ISO consultant in Canterbury
ISO for Canterbury businesses, with every part earning its place
Proportionate, discerning ISO consultants for Canterbury and East Kent, whether you are new to ISO or already certified
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ISO for Canterbury businesses, with every part earning its place
Proportionate, discerning ISO consultants for Canterbury and East Kent, whether you are new to ISO or already certified.
Phone number:
ISO certification in Canterbury, with every part earning its place
Every document, record and routine in your ISO system should be there for a reason. If it does not help your business or your audit, it should go.
As your ISO consultant in Canterbury and East Kent, we build proportionate systems for businesses getting certified for the first time, and strip back systems that have grown too big. A lead auditor's discerning eye decides what earns its place, based on your risks, your customers and what your certification body will check.
What earns its place in an ISO system
Template systems are full of things added for show. A discerning eye keeps only what your business uses and your auditor needs.
| Often added for show | What earns its place | |
|---|---|---|
| Procedures | A written procedure for every task | Procedures only where a mistake would cost you |
| Forms | Forms nobody fills in | Records your team already keeps, used as evidence |
| Policies | Long policies copied from a template | Short policies that say what you actually do |
| Objectives | Targets nobody tracks | A few measures you already look at |
| Internal audits | Every clause checked the same way | Time spent where your risks and customers are |
Every part of your system earns its place, so your team uses it and your auditor sees it working.
Local, discerning and proportionate ISO for Canterbury businesses
On site in Canterbury.
We travel from Ditton and plan each visit in advance, with the same two people every time.
We see how the work really happens before deciding what your system needs.
Judging what each part is for.
A lead auditor's view of which documents, records and checks your certification body and customers will really look at.
If a procedure is never used and never asked for, we question why it is there.
Nothing extra.
A system sized to your business today, with room to add to it as you grow.
A ten-person business needs far fewer documents than a two-hundred-person one.
Two starting points for Canterbury businesses
Whether you need your first certificate or already hold one, the same question applies to every part of your system: does it earn its place?
New to ISO
Build it lean from day one.
- A free chat about why you need ISO and what you already do
- A discerning review of how your business works
- A proportionate system in daily use for at least three months
- An internal audit and management review, then your Stage 1 and Stage 2 audits
Already certified
Strip it back to what works.
- Every document reviewed against how you really work
- Keep what earns its place, simplify or remove the rest
- Internal audits focused on your real risks
- Support at your surveillance and recertification audits
Food and drink businesses in Canterbury and East Kent
Many East Kent food producers need food safety certification as well as ISO, which can double the paperwork if it is not planned well.
Food safety is where Jeanette started, with a degree in Human Nutrition and HACCP at Level 4. Elsewhere in Kent we support food businesses with HACCP, BRCGS and SALSA, including a Maidstone client who recently achieved BRCGS.
Where you need ISO 9001 as well, we keep food safety and quality in one proportionate system, with a discerning eye on what both sets of auditors will check, so every record does two jobs.
Bespoke ISO support in Canterbury
Every business starts from a different place, so we write a proposal for yours once we understand it.
Some Canterbury businesses come to us for a first certificate. Others already hold ISO and want their system simplified, or kept running for them.
What you get
- A discerning review before we suggest anything
- Visits to your premises, planned in advance
- A proportionate system, built lean or stripped back
- Internal audits and support at every certification audit
Fewer documents, stronger audits.
Your team uses a system it understands, and your auditor finds it working in practice.
Local
- Face to face at your premises
- The same two people each time
Discerning
- Every part checked for its purpose
- Effort focused where auditors look
Proportionate
- A system the right size for you
- Room to grow when you need it
★★★★★
I cannot recommend Jeanette and Next Step Compliance enough. All our issues were highlighted and rectified early on and dealt with in a calm and professional manner. 5 stars all the way !
Printing company in Bromley, Google review
The family consultancy behind your lean ISO system
Behind Next Step Compliance are Jeanette Wessen and her husband Tim Thompson, working from Ditton.
Jeanette became head of department during 13 years in teaching, then moved into compliance. She now holds IRCA lead auditor registration for ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001 and NEBOSH, with a 100% client certification pass rate. Years of auditing are what let her judge which parts of a system earn their place.
Tim came to the business from precision manufacturing, where nothing goes on a job without a reason, and is training for IRCA registration.
Along the M2 we also work in Sittingbourne and Medway, and across Kent in Maidstone, Tonbridge, Dartford, Gravesend and Bromley.
ISO services for Canterbury businesses
Whichever you choose, every part of the work is proportionate to your business and gets a discerning eye.
Internal audits
Time spent where your risks and customers are, from an IRCA registered lead auditor.
ISO 9001 quality management
A quality system with nothing in it for show.
Changing consultant
A fresh review of a system someone else built.
Outsourced compliance manager
We run your lean system for you, month to month.
ISO 14001 environmental management
Environmental controls matched to your real impacts.
ISO 45001 health and safety
Health and safety arrangements focused on your real risks.
Your first ISO certificate
A lean system from day one.
SSIP accreditation
CHAS, Constructionline, SafeContractor and Achilles, using evidence you already have.
Questions from Canterbury businesses
Do you work with businesses in Canterbury?
Yes. We travel to Canterbury from our base in Ditton and visit businesses at their own premises across the city and East Kent. The closest of our current clients are in Sittingbourne and Medway, on the same M2 route.
What does every part earning its place mean for our ISO system?
Every document, record and routine should either help your business run well or give your certification body evidence it needs. If it does neither, it is taking up your team's time for nothing, and we either simplify it or take it out.
Our ISO system has grown too big. Can you simplify it without risking our certificate?
Yes. We check every change against what the standard requires and what your certification body expects, so nothing essential is lost. Most businesses end up with a smaller system that holds up better at audit, because the team actually uses it.
What does ISO 9001 really require?
ISO 9001 asks you to plan your work, deliver what your customers have asked for, check how it went and keep improving. It sets out a number of documented information requirements, but far fewer than many template systems include.
How soon could a Canterbury business be certified?
For a first certificate, allow at least three months before your certification audit. The certification body will want to see the system in real use, with an internal audit and a management review on record.
Can you help food businesses with HACCP, BRCGS or SALSA as well?
Yes. With a degree in Human Nutrition and HACCP at Level 4, Jeanette supports Kent food businesses with HACCP, BRCGS and SALSA, often alongside ISO 9001 in one system.
How much does ISO support cost in Canterbury?
We write a proposal once we have chatted and visited, so the cost is in proportion to your business and covers only what you need. The first 30 minute chat is free.
Talk to an ISO consultant in Canterbury
Book a free 30 minute chat, or give us a ring on 01732 711674. Tell us about the system you have, or the one you need, and we will tell you honestly what earns its place.
Get in contact with Next Step Compliance
Looking for ongoing compliance support for your business in Sittingbourne? Want someone to take the management system off your plate? Need to get your ISO system back on track before your next surveillance visit? ISO Consultant in Sittingbourne.
Fill in the contact form for a conversation.