Maintaining the highest standards of quality is a key part of what we do. We are therefore delighted to reveal that, for the second time, Accolade Park has achieved the highest levels of recognition in three key unannounced audits – the British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) Global Food Standard and Standard for Storage & Distribution, and the International Food Standard.
Created in 1992, the BRC is a trade association for the UK food retail industry, and has published best practice standards for the food and manufacturing industries for two decades. As a manufacturer, achieving these standards is a prerequisite for doing business with retailers in the UK.
Designed as a ‘total quality management’ program, the standards include both food safety and quality requirements which food manufacturers must meet in order to be certified. Every few years the standard itself is reviewed, and this year was our first audit against Version 8, the most stringent release to date.
Similarly, the International Food Standard is a Food Safety Standard is most relevant for European and other export markets. Many important European retailers require IFS certification from the suppliers in their supply chain.
In the spirit of our Fifth Lean Principle – “Continuous Improvement in Pursuit of Perfection” – and to offer the business a real differentiator in manufacturing standards, Accolade Park volunteers for unannounced visits across all three audit standards.
This unlocks the ability to achieve the highest grade possible, the AA+ grade, which is not available from standard scheduled audits and sets us apart from most of the competitor set.
In June all three of these unannounced audits took place at Accolade Park over a total of six days, culminating in the site retaining its AA+ grade for both BRC standards as well as the IFS Higher grade.
The two auditors spoke to over 60 different colleagues in their time here, offering high praise for the facility as well as the attitude and responses provided by staff.
Richard Lloyd, General Manager, European Operations & Supply Chain, said: “Given the scale of the operation at Accolade Park to be audited on an unannounced basis, to receive only a few minor non conformances is a testament to the ownership everyone on site has to our standards and desire to be the best. To achieve this for a second year running is an incredible achievement and the result of meticulous planning plus preparation. A job very well done.”
Congratulations to everybody at Accolade Park and beyond who supported during this time.
The commitment shown by everyone involved has been the best ever in terms of support, knowledge sharing and team effort to ensure that we continue to raise the bar within our facility.
