Metropolitan Case Study

Metropolitan Electrical Services is a highly regarded electrical contractor based in London’s Docklands. A client of NQA’s for over a decade now, they have grown impressively on the strength of their high quality, professional service. A testament to their unswerving commitment to the ISO 9001 certification and their NICEIC Approved Contractor status.

In a tough commercial market, Metropolitan Electrical Services believes that good quality, excellent service and well trained staff is the best way to keep a competitive edge. Maintaining certification to ISO 9001 is a good way to promote its quality commitment to customers.

Based in the heart of London’s Docklands, home to many of the UK’s largest businesses and financial institutions, the company is ideally located to service commercial organisations in the City and throughout the South East.

The need for quality standards

A frequent condition of the tender process for larger clients is for the contractor to be able to provide assurance of its quality, and it was for this reason that the organisation went through the certification process for ISO 9001 ten years ago.

Since then, the business has grown impressively and for Quality Manager Derek Pettitt, working to the standard has become a way of life.

“Our company sells itself on our quality and the skills of our staff. There is no doubt that having to pass an audit every year keeps our working practices tight and efficient.”

A commercial imperative

“Having ISO 9001 is an integral part of many of the tenders that we work on, so we would simply be shut out of a significant percentage of our potential work if we did not have it”, asserts Derek Pettitt.

As the standard is so ingrained in the company, annual audits are low-key affairs: the most recent, completed in thesummer of 2012, showed no non-conformances at all. The three-yearly re-certification visit is more in-depth, but even here there is room for flexibility.

“The standard is not a straight-jacket”, is how Derek Pettitt looks at it. “The market changes and so does our working practice. Sometimes this has meant that we can cut some processes out and simplify the way we operate – and that’s fine as long as we meet the benchmark of ISO 9001”.

Working with the right partner

"We have worked with NQA since we first went for certification a decade ago. Being the sister company of NICEIC, there was good reason to think that they would understand our business and be a good partner. Over the years this has certainly proved to be the case.”

Summary of benefits

• More efficient processes
• Customer satisfaction
• Ability to win more business

“The assessors who visit us are always prepared to make positive suggestions as to how we could improve our business further and it is a useful and productive partnership.”