I had the fantastic opportunity to meet with Matt Gantley, Chief Executive of UK Accreditation Services (UKAS) and Lord Lindsay, Chairman at their headquarters in Egham to discuss UKAS national accreditation schemes. This is recognised by the British government to assess the competence of organisations that provide certification, testing, inspection and calibration services and is prestigious with the Royal Crown stamp of approval.
The Head Quarters was a very impressive layout, with a large communal staffing area and it was a delight to see everyone hard at work. I was informed by Matt of the work they do, and the exceptional achievements made to ensure safety and reliability is at the forefront of the company. Matt and Lord Lindsay spoke in depth regarding the variety of government bodies they help advice and protect from Forensics to Agriculture to Health Services and many more. One of our greatest exports is UK standards and I learnt about work done as part of Global Britain leading the way here.
Accreditation determines the technical competence, reliability, and integrity of Conformity Assessment Bodies. It spans all aspects of our everyday lives to provide confidence that accredited organisations are competent and can be trusted to deliver promised levels of performance and protection for the products and services we rely on. This will be particularly important as we take climate change in setting standards measuring for carbon capture and offsetting.
I also had the delightful opportunity to be introduced to Denise Cook from Frimley Health Pathology Services. Denise excelled in her performances during the pandemic and expressed that the lighthouse lab which was set up to tackle covid testing met targets of a phenomenal 70,000 swabs a day. It was a real pleasure to be able to present Denise Cook and Frimley Health with a certificate for their achievements on the continuation of their accreditation.
I am enthusiastic to meet with Matt and Lord Lindsay again in the future on their work, promoting Global Britain, and around the challenges of net-zero. Further details on the fantastic work UKAS does, can be found here: https://www.ukas.com
