The Professional Contractors Group has announced the ISO9001:2000 certification of Project Pilots through its groundbreaking PCG (QS) scheme, which was designed specifically for small consulting and contracting businesses. Project Pilots is the fifth member business to achieve certification since the scheme was introduced towards the end of last year.
Located in London, the Home Counties, Wales and Yorkshire, Project Pilots is a local business with a national reach. The company offers consultancy services to help clients achieve the best possible return on their existing and new IT investments. As the company name suggests, its core competency lies in all aspects of successful project delivery but it also provides expertise in solutions and business integration, technical quality assurance and resource development and acquisition.
CEO Keith Hogben is delighted that Project Pilots has achieved full UKAS ISO9001:2000 certification. “One of our founding principles is to offer our clients solutions of the highest standard. We recognised that an internationally acknowledged quality endorsement would give us huge commercial credibility but, like many SMEs, we believed that ISO9001 certification was beyond our reach – until the development of the PCG (QS) scheme. ISO9001 focuses on client satisfaction and continual improvement and these goals exactly match our core philosophy.”
Quality director Richard Robson says, “While the scheme does not replace the need to embrace ISO9001 principles, it certainly provides a logical and straightforward structure upon which to build a compliant quality system. ISO9001:2000 certification to UKAS standards is tangible evidence of our commitment to provide our clients with quality products and services.”
Technical director Martin Hillson agrees. “Our management and administrative processes were already largely ISO9001 compliant and did not require radical change,” he says. “Nevertheless, the web-based document repository and comprehensive tools substantially simplified the process of adapting our processes to the PCG (QS) methodology and considerably reduced the level of effort required.”
Resources director Peter Gable is convinced that ISO9001 certification is an effective endorsement of the company’s determination to deliver value for its existing and prospective clients. He explains, “A client operating in the rail industry told us that our commitment to ISO9001 standards had been a key influence in their decision to award a lucrative contract to Project Pilots.”
Congratulating Project Pilots, PCG chairman Simon Juden said, “We are really pleased to welcome another certificated business into the fold. PCG is committed to promoting the value of independent consultants to the UK economy and our aim with the PCG (QS) scheme is not only to help them demonstrate credibility and quality, but also to give them a competitive edge.”