Over the years we have dedicated ourselves to the principles of safety and quality. Underscored by our focus on training, we are always looking for new ways to improve our team’s skills and qualifications.

During the last 18 months, in the face of a global pandemic, the MVIS team have been working hard in the background to ensure that we have helpful and necessary accreditations that help us to maintain the reputation of being industry leaders in the rental of solar powered intelligent transport systems.

Earlier in the year, MVIS took part in a successful re-certification of our ISO accreditations in quality (9001:2015), environmental management (14001:2015), and health & safety (45001:2018).

Issued by global certification body NQA, ISO accreditations enforce the practise of and adherence to respected business standards that help organisations perform better in a wide range of aspects.

For MVIS and Bartco UK, the standards of quality (9001:2015), environmental management (14001:2015) and health & safety (45001:2018) are of vital importance to our business, making adherence to these core aspects a highly aspirational goal for us. Together, the ISO accreditations furnish us with a full IMS (integrated management system), bringing our systems and processes into one complete framework.

Subject to an annual audit by NQA, we are tested into order to ensure that we are making full use of the IMS, applying our accreditation skills to all levels of our business, and it is with great pride that we can announce that we have passed our audit for 2021 with flying colours.

One of the other achievements we have earned recently is Gold Status in the Constructionline programme, which offers a platform for thousands of buyers in the construction industry that enforces an ethos of trust and quality amongst its members. Validating all members, the Constructionline platform is used by buyers to quickly find suppliers that will enable them to complete a whole range of projects in the industry by providing them with a pool of high quality suppliers that they can engage with confidently.

Achieving Gold status on this platform isn’t easy for just anyone, with Gold membership requiring further validation checks using an enhanced prequalification questionnaire that goes beyond those involved in silver. Our credentials were assessed for environmental management, quality management, equal opportunities, modern slavery act adherence and anti-bribery and corruption policies.

Whilst achieving Gold status may seem like a high climb for many businesses, for MVIS, it was very achievable. Already giving the very best quality and service, we earn these accreditations to prove it, meaning customers can work with us knowing they are getting the very best.

We have also achieved Gold status in the Supply Chain Sustainability School, a platform that offers businesses extensive training around various sustainability, offsite, digital, procurement, lean and management topics relevant to the business environment.

With a strong focus on CPD through training workshops, networking events and e-learning modules, achieving Gold status is found through completing or using a number of these tools across the company to ensure that the skills taught within the programmes are taken on by companies as well as filtered throughout the business.

As it has helped us to think about our business from top to bottom, the policies and systems affected by the work we have done with the Supply Chain Sustainability School will, in turn, affect the whole organisation in terms of helping us towards our goal of a more sustainability focussed business, with the added benefits of cost savings, reinforcing our reputation and increased safety for our team, our customers and the general public.

This year we have also signed up to the Prompt Payment Code. The Prompt Payment Code is a voluntary code of practice for businesses, administered by the Office of the Small Business Commissioner (SBC) on behalf of BEIS and sets standards for payment practices between organisations of any size and their suppliers.

Signatories to the code have undertaken to always pay suppliers on time, within agreed terms, to give clear guidance to suppliers on terms, dispute resolution and prompt notification of late payment, and well as to support good practice throughout their supply chain by encouraging adoption of the Code.

By promoting and sticking to these practices, we are serving as a good example for the code which may help to inspire other companies to sign up, enforcing best business practices all along our supply chain to not only improve reliability, but help businesses everywhere.

We have also recently re-certified with Achilles BuildingConfidence registration, having been certified for over 2 years now. Achilles Building Confidence is a UK construction industry accreditation and risk management scheme that aims to help organisations identify, assess, qualify, and monitor suppliers throughout the supply chain, reducing operating costs.

A standardised pre-qualification questionnaire streamlines the procurement process and manages risk. 

Achilles enables communities of buyers and suppliers to build better business relationships through a more open, trusting and proactive approach. Sharing knowledge, standards and best practice leads to buyers and suppliers sharing success.

Achilles BuildingConfidence helps us to accentuate our commitment to these essential aspects of our business.

Safety doesn’t just mean physical safety, it also includes digital safety too. Cyber Essentials is a simple but effective, Government backed scheme that will help you to protect your organisation, whatever its size, against a whole range of the most common cyber attacks.

Cyber attacks come in many shapes and sizes, but the vast majority are very basic in nature, carried out by relatively unskilled individuals. They’re the digital equivalent of a thief trying your front door to see if it’s unlocked. Cyber Essentials is designed to prevent these attacks.

Certification gives us peace of mind that our defences will protect against the vast majority of common cyber attacks simply because these attacks are looking for targets which do not have the Cyber Essentials technical controls in place.

Cyber Essentials shows us how to address those basics and prevent the most common attacks.

It also gives our customers piece of mind that their data is handled according to best practices against common cyber attacks, meaning they can hire with us confidently.

When it comes to safety, we take no chances and this is including our commitment to the environment – the protection of which offers us all the ultimate safety. As an organisation, we are always looking for ways we can protect the environment, in line with our commitments as a responsible business.

In an effort to address our carbon footprint, we have looked to Forest Carbon, who have an initiative called ‘Carbon Club’, which was set up to allow smaller organisations and businesses to address their climate impact.

Purchasing ‘carbon credits’ allows Forest Carbon to plant trees and create new woodlands in the UK on our behalf, which will sequester greenhouse gases (GHGs) from the atmosphere in the years to come in our country.

Doing this allows our customers to also benefit from our activities too, offering them an environmentally focused supplier who engages with environmental responsibilities, which for many of our customers is a very important aspect for their environmental commitments too.

Anne Ashman, UK Group Commercial and Operations Director commented, “We are always looking for ways to improve our environmental, safety and quality standards and by achieving these accreditations and memberships, it ensures that we are working to the best standards possible. Clients come to us knowing that we do not compromise on safety, quality, customer care or our commitment to the environment, which is what underpins our Platinum Service Promise.”

As time goes on and we take on more accreditations and memberships with these highly valuable groups, we are building more than just our reputation. We are changing the way we operate at an organisational level that affects how we approach things, as a business and as individuals in an ever-evolving world.