Our History
A proven brand with a strong heritage
Element can trace its origins back to 1827. With roots based in industrial testing and measurement in the Victorian era, Element businesses have been involved in materials and product testing that gave the world the Model T Ford, put Concorde into the skies and has helped keep Venice afloat.
Element was formed in 2010, after a management buy-out of the testing division of the Netherlands-based Stork Engineering Group, backed by 3i Group plc. Starting with 860 people in 27 laboratories, the Group has grown dramatically in the last ten years, as many organizations have moved their testing requirements to specialist providers.
Strategically focused growth
Since 2011, we have selectively acquired more than 45 industry-leading businesses to bolster our unparalleled range, reach and expertise in safety-critical sectors. We focus today on aerospace, defense and space, energy, connected technologies, mobility, life sciences and the built environment.
Our values as our foundation
As our business has grown exponentially, we seek to ensure that we conduct business in a way which is consistent with our values while delivering sustainable growth and strong financial performance. In 2018, we developed a Corporate Responsibility policy that confirms our commitment to integrate an ESG framework into our business practices and to demonstrate our application of regulatory best practices consistently across all jurisdictions we work in.
In 2022, we relaunched our business purpose – Making Tomorrow Safer than Today – and three core values chosen by our people: integrity, care and progress. Since then, we have worked relentlessly to embed them within our operations. We are consistently seeing this culture change play out and have been proud to maintain outstanding safety records and high colleague engagement scores.
As we look ahead to future decades of growth, we are proud to support critical industries that the world engages with every day and strive to ensure a safer world.
Global presence
Over 8,500 employees in over 270 laboratories.
With over 8,500 experts in over 270 facilities in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia, we are the 'go to team' for all of your testing, inspection, certification and calibration needs.
50,000 customers worldwide
We support thousands of customers in a diverse range of market-leading scientific, technical, and engineering industries where product innovation and quality are of paramount importance, and where failure in use is not an option.
Over 1,000 accreditations and approvals
We are one of the most accredited organizations in the TIC sector. These are an independent endorsement of the quality of service we deliver, which enables us to make certain that the materials and products we test are safe, compliant and fit for purpose.