We are one of the few bid writing companies in England to have our quality management system certified to ISO 9001:2008, through a UKAS accredited body, and, following our next audit later this year, we are hoping to achieve ISO 9001:2015 certification to further improve our bid writing processes.
The benefits of UKAS ISO 9001 certification to us
Unlike some other firms who have non-UKAS ISO certificates our quality management systems have been assessed and certified by an independent UKAS-accredited body. This clearly demonstrates our confidence that we have maintained robust systems for ensuring high levels of continually improving bid writing services and support. It always surprises us to learn that some competitors do not practise what they preach and only achieve self-certification.
In our opinion, UKAS certification is a “must have” as it helps to ensure that our clients receive the highest quality output from our team of in-house, directly-employed writers.
Examples of the processes we use include:
- Daily planning meetings.
- Ongoing training, information and instruction, alongside communicating relevant updates, sharing knowledge and aiding a collaborative working environment that we know is at the core of every successful bid team.
- A two-stage quality control process, including a review of drafted responses by General Manager Matthew Walker and Director Neil Capstick, followed by a review performed by a qualified and certified proofreader. As such, each answer is assessed for suitability, sufficiency and accuracy in terms of content, and presentation, grammar and spelling, meaning our clients receive winning responses.
- Ongoing performance reviews based on feedback from completed submissions (both successful and unsuccessful), pinpointing areas for continual improvement. Neil and Matthew are unapologetic in the ongoing push for service enhancement – this is how we have grown and developed a client base of regular customers who return to us time and time again.
- Internal process audits that check our own systems are working well and that everyone is adhering to the individual steps within it.
Through UKAS audits we have been required to demonstrate these processes in action and have received praise for the effectiveness of our systems, record keeping and audit trails. As such, we are confident of easily achieving 2015 certification, further enhancing our bid writing services and our prospects of securing external contracts.
The benefits of UKAS ISO 9001 certification to our clients
The benefits to you of obtaining 9001 certification include being able to demonstrate you have robust, auditable and suitable quality assurance systems in place. In turn, this provides assurance to your clients that they will receive consistent and effective service delivery time after time. The focus on the ISO standard for integrity and customer-focus of your services means your clients receive the best service possible. In terms of tendering, a UKAS ISO can also gain more points at the selection questionnaire stage. It is common to be excluded from a competition by just a couple of points; UKAS makes it easier to gain full marks and so ultimately could lead to you winning an otherwise unobtainable opportunity.
Put simply, your prospects of winning contracts will be enhanced as contracting authorities will know that your QMS has been independently verified as being of the required standard to successfully manage a contract.
On a long-term basis, the certification body will help you maintain ongoing compliance and achieve updated standards through audits and clear feedback following interviews with management staff and an assessment of documentary evidence. As such, they will provide clear, well-informed guidance to you, ensuring you always work to the highest quality standards when managing contracts and tendering for further opportunities.
UKAS ISO 9001 certification brings many benefits in respect of organisational management, tendering and client confidence, with an initial investment offset through long-term efficiency, customer focus and commitment to maintaining high quality standards.