London, 2016-Nov-25 — /EPR Retail News/ — BRC Global Standards – the world’s largest provider of safety and quality standards programmes for food and non-food manufacture, packaging, storage, and distribution – is pleased to announce a transfer of ownership which marks the next stage in its strategic transition from being a standards owner to a brand and consumer protection organisation with a range of products and services to help its customers deal with the challenges of producing safe, high quality products for the end consumer on a global basis. This takes the form of a major investment by LGC Group, the leading international life sciences measurement and testing company, which will become the majority shareholder in the company.
BRC Global Standards has until now been 100% owned by the British Retail Consortium, the trade association for the UK retail industry, which will retain a minority stake in BRC Global Standards and will have a seat on its Board to ensure continuity and stability for customers and specifiers.
The investment will also fuel international growth planned by BRC Global Standards over the next five years to add to its existing presence in the UK, India and US; enable investigation of wider consumer and brand protection solutions including health and safety, predictive analytics and ethical trading; and underpin planned investment in IT development to enable real time business intelligence for supply chains. The same successful management team who have grown the company into the thriving international business it is today will lead this transition.
LGC is an ideal owner for BRC Global Standards. The two are like-minded organisations with an unrivalled commitment to quality. BRC Global Standards will be integral to LGC’s future growth strategy since it offers a range of additional “Supply Chain Assurance” services that will be of great interest to existing LGC customers. In addition, there are strong synergies between the existing international structures at LGC and BRC Global Standards.
Commenting on the acquisition Mark Proctor, CEO of BRC Global Standards said:
“We are delighted to have LGC Group as the new owner of our business since it has an international presence to support our growth plans and a customer base who will benefit from our services. This investment will also enable us to save more lives by expanding our product offering and cementing our position as a recognised global leader in consumer and brand protection solutions.“
Euan O’Sullivan, Managing Director of LGC’s Standards Division, said:
“We are delighted to be adding BRC Global Standards to our Standards division. BRC Global Standards is a globally recognised and respected brand and its capabilities are highly complementary to LGC’s existing strengths across reference standards, proficiency testing and sports supplements supply chain assurance. We look forward to working with BRC Global Standards’ Management to continue internationalising the business while developing new and innovative solutions to meet our customers’ needs.”
Notes to Editors
BRC Global Standards is the world’s largest provider of safety and quality standards programmes for food manufacture, packaging, storage, and distribution. The global standards are used by over 24,000 certificated suppliers in over 130 countries with certification issued through a worldwide network of accredited certification bodies. BRC Global Standards guarantee the standardisation of quality, safety and operational criteria and ensure that manufacturers fulfil their legal obligations and provide protection for the end consumer. http://www.brcglobalstandards.com/
LGC is an international life sciences company creating measurement and testing solutions for businesses across the world. The company helps customers conform to international statutory and regulatory standards and operates globally in 23 countries. LGC focuses on three distinct areas: the manufacture and distribution of reference materials, proprietary genomic products and the provision of analytical and genomics testing services. https://www.lgcgroup.com/
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) is the UK’s leading retail trade association working with members to tell the story of retail, shape debates and influence issues and opportunities which will help make a positive difference. It represents the full range of retailers, large and small, multiples and independents, food and non-food, online and store based. The BRC has over 90 retail members representing 70 per cent of the UK retail industry. http://brc.org.uk/
Media Enquiries:
BRC Global Standards
Powerscourt:
Giles Read / Isabelle Saber
brcglobalstandards@powerscourt-group.com
BRC
Trevor Datson
Trevor.datson@brc.org.uk
+44 (0)207 854 8924
LGC
Guenaelle Holloway
Guenaelle.holloway@lgcgroup.com
+44 (0)20 8943 7563
+44 (0)20 7250 1446
Source: BRC