Intertek Consumer Goods and Retail
Intertek Consumer Goods is a division of London-based Intertek, a company that provides quality and safety services to a wide range of industries. Intertek is a publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange with more than 30,000 employees in 1,000 locations in over 100 countries.[1] Intertek Consumer Goods works with global retailers and brands in the textile, toy, footwear, and hardlines sectors to evaluate and test their consumer products to meet regulatory, environmental and quality standards. Intertek Consumer Goods also provides services related to CPSIA testing, toy certification, textile auditing, restricted hazardous substances, corporate social responsibility, sustainability, and supply chain security.
History
Intertek can trace its origins from a marine surveying business formed by Caleb Brett in the 1890s, a testing laboratory formed by Milton Hersey in Montreal in 1888 and a lamp testing centre established by Thomas Edison in 1896. These businesses were all acquired by Inchcape during the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1996 Inchcape Testing Services was acquired by Charterhouse Capital Partners and was renamed Intertek. The Company was divested by Charterhouse in 2002 when the business was first listed on the London Stock Exchange. In April 2010, Intertek acquired Ciba Expert Services’ Environmental, Safety, & Testing and Regulatory businesses, including Cantox Health Sciences (Cantox) and Ashuren Health Sciences (Ashuren).
Market Segments
Market segments served by Intertek Consumer Goods are:
Textile and Apparel Products (Home textile, footwear, adult apparel and children’s sleepwear)
Toys and Juvenile Products (Plush toys, battery operated toys, strollers, cribs, high chairs, baby bottles and pacifiers)
Hardlines (Furniture, sporting goods, gemstone and jewelry testing)
Management
Intertek Consumer Goods is led by divisional Chief Executive Paul Yao. He was appointed a member of the Executive management team on 1 July 2006. Prior to this, from January 2003, he was Vice President with responsibility for Consumer Goods in China and Taiwan. He joined Intertek in 1994 as the Senior Marketing Manager of Intertek Hong Kong, and was promoted to General Manager of Toys, Food & Hardlines Division in 1998. Yao is a member of the Technical Committee for Toy Safety of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in China. Paul Yao left Intertek in 2012.
Competitors
Competitors include:-
- Bureau Veritas
- LGA (now part of TÜV)
- Lloyd's Register
- SGS
- TÜV
- SATRA