About
Based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, we are a national collective of experienced and qualified experts in management systems, focusing primarily on ISO standards based systems.
Who Are We?
We have helped organisations of all sizes obtain and retain certification to a wide range of standards, including ISO 9001 (quality management systems), ISO 14001 (environmental management systems), ISO 45001 (health and safety management systems) and many others such as ISO 13485 (medical devices), ISO 17020, procedures for testing bodies and 17025 laboratory management – both of which are audited by UKAS, the people who supervise the companies that certify most other standards. UKAS accredited standards.
We operate nationally and have worked with organisations as diverse as one of the world's largest project management consultancies to one person small and medium sized enterprises [“SME's"}, in the UK, The Netherlands, Gabon and in the United Arab Emirates, many of whom continue to use our services.
Our Team
Roger
Managing Consultant
Meg
Head of Operations & Lead Consultant
Mark
Financial Director
Mel
Lead Consultant
Alison
Lead Consultant
David E
Lead Consultant
Richard
Lead Consultant
Dave
Lead Consultant
Our Approach
Our approach is different. Typically people will give you a "template" system and tell you to put your name on the top of it. You have to work to it, not the other way around. Our philosophy and approach have been developed by in partnership with a business process-re-engineering consultancy, called Episode’s Growth Planning Process.
It has three aims:
- ensure you are successfully ISO certified (if that is what you want)
- build a simple and effective management system unique to you, shaped by our experience and your
knowledge of your organisation - empower you to grow the organisation without the need for external help.
We are able to give you the tools to structure your organisation the way you want it. We are not for one
second saying we are business change experts: rather, we give you the framework to do that yourselves. You know your organisation best.
Standards we work on
We have worked on a wide range of systems based on ISO and other standards, and the list continues to grow.
The list below highlights the ones we find are most in demand, but please contact us if what you are looking for is not listed; we will be able to help:
- ISO 9001 Quality
- ISO 14001 Environment
- OHSAS 18001/ISO 45001 Health & safety
- ISO 17020 Requirements for testing bodies
- ISO 17025 Testing and calibration labs
- ISO 27001 Information security management
- NHS Data Security and Protection Toolkit
- ISO 13485 Medical devices quality management
- SSIP's such as CHAS and Achilles
- Cyber Essentials Plus
- ISO 37001, Anti-bribery management
- ISO 39001, Road traffic safety management
- CE Marking
- BS EN 1090 CE Marking of structural metalwork
- BS EN 10012, Personal information management (a UK standard to aid GDPR compliance)
- ISO 13485, Medical device quality management (and the associated Medical Device Directive/ new MD regulations)
Our Philosophy
Feedback from our customers has helped form our philosophy, which is to work with our clients to build great, operational, business management systems that comply with the standards you need to comply with, on time, and on budget.
Partners
We have a panel of subject matter experts we work with where you or Episode don’t have the skills required. Be it specialist health, safety or environmental advice, the need for a “responsible person” for either (or both), or you need someone with CDM Principle Designer qualifications to help fulfil construction contracts, we have the right pool of experts to draw on, both in-house and partners we have worked with jointly for clients. Equally there are a several IT related standards that require specific IT skills you may not have in-house. Episode act as coordinator to make sure you get a unified service that meets your needs and exceeds your expectations.
Here for you
Regardless of your size we are able to make gaining and retaining ISO certification as smooth as possible. Our philosophy is simple – make the system work for you, not the other way around.
Qualified experts
At Episode all our consultants are highly experienced real-world business and operations managers, rather than compliance mangers. We know what is needed operationally, and how to implement ISO along the way.
We have all done the same courses and sat the same (International Register of Certificated Auditors [IRCA] Lead Auditor) exams as the Certification Bodies auditors (the people who certify your systems). In this way you know that you will always have successful audits as we know what your certification body auditor is looking for.
We also have years of real-world experience in establishing, auditing and managing systems. Many of our clients choose not to have an HSE or Quality Manager; they find it far more cost-effective to outsource that to Episode. We are able to give you help and advice about system and process improvements, having seen how other people do things and sharing that best practice is invaluable to our clients.
Drinking our own Champagne by being ISO 9001:2015 certified
Episode is cirtified by a UKAS accredited certification body to ISO 9001:2015, quality management systems
Enterprise class company, ISO certified
With a large (and continually growing) client base, we have to have the best systems and processes available to ensure we continue to deliver the exceptional service our clients have come to expect.
We know we need a robust and comprehensive business management system to make this happen. Anyone that has worked with us knows that as far as we are concerned the best business management system framework is ISO 9001. It is a simple but comprehensive guide to what core activities are needed in running successful businesses. Combing this with our experience of seeing how great companies are organised, we have the kind of system you would expect to see in plc’s.
For example, our client portal & online collaboration platform is hosted in Box.Com, widely used by stock-market listed companies. Our Project Management system is WorkFlowMax, fully integrated with our accounts system, Xero.
Why is this important? Well, it means two things:
- You can be sure you will get exceptional service from Episode
- You don’t have to take our word for it. We have been audited by an independent body to make sure things work as well as possible.
See our quality policy and ISO 9001 certificate below
Contact us today on 0113 8019001 or click here to email us
It was only by utilising the expert guidance and experience of Episode that Thurston Group was able to attain certification within an exceptionally challenging time frame. We therefore offer our thanks to Episode Ltd. For the diligent and professional services provided. We also look forward to working with them again soon and would not hesitate to recommend their services."
Peter Spieight, Senior Divisional Director, Thurston Group, Wakefield
Roger's support was invaluable in terms of gap analysis, recommendations for improvement, and facilitation of the certification process. I would strongly recommend Roger to any organisation wishing to develop or improve its management systems, in a way which minimizes bureaucracy, and focuses on best serving the needs of the organization.
Gary Evans, Flour Corporation, Abu Dhabi
Roger and Sandy at Episode were great in helping us achieve not only one but two ISO standards 9001:2015 and 14001:2015. Episode were extremely helpful from the onset, they were able to break down the ISO standard so they were easily comprehensible and well applied to our business in a sustainable manner. They are a company that offers a guaranteed certification at the end of the process and they delivered it. I believe that the work completed during this process was key to us having won the Leeds Bid contract.
Harvey Mills, Managing Director, Forge Recycling, Leeds.
If Sandy hasn’t already updated you we are delighted to say we passed the transition audit for ISO 9001 and ISO 14001. Sandy did an absolutely fab job and all credit to her, we have loved having both of you here it’s been a pleasure.
I have had a brief chat with Morgan[the CEO] about the next steps and how we manage things going forwards. Morgan will be in touch with you soon about this and getting Episode/Sandy back in on a regular basis. Once again many thanks for everything and especially to Sandy!!
Morag Tearne, HR and Health & Safety Manager, H. Slingsby plc, Shipley
Episode is always prepared to go the extra mile. When in a tight spot the lead consultant carried out an audit for us at very short notice (on a Sunday afternoon) to keep us on track. What is important to us is the advice they give us is practical and tailored to us. The quality of output Episode produces is very high.
This has resulted in us having a multi-year managed service from Episode so as a company we know our ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 integrated system is up to date and working for us.
Gareth Walters, Financial Controller, Sports Turf Research Institute, Bingley.
When asked by Episode what three things they do well, and what three things they could improve upon, my answers were:
Done well
1. Client Communication, responded to queries very quickly
2. Requirements of the standard were communicated in a simple manner.
3. Assistance from initial implementation to date of assessment was very good.
I can honestly there is nothing I feel they should improve upon.
Paul Hunneybell, Operations Manager, Fenland Fire Contracts Limited, Luton
The consultant worked with the team in Scott Bader Middle East Ltd. to completely re-engineer our Integrated Management System incorporating ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001. Until then we were slaves to the ISO audits, with the systems not adding much value beyond certification. Now we have a business management system that really works for us and is truly integrated into our operations. We were also successfully re-certified along the way.
John Kemp, CEO Scott Bader Middle East, Africa and Asia
The consultant really focused on making our systems and processes work better for us, not just help us comply with ISO 9001. He was able to work with Department Heads and Senior Management to shape their strategic thinking about quality and business objectives without telling them what they had to do because the standard says so.
Karim D'Alessandro, HSE Director, Shelf Drilling Inc.