The Assurance DeskWhat SGS United Kingdom offers, and what it publishes
SGS United Kingdom works as a certification body, not an adviser. Its UKAS schedule, issued 15 April 2026, accredits it for ISO/IEC 27001:2022 and the ISO/IEC 27701:2019 privacy scheme. UKAS's sanctions list shows no action against this accreditation. The same company gave up two unrelated accreditations at another site in 2026, for product certification and testing.
SGS United Kingdom does not publish a price. Its UK and global ISO/IEC 27001 pages lead to a quote form. It does not publish its indemnity cover. Search summaries say its general conditions cap liability at the contract fees, with a one-year limit on claims. We could not load that page to confirm this.
SGS United Kingdom's UKAS schedule does not include ISO/IEC 42001, the AI management standard, although the SGS group markets 42001 certification. SGS runs consulting as a separate service line, and says a committee reviews an annual conflict-of-interest assessment. We saw this only in search summaries. On Trustpilot, sgs.com has 1.9 out of 5 from 15 reviews, not specifically about ISO 27001.
Strengths
- Holds current, directly verifiable UKAS accreditation (ref 0005, Issue No. 212, 15 April 2026) with an explicit named scope for ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Information Security Management System Certification
- Also accredited for the related ISO/IEC 27701:2019 Privacy Information Management sector scheme, useful for clients wanting privacy and security certification from one body
- Backed by the scale of a large multinational testing, inspection and certification (TIC) group with sector-scheme experience (e.g. UKAS-recognised Lead Office for the EN 9104-001:2013 Aerospace Sector Scheme) and published ISO 27001 sector content for healthcare and financial services
- Publishes group-wide impartiality statements describing an annual conflict-of-interest risk assessment reviewed by an Impartiality and Independence Committee, and keeps a distinct 'Consulting' service line separate from 'Certification and Audit'
- No suspension, withdrawal or resignation action recorded against its ISO 27001 (management systems, ref 0005) accreditation on UKAS's public sanctions list
Things to check
- No published pricing, rate card or worked cost example for ISO/IEC 27001 certification; all enquiries route to a contact/quote form
- SGS's published General Conditions for Certification Services cap total liability to the fees paid under the relevant contract, with a one-year time-bar on claims and no disclosed professional indemnity insurance level
- Not UKAS-accredited for ISO/IEC 42001 (AI management systems) under its current schedule, unlike the ISO/IEC 27001 scope this candidacy concerns
Common questions
Does SGS UK publish its ISO 27001 prices?
No. Its UK and global ISO/IEC 27001 pages show no prices, rate card or worked example. Enquiries go to a quote form.
Is SGS UK accredited for ISO 27001?
Yes. Its UKAS schedule (ref 0005, Issue No. 212, issued 15 April 2026) accredits it for ISO/IEC 27001:2022, plus the ISO/IEC 27701:2019 privacy scheme.
Can SGS UK certify ISO 42001 for AI?
Not under its UKAS accreditation. Its schedule lists nine standards and ISO/IEC 42001 is not one of them.
Has its ISO 27001 accreditation been suspended?
No. UKAS's sanctions list shows no action against it. The same company gave up two unrelated accreditations at another site in 2026, for product certification and testing.
Evidence for each SGS United Kingdom score
Show our working
Notes behind each thing to check
- No published pricing, rate card or worked cost example for ISO/IEC 27001 certification; all enquiries route to a contact/quote form (No SGS-specific pricing was found on SGS's UK or global ISO/IEC 27001 service pages; independent third-party UK cost guides describe a general market range (roughly £4,000-£15,000+ for a UKAS-accredited body) but do not cite SGS figures, confirming SGS itself discloses none)
- SGS's published General Conditions for Certification Services cap total liability to the fees paid under the relevant contract, with a one-year time-bar on claims and no disclosed professional indemnity insurance level (Search-indexed content of SGS's 'General Conditions for Certification Services' page (sgs.co.uk) states liability is limited to an amount equal to the contract fees for the relevant event, and claims must be brought within one year; direct page fetch was blocked by the site's bot protection (HTTP 403) so this could not be independently re-confirmed by a live page load, and should be manually re-verified before publication)
- Not UKAS-accredited for ISO/IEC 42001 (AI management systems) under its current schedule, unlike the ISO/IEC 27001 scope this candidacy concerns (The live UKAS Schedule of Accreditation for ref 0005 (Issue No. 212, 15 April 2026) lists nine accredited management-system standards and does not include ISO/IEC 42001 anywhere in the document; this is a scope-accuracy note, not a criticism of the ISO 27001 accreditation itself)
| Criterion | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Help when things go wrong | SGS publishes a standard group-wide certificate suspension/withdrawal procedure (30-day written notice) and complaints/appeals process (14-day appeal window); UKAS's own public sanctions list shows no suspension, withdrawal or resignation against SGS UK's ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation (ref 0005) specifically, though the same legal entity voluntarily resigned two unrelated UKAS accreditations at a different site (ISO/IEC 17065 product certification and ISO/IEC 17025 testing) in 2026; no named lead auditors or disclosed ISMS audit-outcome case studies were found | |
| Qualifications of the people who do the work | Live UKAS Schedule of Accreditation (ref 0005, Issue No. 212, issued 15 April 2026) names SGS United Kingdom Limited as accredited under ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015 with an explicit, current scope entry for ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Information Security Management System Certification, directly checkable against the published schedule | |
| What it publishes about fees | No prices, rate card or worked cost examples are published anywhere on SGS's UK or global ISO/IEC 27001 pages; all cost enquiries route to a contact/quote form | |
| Knowledge of your sector | SGS publishes general ISO/IEC 27001 content for healthcare and financial-services sectors and is the UKAS-recognised Lead Office for the EN 9104-001:2013 Aerospace Sector Scheme, but no named lead auditors, practitioner biographies or ISO 27001-specific client case studies were found to evidence deeper sector expertise | |
| Independence from what it sells | SGS publishes multiple named impartiality statements (covering its Certification & Business Enhancement, Knowledge and Business Assurance certification divisions) describing an annual impartiality/conflict-of-interest risk assessment reviewed by an Impartiality and Independence Committee, and runs a distinct global 'Consulting' service line separate from 'Certification and Audit'; scored 4 rather than 5 because the underlying policy documents could not be directly re-verified by page fetch (sgs.com/sgs.co.uk blocked automated access) and were sourced via search-index summaries instead | |
| Who carries the risk if the advice is wrong | SGS's published General Conditions for Certification Services disclose that total liability is capped to the fees paid under the relevant contract with a one-year claim time-bar, but no professional indemnity insurance level or incident-support commitment beyond the standard appeals process was found; this term could not be independently re-confirmed by direct page fetch due to site bot protection |
Sources for SGS United Kingdom
- Companies House confirms legal identity, status and registered office (SGS UNITED KINGDOM LIMITED, company number 01193985, incorporated 16 December 1974, status Active, registered office Rossmore Business Park, Ellesmere Port, South Wirral, Cheshire, CH65 3EN, SIC 74909) (Companies House, checked 19 September 2026)
- Current UKAS accreditation number, schedule issue and explicit ISO/IEC 27001 scope (UKAS accreditation ref 0005, Schedule of Accreditation Issue No. 212, issued 15 April 2026: SGS United Kingdom Limited is accredited to ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015 for management systems certification, with a named scope entry 'Information Security Management System Certification, ISO/IEC 27001:2022' (in accordance with ISO/IEC 27006-1:2024), plus the ISO/IEC 27701:2019 Privacy Information Management sector scheme under the 27001:2013 sector-schemes heading) (ukas.com, checked 19 September 2026)
- The current UKAS schedule's full accredited scope does not include ISO/IEC 42001 (The schedule's 'Summary of Accredited Scope' for ref 0005 lists nine standards (QMS/ISO 9001, MD-QMS/ISO 13485, EMS/ISO 14001, FSMS/ISO 22000, BCMS/ISO 22301, ISMS/ISO 27001:2022, HSMS/ISO 45001, EnMS/ISO 50001, AMS/ISO 55001); ISO/IEC 42001 (AI management systems) does not appear anywhere in the document) (ukas.com, checked 19 September 2026)
- UKAS's own public sanctions record shows no suspension/withdrawal action against the ISO 27001 accreditation (ref 0005), only two unrelated voluntary resignations under different reference numbers (UKAS 'Organisations under sanction' list shows SGS United Kingdom Limited twice, both at a different site (Bowburn): ref 5386, ISO/IEC 17065 (product certification), resigned 30 July 2026; ref 1116, ISO/IEC 17025 (testing), resigned 22 January 2026. Neither entry concerns ref 0005 (management systems/ISO 27001), which does not appear on the sanctions list) (ukas.com, checked 19 September 2026)
- Immediate UK parent holds majority control (SGS Holding UK Ltd (company no. 03662386, registered in Cardiff) is registered as the sole active Person with Significant Control of SGS United Kingdom Limited, exercising 75%+ of shares, 75%+ of voting rights, and the right to appoint/remove directors, notified 6 April 2016) (Companies House, checked 19 September 2026)
- Ultimate group parent is Swiss-listed (The wider SGS group's ultimate parent, SGS S.A., is a Swiss company headquartered in Baar, Switzerland, listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange) (en.wikipedia.org, checked 19 September 2026)
- Trustpilot: SGS's global Trustpilot page (www.sgs.com, matching the firm's site) is a claimed profile but has only 15 reviews and a 1.9/5 TrustScore (93% one-star). Complaints focus on poor communication/responsiveness and slow turnaround (e.g. a six-week wait for an asbestos survey report) and cancelled audits, not specifically the ISO/IEC 27001 certification service this candidacy concerns, and the sample size is very small. Not a software product, so G2/Capterra/Clutch do not apply. (Trustpilot, checked 20 September 2026)
UKAS-accredited (ref 0005) under ISO/IEC 17021-1:2015, with a named scope entry for ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Information Security Management System Certification, Schedule of Accreditation Issue No. 212, issued 15 April 2026 (stated on ukas.com) UKAS-accredited for the ISO/IEC 27701:2019 Privacy Information Management sector scheme, listed under the ISO/IEC 27001:2013 sector-schemes heading in the same Issue No. 212 schedule (stated on ukas.com)
Seeking ISO 42001 certification
Where this firm appears
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This is an independent editorial guide, not legal advice.