FIRST COMPANIES TO BE CERTIFIED WITH ACCREDIT UK’S SOFTWARE DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT AND TESTING STANDARD

8 May 2008, Two West Midlands companies are the first in the country to be certified to Accredit UK’s software design, development and testing standard. Accredit UK will help businesses use and trust IT solutions. It is a quality mark that promotes trust in IT and helps suppliers prove their excellence. The two companies were presented with their certificates on 29 April in Coventry.

The addition of these  two companies brings the total number of Accredit UK certified companies up to seven since November 2007, with five suppliers already accredited in the field of network, design and installation.  

Targeted at small to medium sized companies, the Standard has been developed to help businesses technology purchasers to identify technology companies that will provide an honest, reliable and efficient service. 

Vaughan Shayler, Programme Director for Accredit UK said: “By using the Accredit UK standard, these newly certified companies are helping to make it easier for purchasers to feel confident to buy services from technology companies.  94% of people that we surveyed think that the Accredit UK standard is a good idea. That is because it solves their burning need – they can now get what they want without fear.”

The companies are Portech Systems and KC3.net.

Since 1992, Portech’s internal Research and Development team has been developing mobile computer solutions for  small to medium sized companies as well as household names such as Habitat and PayPoint.  Shaz Naeem, Managing Director of Portech, views Accredit UK as an invaluable addition to the IT industry, and one which will help all aspects of the company’s operation.  “We will use the certification to help grow our business as we will have a recognition which many of our competitors will not yet have.  With the Accredit UK certification, we can say that we are the best of the best and our customers can rely on us.”

The Accredit UK Assessor said: “Portech Systems has a systematic approach to providing high quality software and levels of customer service. This means that they consistently achieve the highest levels of customer satisfaction.”

KC3.net is an employee owned that develops acms software that allows website owners to manage their content easily and OutBox, an ethical mass emailing system.  Unusually for an IT company, 50% of employees are female and in the last 12 months, sales have grown by 87% and turnover by 50%. 

Chief Executive, Nick Harris, commented: “Although we are already ISO9001:2000 QA accredited, we feel that by undertaking the Accredit UK certification process we have further improved our internal quality systems which in turn will  benefit our clients.”

The Accredit UK Assessor said: “KC3.net have a culture of continuous improvement that means they set themselves high standards of customer satisfaction. They achieve this through a dedication to implementing robust processes and recognition that their staff are their most significant asset.”

ABOUT ACCREDIT UK:

Accredit UK will help businesses use and trust IT solutions. It is a quality mark that promotes trust in IT and helps suppliers prove their excellence. It will prove to potential IT purchasers that companies holding the mark operate with appropriately skilled people and clearly defined processes, and that they have a track record of meeting customers’ expectations.

Accredit UK has been created by the National Computing Centre as part of a project joint-funded by the NCC, Advantage West Midlands and the European Regional Development Fund.

For more information please consult the Accredit UK website at: www.accredituk.com or contact:

Simon Brandon, Marketing Consultant T:               01332 695077       
E: simon@simonbrandon.com