As the British Standards Institution (BSI) celebrates its centenary it has adopted a new logo to help identify it as the international group of businesses that it is.

BSI tends to be thought of as the issuer of British Standards and the Kitemark, but is in fact a group of companies operating in 112 countries and employing 5,000 people. It operates under a Royal Charter (in the same way as the BBC does).

The new logo was launched worldwide in one day. Stevan Breeze, BSI managing director at the London headquarters, said: "This new logo helps to show who we are - an international group of businesses. The new brand will help the powerful reputation for innovation and integrity that the BSI group already has in its existing markets and make it easier for all our customers to understand the wide ranging services that we now offer."

The BSI\'s work includes helping firms meet international management standards for environmental impact, information security, quality management and Health, Safety, Ethical & Environmental.

Each year BSI puts its Kitemark on millions of products and issues around 2,000 British and international standards.

Until the launch of the new logo, there were 15 different brand marks across the group. "We are bringing them all into the BSI brand family and strengthening the existing brand mark to emphasise what we have become," says Breeze.