2013 a quality year for SQMC

2013 proved a quality year for Dunfermline-based quality management trainers and consultants SQMC.

The Scottish Quality Management Centre (SQMC) continued to beat current economic trends by increasing its turnover by over 10% in 2013.

Quality management training and systems have been found to contribute considerably towards the UK’s economy and the success of individual organisations. For example, a report commissioned by the CQI and CMI in 2012 found that in 2011 quality management programmes added over £80bn towards the UK’s GDP and an average of a £6 increase to revenues and £16 reduce to cost for every £1 spent on such systems for businesses.¹

“2013 has been our best year yet as we continue to break our own turnover records, demonstrating the importance organisations continue to place on quality training and qualifications, like ISO 9001,” said SQMC Director of Operations, Kenny Hannah.

“We secured a lot of new business last year with multinational organisations like Grontmij, Nexen Petroleum, Merck Millipore, Furgo, and Mercedes.

“In addition to new business, we continued to provide training for our existing client base that includes companies such as Wolfson, Babcock, Diageo, Veolia Water and FMC Technologies. We also helped private individuals to enhance their CVs and enrich their business prospects by gaining superior qualifications.

“We’re proud to announce that our pass rate in 2013 for our IRCA-accredited ISO 9001 Lead Auditor course was 94%, which is 20% higher than the worldwide average. These high pass rates help our students reduce their financial outlay for training as they have the best possible opportunity to pass their exam first time.”

These excellent pass rates are testament to SQMC’s team, made up of some of the UK’s most experienced and highly talented trainers. SQMC works throughout the country from Aberdeen to York and Glasgow to Birmingham to deliver open-to-public quality auditor and quality management systems courses, plus bespoke on-site training for organisations across the private and public sectors.

Perth-based Smart Parking was re-Certified for ISO 9001 last year, with help from SQMC Director of Programmes, Karen MacKenzie. They are now looking forward to working towards OHSAS 18001 (health and safety) and ISO 14001 (environmental) management systems certification.

“Karen has been excellent to work with and is practical and down to earth,” said Elaine Montgomery, Smart Parking’s Head of HR. “She really understands the needs of our businesses and has helped to adapt the qualifications and training we require to fit our requirements and goals.”

SQMC provides internationally-accredited quality training and qualifications to a diverse client base of SMEs and large multinationals across a broad range of industrial and service sectors and public and private industries across the UK and internationally.

¹The Contribution of quality management to the UK economy is a 2012 report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) commissioned by the Chartered Quality Institute (CQI) and the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).