Tight ship Topfloor wins award

In 2007 we'll be celebrating the 20th anniversary of ISO 9001.

That's right - the British Standards Institution (BSI) has been issuing the world's most established quality standard for 20 years now and Topfloor is getting special recognition for being there when it all began.

On Wednesday 17 October, Topfloor collected an award from BSI for holding the first ISO 9001 certificate to be issued back in 1987.

Since then, the Quality Management Systems certificate has helped Topfloor keep its affairs in order by making sure the processes used are effective, adequate records are kept and the way Topfloor works keeps on improving.

Simon Copeland, Topfloor technical manager, said: "The philosophy behind ISO 9001 is - if you have a good management system in place that is regularly checked and audited, you will automatically make a good product. It helps us satisfy customer requirements for things like product conformity and meeting delivery dates."

Although other Tarmac businesses also have the ISO 9001 certificate, owning the first one to be issued is unique to Topfloor.

Simon said: "Back in 1978 when Topfloor was known as Richard Lees Limited, it became the first manufacturing company in the UK to receive the BS 5750 certificate which preceded ISO 9001. Topfloor kept up with the standard as it evolved, following all the necessary rules and so held on to certificate number one when ISO 9001 was launched in 1987."

Simon celebrated the 20-year milestone and collected Topfloor's award at a drinks reception at The Gladstone Library in Whitehall, London.

"I'm really proud of the achievement - we have maintained our Quality Management System for nearly 30 years now and it is still proving to be a success," Simon said.

 

17 October 2007