French testing, inspection and certification group Socotec has committed to doubling its Irish workforce by 2030, backed by a dedicated recruitment drive and a new Irish website, socotec.ie. The commitment builds on its acquisition of Belfast-headquartered Lloyds Datum Group and a new Dublin office, giving Irish clients engineering, monitoring and testing capability from one provider.

The new Dublin office focuses on structural and fire engineering and draws on Socotec’s established fire engineering facility in Letterkenny, which has long served clients across Ireland. The group also plans further investment in its air and emissions office in Naas, Co. Kildare.

Socotec.ie brings the full scope of its Irish capabilities together for the first time, organised into professional, technical and laboratory services. The recruitment drive targets engineering, fire safety, environmental, monitoring, surveying, testing and technical roles.

Lloyds Datum Group, headquartered in Belfast, brings more than 25 years of experience in foundation pile testing and asset integrity monitoring, along with micro piling and anchoring. Socotec as a group employs 14,500 people in 26 countries and reported revenue of €1.7 billion in 2025.

Nigel Dillon, managing director of LDG Lloyds & LDG Datum, who heads Socotec’s Ireland operations, said: “What we’re seeing is a changing demand from clients who want a single partner that can cover consultancy, engineering, monitoring and testing, without having to piece it together themselves.”

Dillon added: “We’re not only focused on engineering; we’re building out a genuinely holistic technical consultancy offering for the Irish market, and we need more subject matter technical experts who can help bring that to life for our customers.”

Socotec UK & Ireland CEO Matthew Marriott said: “When combining our engineering expertise with the environmental and laboratory services available at Socotec, we can offer Irish clients a complete range of technical consultancy solutions.”

The structural driver is growing Irish demand for integrated compliance, risk and testing services, which Socotec is meeting with locally based service lines staffed by people who understand the regional regulatory landscape. For the sector, the plan to double headcount adds specialist engineering and monitoring capacity as Irish projects call for a single technical partner.

Source: geplus.co.uk / irishbuildingmagazine.ie / newsletter.co.uk