Compliant is delivering the standards for success needed by businesses across the North-East
BY GRAEME ANDERSON
ACCREDITATION ' S WHAT YOU NEED !
ASunderland firm that helps businesses gain the ISO accreditations they need to succeed says its services have never been more in demand . And busy Compliant director Mark Henderson says that can only be a good thing for homegrown companies bidding to win important contracts where only businesses operating to the highest standards will be accepted .
Compliant FM , ( the FM stands for facilities management ), was launched in 2017 when Mark decided to put decades of experience working in the haulage and storage industry , combined with dealing with the upper echelons of companies , to best use .
He said : “ I could see the need to deliver important industry accreditation to companies in ways which made it easy for business leaders to implement .
“ Those running companies are completely focused on delivering whatever their products are - as they should be - and they don ’ t have the time to get involved in accreditations .
“ They know they need accreditations to win contracts but it ’ s not really their core role , and that ’ s where Compliant comes in and makes things simpler and easier for them .”
Put simply , ISO accreditations certify the achievement of internationally recognised standards for organisations operating in areas like industry , manufacturer and service delivery .
They show potential employers that the company they ’ re dealing with has been certified as operating to a competent and safe
standard .
They are essential for businesses hoping to win contracts big or small and for any organisation - private or public - are important statements of credibility , integrity and competency .
Mark said : “ Big organisations putting contracts out to tender , especially in the public sector , need to be reassured that the companies they ’ re dealing with are operating to a responsible and safe standard .
“ If companies don ’ t have the accreditations that contractors deem necessary , then they simply won ’ t get past the first hurdle .
“ ISO 9001 Quality is the workhorse accreditation that companies need to at least put themselves in contention when it comes to tendering , but there are many others that are very important and will be taken into consideration , depending upon the nature of the contract .”
The number of ISO accreditations increases with the growth of industries and new requirements and Compliant is on top of those , adding them to their list of services as they come into operation .
Mark explained : “ The big five are ISO 9001 quality ; ISO 14001 environmental , ISO 22301 business continuity , IS0 27001 information security and ISO 45001 for occupational health and safety .
“ With all these accreditations and others , the process is the same , because it is the same standard whoever you are .
“ But every client is different because we literally deliver to everyone from the proverbial one man in his shed , all the way up to nationals and multinationals .
“ We can identify areas of demand and high demand though - so , for example , an awful lot of accreditation work seems to be going on in the field of education right now .
“ And one area where there has been a huge jump in demand is for ISO 27001 , information security , because more and more organisations are wanting systems which protect their data security .”
The world of accreditations can feel like a complex and complicated world to the uninitiated but that ’ s where Compliant fits in .
“ We ’ re here to take the complexity and the stress out of it for our clients ,” said Mark . “ We offer a free assessment because , as I said , every client is different and will have different needs - there will be some accreditations they definitely need and some accreditations which perhaps they don ’ t .
“ And then not only do we take them through the process of gaining those accreditations but we can help them cope when it comes to ongoing compliance .
“ On a retainer basis , Compliant can come in and ensure those accreditations remain valid and it just removes a headache that clients don ’ t need as they seek to focus on their business goals .
“ We find a lot of demand for that service and it helps us build up those relationships which are needed for good business practice .
“ As a company , Compliant has only been going since 2017 but we ’ ve really found our feet now in the business world and whereas the pandemic might have caused us issues , we ’ re finding it ’ s quite the reverse and businesses everywhere have either used the time to update and improve their systems or are doing it now .”
The magazine for Aycliffe Business Park | 29