Intertek announces investment in UK Centre of Excellence for consumer goods

Intertek, a leading Total Quality Assurance provider to industries worldwide, has announced a landmark investment in a UK-based Centre of Excellence for consumer goods testing and assurance.

Intertek’s Softlines and Hardlines teams are trusted partners to brands, retailers and manufacturers in the UK and around the world. Over the coming months, the business is investing in further development of its existing laboratory in Leigh, Greater Manchester, UK, bringing together its Softlines and Hardlines testing capabilities all under one roof as a single Centre of Excellence for the consumer goods industry.

The enhanced laboratory will give customers access to the latest technical expertise across consumer goods, enhanced technical support capabilities, faster turnaround times and an even more superior customer service. This significant investment to enhance its UK laboratory capabilities reinforces Intertek’s commitment to ensuring the quality, safety and sustainability of products used by consumers every day, from textiles, apparel, footwear and PPE, to candles and home products.

“This investment marks an important milestone in our mission to support consumer goods manufacturers and brands in the UK with world-class testing services,” says Intertek’s Neal Bernuy, Regional Director for Softlines and Hardlines, Europe. “As consumer expectations and regulatory requirements continue to evolve, we are committed to expanding our capabilities to help our customers meet the highest standards of quality, safety and sustainability for markets worldwide.”

The UK Centre of Excellence will support a wide variety of sectors, including textiles and apparel, protective clothing, sportswear, fashion accessories, personal care products, upholstery and homeware, pet products and children’s products. Services offered include physical, mechanical and flammability testing, performance and durability testing, product benchmarking, outsourced laboratory and expert assurance services, and regulatory compliance support.

Sandeep Das, CEO Greater China and President Global Softlines and Hardlines, adds: “We are committed to supporting our customers in the UK with cutting-edge laboratory facilities, both globally and locally, to meet their quality assurance needs. The need for high-quality, safe and sustainable products has never been greater, and we are proud to be enhancing our UK capabilities to help our customers in this market to grow and succeed with compliant products that meet and exceed consumer expectations.”

This latest investment builds on previous enhancements to Intertek’s Leigh laboratory in 2024, when PPE capabilities were strengthened to support customers with specialist motorcycle protective clothing testing.

The development of this expanded Centre of Excellence is expected to complete in Autumn 2025, with existing services from the UK Softlines and Hardlines teams continuing as normal during this period.

Intertek is a leading Total Quality Assurance provider to industries worldwide.

Our network of more than 1,000 laboratories and offices in more than 100 countries, delivers innovative and bespoke Assurance, Testing, Inspection and Certification solutions for our customers’ operations and supply chains.

Intertek is a purpose-led company to Bring Quality, Safety and Sustainability to Life. We provide 24/7 mission-critical quality assurance solutions to our clients to ensure that they can operate with well-functioning supply chains in each of their operations.

Our Customer Promise is: Intertek Total Quality Assurance expertise, delivered consistently, with precision, pace and passion, enabling our customers to power ahead safely.

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