Great Yarmouth-based Inspection Verification Bureau (IVB) is looking to the Far East to expand its business.

Director Matt Chapman has just returned from South Korea where, he says, some of the country’s biggest offshore energy companies are keen to work with UK businesses who take the trouble to go and see them.

Mr Chapman’s trip to Busan for the three-day Offshore Korea exhibition and conference involved six plane journeys and 25 hours of flight time. “But it was worth it,” he said. “The reception and feedback we received was absolutely unbelievable, and far outweighed our expectations.

“The efforts we made travelling to Busan were really appreciated by the visitors to our stand and we’re now very hopeful of increasing the amount of business we do in South Korea.”

IVB, formed in 2010 by Mr Chapman and fellow directors Derek Lockwood and Christopher Bolton, has already worked on projects in the region but is now hoping to win contracts directly with one of South Korea’s nine major companies. Three of these, Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) and Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) sponsored the exhibition attended by IVB as part of the Department of International Trade (DIT) pavilion.

IVB carries out independent verification of offshore and onshore facilities, independent inspection during procurement, manufacture and beyond, risk assessment and independent audits of management and technical competence. The assessments cover legal, compliancy, quality, health & safety, performance and environmental factors, and obligations that are of crucial importance to all businesses and processes.