The European testing, inspection and certification (TIC) market comprises businesses engaged in electrical, mechanical and physical TIC services. These services are offered to businesses that need to adhere to statutory requirements (“first-level”) or to signal the quality of products with third-party approvals (“second-level”). We segmented the market by customer industries intro (i) generalist, (ii) automotive, (iii) food & life sciences and (iv) energy & industry.

European businesses dominate the global market thanks to standardised cross-border regulations and a high degree of TIC outsourcing. Despite the presence of multiple large incumbents, the long tail of the market remains highly fragmented, allowing for further consolidation.

Wide scope for M&A plays, increasing regulatory complexity and the resilient nature of market demand encourage strong interest from investors in the market. Nevertheless, the increasing competition for high-growth digital niches, services commoditization and scarce talent availability will pose difficulties for incumbent players in the coming years.