What has Quality ever done for us?
I mean, these quality consultants flounce in, wrestle you into ill-fitting templates, ruffle everyone's feathers and take all your money. Don't they? But what about efficiency? I suppose we can give them that. And an internationally recognised standard? Well, that goes without saying. But apart from preventing explosions in factories, keeping aeroplanes in the sky, gadgets running smoothly, securing data, carbon footprinting, managing business risk and keeping customers happy - what has quality ever done for us?
In a world dominated by corporate greed, with daily headlines of crisis, corruption, scandal, risk-taking and rule-breaking, it's no surprise that customers look for confidence in the way your business operates. A robust quality strategy can be just the ticket to show your customers that they can put their trust (and money) in you. We practice what we preach. We take it very seriously. And BSI have certified our quality management system as complying with ISO 9001.
more on quality
Integrated BMS with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 for chemical distributor
After our ISO manager left the company, we employed the services of QFactorial to help us update our onerous and outdated ISO manual. They rewrote our ISO manual into a useable Business Management System, reducing the number of documents substantially and producing a modern, concise system well matched to our business needs. Audits are conducted sensibly, using a common-sense approach to observations and non-conformancies. The feedback provides highlights as well as areas for improvement rather than nit-picking. After we achieved ISO 9001, we decided to go for ISO 14001, and again QFactorial’s experience was invaluable. Even the complex world of environmental legislation was made easy to understand and as a result we have been able to record our environmental impact and demonstrate through our certificate that we are environmentally responsible. We are happy to continue our relationship with QFactorial as consultants to assist us in maintaining our BMS.
Simon Eggar
Managing Director
Integrated BMS delivers ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001 and Achilles UVDB certification
From the outset, QFactorial and Red Penguin have enjoyed a very positive working relationship. Kevin has worked tirelessly, assisting us with re-structuring our Business Management System and in our transfer from OHSAS 18001 to ISO 45001. His guidance and advice were tailored uniquely to our business model and as a result we achieved a 100% score in all three of our ISO certifications and Achilles UVDB, a great outcome after the first eight months’ involvement.
Matthew Bowden
General Manager
ISO 13485 certification for manufacture of electronic medical devices
We have worked with QFactorial for the past year to help us implement the ISO 13485 Medical Devices standard. Although we have experience with several standards the ISO 13845 documentation requirements are much more thorough than that of ISO 9001 for example and also the terminology differs greatly and this set a significant challenge. QFactorial were able to offer a robust gap analysis and synergy tool that helped guide us through the early part of the project, and with Kevin’s auditing of our internal processes we were able to identify and improve any weak areas within our system. Working closely with Kevin Brown has been a real pleasure and with his experience and advice we have been successful in implementing the ISO 13485 standard.
Richard Collier
Quality & Continuous Improvement Director
ISO 15189 UKAS Stage 3 medical laboratory approval
Just a quick email to say we have been granted level 3 accreditation! Thank you so much for your help. You have been amazing. You really have been brilliant, and worked way beyond what I would have imagined any other consultant would have done. It has been a pleasure to work with you. I'm sure we will need to engage with UKAS frequently along the way, and we will absolutely be coming straight back to you.
Dr Ian Mann
Chief Medical Officer
ISO 27001 Information Security for Managed IT Services
Our ISO 27001 programme had ground to a halt after trying to follow a complex “one size fits all” template without any real expertise in information security management systems. We needed a simpler approach, focused on the important aspects for our type and size of business.
QFactorial worked with us stage by stage, establishing a simple roadmap that our people could understand. They managed the development, implementation and audit processes, engaging the staff without imposing too much on too many at any one time.
We passed the audit and achieved ISO 27001 on-time, with a usable system, supporting the business and supporting GDPR. We now use this achievement to provide assurance to our customers that we have robust information security systems in place.
Mike Tuson
Non-Executive Director
Stage 3 ISO 15189 & POCT ISO 22870 UKAS accreditation for a UK network of travel clinics.
Our consultant was really excellent. My only regret is we didn’t bring them into the fold sooner – they would have saved us a lot of time and indeed a lot of pain.
Laura Burke
Operations Director
A fresh look at an existing ISO 13485 QMS to realign with the business.
After phase1, diagnostic and planning: “Phase 1 is complete and very cathartic it has been too…”
Then on completion: “I wanted to take the opportunity to thank you and in particular Alistair for your help and advice. Alistair has been excellent. He has helped us enormously and given us the confidence to simplify and modernise our QMS processes.”
Arron Edwards
Director of Software Development
Regulatory support for consumer products and medical devices.
A cornerstone of helping our clients bring innovation to market is robust regulatory compliance, and Q Factorial are a pivotal partner to RPD to ensure we are meeting compliance obligations and gaining regulatory approval.
We have also worked with Q Factorial on our own ISO certification - from building our BQMS through to audit support, they have been by our side to make what is an onerous and difficult process manageable and even fun!
Jacelyn Meller
CCO
ISO 14001 certification for a residential building contractor
After working closely with Kevin at QFactorial for several years, Graham (also from QFactorial) was introduced to the business in early 2021 to assist with Guildmore's ISO 9001/45001 surveillance audit in May 2021 and subsequent re-certification in September 2021. Graham was pivotal throughout the preparation stages, undertaking internal audits and providing in-depth documentation reviews to satisfy the criteria dictated by UKAS and NQA. Guildmore passed both audits and were successfully re-certified for ISO 9001 & 45001. This success continued under Graham's guidance with the ISO 14001 certification audit in March 2022 which Guildmore again passed. Both QFactorial and Graham have been invaluable to the Guildmore Main Contracting division, and we have been delighted with the service provided over the last year or so. Graham's knowledge and experience in particular has been fundamental in securing the accreditations we require to operate.
Miles Astle
Project Manager
Like everyone else, we're worried about the future.
Over the last few years we've seen a steep rise in climate awareness, we've lived through a global pandemic and we've seen the subsequent shake-up in how businesses operate and engage with their clients, suppliers and workforce. Here at Q! we've rolled with the punches too, and it's taught us that we want to be a part of the future and not the past. Our focus is on businesses working in, or supporting, Science, Technology and Sustainability because - at the risk of sounding incredibly twee - we believe that combining quality with these industries will build back a better world. We also are working very hard to do the right thing, for the right reasons within our own business, and you can see more about our values, ethics (and, most importantly, our actions) below:
Community & Credentials