Abidjan, Ivory Coast

Mohamed Tidjani is operations manager for scanner activities of Bureau Veritas in Ivory Coast.

"I started my career in 1989 in an information technology company, working for 10 years as a client service technician in their after sales support division. My responsibilities covered the Cap-Vert-Gambia-Mauritania-Mali zone. During my time there, I also had the opportunity to work in France for 6 months, at the Hotline service in Val de Fontenay. I then decided to reorient my career towards scanner activities. I joined a Trade Inspection company for 4 years, firstly working as an image auditor, then as manager of the South zone following a 6 month mission in Togo on their scanner site. In April 2005, I joined Bureau Veritas during the test phase of the CAB2000 scanner in Ivory Coast. This test period was the perfect opportunity for us to build our teams and fine-tune local scanner procedures.

Now at BIVAC Scan, Bureau Veritas’ scanner subsidiary in Ivory Coast,  I am in charge of supervising all scanner related activities, notably:
- Ensuring that we provide an efficient commercial service to our clients with respect to the contract;
- Ensuring that security procedures and standards (HSE) are fully respected;
- Ensuring that the scanner and the site’s facilities are always operational.
Among my functions, I am also Scanner Coordination Committee secretary.

There are two main challenges in my new job:
- The first one is to create new business related to the scanner activity, such as export inspection in addition to our import activity;
- The second one is to build a Scanner referential database (process, maintenance, etc.) from Abidjan accessible to the whole Group. The aim of this tool is to share good practices and to help other scanning facilities solve their problems in an easier and faster way."

Matthias Bartsch in Moscow, Russia

Matthias Bartsch is a project manager with Building & Facilities at Bureau Veritas IPM in Germany currently working with BV in Moscow, Russia.

“I started out my career with Bureau Veritas IPM Germany, in 2003. My first position was as a project engineer, working for two years on renovation projects for Cologne University. This involved controlling all aspects of scheduling, costs and the design process. After this, I became responsible for controlling the budgets with regard to the development planning for Dortmund’s new central station, which was another two year mission. My major role was to draw up payment schedules and carry out economic assessments regarding the development project, including the building of a shopping and entertainment centre by a Portuguese client. In 2007 I was delegated to Bureau Veritas Russia as project manager for a hotel construction project.

Now I am currently working on a project involving the building of a new hotel in Kazan by two investors, Accor and Kesco. My role is to manage, coordinate and coach the project management team regarding all of the services we provide to these clients, including site supervision. When my schedule allows it, I help the team with operational tasks such as the drafting and management of contracts, budget and schedule development and controlling and reporting.

The main challenge of this new job is learning how to manage effectively is the main challenge of this new job. It involves finding the right balance between dealing with tasks and with people. It also means helping the team to take on its own responsibilities and work independently, which I encourage through delegation.

Day to day, I need to constantly work on maintaining a positive relationship with our client and proactively help each investor to make contributions to the project. Then following on from this, I must communicate the client’s expectations effectively to the team to ensure we get the right results. Finally all of this comes within the context of a difficult design process and adverse construction market conditions which have both meant delays and rising costs. It’s definitely a challenge, but an enjoyable one!”

Inci Dogusan in Istanbul, Turkey

Inci manages our Industry and Health, Safety & Environment (HSE) services at Bureau Veritas Turkey. She heads the Industrial and HSE Services Department for the Caspian Sea and is also acting Turkey and Caspian Sea Oil & Gas manager.

"Before Bureau Veritas, I worked as an HSE Specialist at the Aksa Acrylic Fiber Production Company for three and a half years. It is very large petrochemical company, the world's 3rd biggest in acrylic fiber production.

Now at Bureau veritas, I am responsible for all our services in the areas of industry, health,safety and the environment for Turkey and the Caspian Sea, which includes Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. My job involves strategic development, monitoring the direction of marketing and sales activities and operations, coordinating and supporting our offices in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, and developing our Oil & Gas business in Turkmenistan. It is an exciting and dynamic time for the region and we are being asked to help with many new Oil & Gas projects.

One of our biggest challenges is that we offer such a wide range of services. It is up to us to turn this into an opportunity. We must identify the specific needs of specific clients. The diversity of our offering allows us to satisfy all types of clients in all types of sectors. It's a fortunate position to be in."

Stuart Fawcett Laboratory Manager in Maidstone, UK

Stuart is Laboratory Manager with Bureau Veritas Laboratories in Maidstone, Kent, England. He has worked for 9 years for a company that recently joined our Group.

"I started my career in 1994 as a junior materials field technician with Contest Melbourne Weeks. In 2000 I transferred to Weeks Consulting where I was employed as a geotechnical engineer. In that role, I supervised and project managed ground investigations and produced technical reports. In 2003, Weeks Consulting was acquired by Bureau Veritas. In November 2006 I was appointed as Maidstone Laboratory Manager.

As laboratory manager my responsibilities range from managing staff development to ensuring that standards are maintained and budgets met. A large part of my job requires me to liaise with existing clients to ensure that we continue to provide a high quality service to them. In addition, I develop links with potential clients to establish how we can meet their needs. I am fortunate that the people I work with are very knowledgeable, experienced and committed, which makes my job both interesting and enjoyable,even if the hours can be a bit long!

After learning the capabilities of the teams employed here, my main challenge is to increase our market presence. Bureau Veritas is a relatively new face in the UK civil and building construction industry. Not enough people know about the huge portfolio of services we can offer, both in construction and in other sectors. The "one stop shop" service that Bureau Veritas can provide is very attractive to many clients."

Céline Mauroy civil engineer in Pau, France

Céline is a civil engineer with the Construction business line at Bureau Veritas in Pau, in the South of France.

She joined us in 2006 with a structural engineering background.

"Before joining Bureau Veritas, I worked as a structural engineer for a small company involved in construction design and planning, based in Aubagne, southern France. Being part of a small structure gave me the opportunity to participate in lots of different projects. This allowed me to build up a solid level of experience and make some useful industry contacts.

As a civil engineer at Bureau Veritas, my main role is to oversee the inspection of construction projects. I also help grow our activity in the construction sector. It is a rewarding job because it is so rich and varied. I get to see projects from design to completion. I have technical responsibilities like site monitoring and am also involved in the financial management of each project, from a Bureau Veritas point of view.

Professional reputation is key for this job. I need to be known and recognized in the industry to be kept up to date on all the latest projects coming up. For me, this involves working hard every day to build up my network of industry contacts and be able to stay ahead."

Guillaume Vileyn, engineer in the Electricity/Automation, Marine Division, France

Guillaume is an engineer in the Electricity/Automation department of the Marine Division of Bureau Veritas, at Paris La Défense in France.

"After completing several training courses in the fields of maintenance and new electrical works in the pharmaceutical and steel industries, I was hired by Bureau Veritas in June 2002 as an electrical engineer within the Industry & Facilities Division.

Working at the Paris Villette Branch, I joined the Electromagnetic Fields Measurements Laboratory and I had the opportunity to carry out varied assignments including reglementary inspections, measurements, and technical assistance related to electrical installations for clients in the industry and services sectors.

My responsibilities consist in analyzing and approving electrical plans for ships. These plans cover the production and distribution of energy on-board, the safety systems (in case of fire or water invasion), and the automated systems governing machinery and communication equipment. I’m also in charge of the certification of all electrical and electronic equipment installed on board the ships, and of providing assistance to our international network as and when required.

I have three main challenges for the 2007-2008 period. Firstly, I’m involved in a process of quality improvement in my job, as defined in our internal procedures. Secondly, I must organize support to the Design Approval Offices of our international network, in order to help them do their job effectively. Thirdly, I’m going to develop a tool for the French Marine Marchande to help them complete a questionnaire to evaluate automation and security, also for our Design Approval Offices. I enjoy the diversity of these tasks."

Alvin Fung, General Manager, Consumer Products Services Division, China

Alvin gained experience in different divisions before taking the job of general manager of our Consumer Products Services Division (CPS) in Shanghai.

“I‘ve always worked for Bureau Veritas. I joined the Group 15 years ago in Hong Kong, then in 2004 moved to Shanghai where I was regional quality assurance manager for CPS. My main role was to implement our global quality system.

My job as general manager is very challenging. I’m locally responsible for making the joint venture lab more organized and profitable. But I also have lots of regional responsibility, helping satellite offices to develop so we can build our sales and customer support presence. We look after clients in Shanghai but also other clients in the north, east and centre of China. Together, these regions represent 50% of all products exported from China. This means many challenges and opportunities for us.

My main challenge is to keep up with China’s fast economic growth. I’ve had to quickly recruit lots of new talents to handle new business. I now manage a much bigger team than when I started in this position. Two years ago there were 150 people working in my lab. By the end of the year there will be 800. I have to make sure we invest in staff training and set up the right organizational systems.”

Daniel Oliva, Bureau Veritas Certification - Japan - General Manager

Currently based in Yokohama, Daniel joined Bureau Veritas in January 2002. He has moved to Japan from Brazil in May 2005 to help manage certification services.

"My career began in the automotive industry with an international engine manufacturing company. I then worked at Bain & Co as a strategy consultant. After joining Bureau Veritas I worked in a variety of roles, gaining experience as an ISO 9001 quality auditor, a trainer for Lead Auditors and a Project Coordinator. My previous position was as a manager for SCS (Systems Certification Services) in north-east Brazil. As North-East Area Manager in Brazil, I managed sales and ensured smooth operations for 600 customers. I’ve been helping Japan operations locally since May 2005.

My current position is SCS General Manager for Japan. I’m in charge of all certification activities and training related to system certification standards in the country. It’s a big step up from my previous position. Japan is a top 3 contributor for SCS Business Line, in 2006 we`ve managed to meet our targets and profitability was increased by 12%. Also top line growth of 5% was achieved in this very challenging and mature market.

This position requires me to perform a number of different roles. I need to manage operations, develop and motivate the whole team, ensure compliance and service delivery, and also perform sales activities for top customers. I enjoy the challenge.”

Valentine Menuet, Sales Coordinator, Eco-Environment and Regulatory Affairs, France

Valentine used to teach schoolchildren French but around nine years ago wanted a change, so she joined a company that’s now part of Bureau Veritas, and spent five years in the certification department for electrical appliances.

“Now I’m in sales, dealing with Environmental Directives (RoHS, WEEE, EuP*). We develop services that help companies comply with environmental requirements imposed by the European Union and national laws. Companies know that it’s important to protect the environment, but not all have taken measures to comply with the directives. As they don’t always have the resources, we help them find less expensive solutions.

I like what I do. I enjoy developing services with my colleagues that create the best results for clients. I really like working with customers and helping people obtain the necessary approvals. Our lab tests help protect both their company's image and the environment.Environmental concerns being very topical, I’m always learning something that’s interesting and important for my everyday working life. We help clients find less expensive solutions."

*RoHS (Restriction of the use of certain Hazardous Substances in electrical and electronic equipment), WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment, EuP (Energy Using Products)