Number 13 Lucky For Some

Caroline Clay is celebrating 13 years as QA Manager at National Flexible and when the BRC Auditor came calling to inspect the business in February this year, as always Caroline had good cause for celebration as the company was one of the first in the flexible business to be given the new coveted AA rating. The new BRC Quality standard was only introduced in January this year so National Flexible were one of the very first companies to be assessed against the new standard.

Prior to the visit BRC had made it clear that compliance to the new standard would be more demanding than in the past, but as in all the other years whilst Caroline has been managing Quality Control within National Flexible, despite this more stringent standard the AA rating came with only 3 minor non-conformances.

This is hardly surprising as Caroline has an A rating for 9 consecutive years, meeting 100% the hygiene and quality standards of both the BRC and ISO requirements. For anyone who understands the depth and complexities of both of these standards they will appreciate a total of 9 years with 100% compliance with no non conformities is a truly remarkable achievement.

In addition to these successes during her 13 years with the business Caroline has had independent inspections / visits from hundreds of companies within both the food and pharmaceutical industries. These have included all the major supermarkets and as well as many blue chip brand owners. None of these independent inspections has ever found a major non conformity and on every occasion inspected the company has met all the different Quality and Hygiene standards required to supply these companies.

As Caroline says “Every year the standards required in both Quality, Hygiene as well as ethical compliance are increased. But it is a challenge which I and the QA team at National Flexible really enjoy. The secret of our success in these areas is that our reward system includes both quality and hygiene compliance, so everyone in the business plays their part, long may it continue.

www.nationalflexible.co.uk