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Home Resources Blog January 2020
Meet Our Partners – Spedan

Meet Our Partners – Spedan

20 January 2020
Meet Adam Faiers and Alister Constantine from Spedan Ltd.

What standards can you help NQA clients with?

About your company

Spedan Ltd started in 2012. The company started with ISO Consultancy on Quality, Environmental and Information Security but has since extended it’s capability into OHS, Functional Safety and Business Continuity.

We have grown considerably in the last five years and have introduced a legislation and compliance updating service. We have also invested heavily in developing an online resource that Managers at all levels in our Client organisations can find in-depth information about ISO Standards, Business hotspots and legislation that affects their business. We’ve invested over £100,000 in the last 3 years in the system and it’s working really well for us.

Why do you like working with NQA? Why did you choose to work in partnership with NQA?

We learned a long time ago that if an organisation is going to get the most from their management system, they have to invest in their people. Managing an organisation is all about people and relationships and as a service provider, we gain a lot of trust with our clients.

We cannot risk that trust, and we need to work with other organisations who reflect that. When we recommend Certification Bodies to our Clients, we need to know that everyone and everything associated to the process is going to work carefully, accurately and add value to the process. If an Auditor causes upset to our Clients, we lose the trust we have built up and we’re not going to allow that to happen.

NQA are honest and open in their work. Being subject to an audit is not really a pleasant experience; it can be very stressful to a Client; there is terminology that is new, processes that are unfamiliar and people that they have never met coming along and potentially offering critique. There are key reasons why we recommend NQA:

  1. NQA have, over many years, focussed on auditing and not become distracted by fancy online reporting systems, illogical terminology, or hugely expensive marketing.

  2. Pricing is clear and free from ‘Management Fees’ that mean or add nothing

  3. Of the big auditing companies, NQA offer the best value of auditor time and regularly beat other CBs for the best value of on-site auditor time

Top tip for people looking at certification?

I’d give 3 tips:

  1. Make sure your system is logical and can be explained to an external person. If it’s confusing for you or the team, an external person is not going to make sense of it.

  2. Be clear in your aims for the system; many organisations fail to embed a management system because they haven’t understood ‘why’ they want to have it

  3. Make sure you understand the role of an external Certification Body. They are there to audit the system, not to help you develop the system on one hand, or catch you out with the other!

What do you find is the most common point of misunderstanding regarding certification or specific standards when visiting clients?

I could probably give you a top five:

  1. Certification to a Standard is relatively easy to achieve. If a system has the right component parts, it’s straightforward to get certification

  2. Keeping Certification is harder than getting it! Almost every organisation breathes a sigh of relief after they get Certified and then panics a few months later when they realise they haven’t kept the routines going!

  3. Certification is just the start; the ISO standards give you a minimum requirement to reach. If you aspire for your organisation to be a leader, you need to really use the PDCA cycle, risk- based approach and for OHS, apply the Hierarchy of Controls.

  4. A major misconception is that ISO Standards tell you how to run a business. ISO Standards give you a great framework and a series of routine disciplines to follow, but your managers, staff and products give you a great business

  5. Another misconception is that ISO Standards are bureaucratic; actually, they are not. They can be if managed inappropriately but if Managers stop and think, they will apply an appropriate level of governance and achieve more with greater clarity.

Anything else you think our readers might like to know? 

For more information please check out our Linkedin pages; Adam / Alister, or take a look at our regular blogs on our website.

Thinking of joining NQA's Associate Consultant Register or looking for a consultant to help you on your certification journey click here.

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* Disclaimer:

NQA does not provide consultancy in order to remain impartial from management systems implementation.

NQA shall not imply that certification would be simpler, easier, faster or less expensive if a consultancy listed on the ACR is used.

ACR Consultants shall not imply that NQA certification would be simpler, easier, faster or less expensive if their services are used.

NQA remains impartial from our partners on our Associate Consultant Register and does not endorse one partner over another.