ACCREDITATIONS

We’ve come across many tender documents that state a specific accreditation is needed, in order to even be considered as a potential supplier.

Obtaining accreditations or specific memberships can usually take time and the path to remaining fully accredited contains many hurdles.

This can range from in-depth consultancy, various application forms, providing evidence of all of your written procedures and policies and stringent company audits.

Just like your policies and written procedures, there are many similar benefits to gaining accreditations and keeping them organised and accessible. This will help your organisation and the individuals therein to better demonstrate their professional capabilities.

Please see our Policies and Procedures video to find out more.

If you’ve gained an accreditation then you’ve proved, in one way or another, that you are capable of demonstrating industry-recognised processes. This allows you to become recognised as a more esteemed, committed and proactive supplier. Hence, we always recommend shouting about this in your Tender responses.

Some of the major accreditations that a range of industries across the UK will see time and time again are known as British Standards (BS), or International Standards (ISO). You may have heard of ISO 9001, which is one of the most sought-after accreditations in all industries. This concerns a company’s adherence to a quality management system (QMS) and how an organisation might demonstrate high quality processes across the board.

Other accreditations are sector-specific and thus often vary. In Construction for example, there is, Safety Schemes in Procurement (or SSIP for short) which includes CHAS, Constructionline, and SAFE Contractor, amongst others. In the Security sector there is the option of being accredited against the Security Industry Authority (SIA); and for Technology, or for companies handling any type of data electronically it would be worthwhile gaining an accreditation in CyberEssentials and ISO 27001, which is the industry standard for Information Security.

So, how to get accreditations?

There are multiple ways to go about receiving such accreditations. Indeed, consultancy support for example, is a route dedicated to supporting organisations in becoming fully accredited. This involves gap analysis, internal staff training, implementing processes and mock audits, ready for certification.

In many tenders that we have managed, some accreditations are mandatory to attach, although there is usually the possibility of self-certifying your possession of the required accreditation and providing it at a later stage. Although sometimes, an accreditation is not required.

We always recommend our clients to perform an assessment of their industry’s best practice. Along with their place in the market, to identify which competitors are accredited to and discover which processes they might implement to give them the best chance of standing out on paper.

Indeed, an accreditation can go a long way in the tendering process and may boost an organisation’s chances of winning work.