Managed service provider Cantium Business Solutions made the move from being a local authority business unit to a trading company and needed ISO certification to enhance customer experience and improve their ability to bid for and win new clients.
Discover how we helped Cantium achieve its goals in a quick timeframe, leading to increased sales, new-business wins, and a bright future for the company.
The Challenge Facing Cantium Business Solutions
In 2018, Cantium became a local authority-owned trading company (LATCo), after previously being an internal business at Kent County Council. As a commercial venture, the team needed to hit new growth targets, which meant tendering across key sectors. They were also keen to improve the quality of their service to customers. This meant embedding best practice quality, environmental, and information security management systems across the business.
They immediately recognised the need for ISO certifications to help achieve their goals, but with little previous experience, they were concerned about the process. Having previously engaged British Assessment Bureau for their Staff Care Services function, they trusted us as a safe pair of hands.
‘To be competitive in our markets, we needed to certify as quickly as possible, and we expected this to be a challenge.’
Claire Harman, Quality Manager, Cantium Business Solutions
What is Cantium Business Solutions?
Cantium provides insight-driven managed services to businesses across the UK. From HR and IT to finance and professional services, its bespoke solutions remove the hassle and frustration of managing back-office processes and systems, enabling its clients to perform more efficiently.
Cantium’s clients come from a wide range of industries, including public, education, health and private sectors. They can all benefit from HRSelect, its award-winning fully integrated HR offering; IT support, tech, and qualified engineers; and expert consultancy across project management, legislative services, and GDPR compliance. Cantium’s collaborative, tailored approach is centered around driving improvements, efficiencies, and impactful business transformation.
How ISO Certification Helps LATCos Win New Business
To successfully bid for new business, LATCos like Cantium have to be able to stand out from the competition. One smart way to ensure they’re in the running is by obtaining ISO certification.
These internationally recognised standards provide reassurance and instill potential partners with confidence, acting as a shorthand to demonstrate competence. In some cases, businesses won’t be able to submit a bid without them. What’s more, certification saves time – certified businesses won’t have to provide additional evidence to prove they meet requirements, so they can focus more energy on winning business.
To keep one step ahead of the competition, it’s a good idea to use a UKAS-accredited certifier. It’s the safest way to ensure certification will be accepted, whenever and wherever a business is bidding for contracts. UKAS accreditation means a certification body has met ISO 17021 – the standard for conformity assessment. It’s a sure-sign the company that’s auditing a business and awarding certifications has achieved the highest possible standard itself.
How ISO Certification Has Already Helped Cantium Business Solutions
After first engaging with British Assessment Bureau in October 2018, Cantium has now achieved ISO 9001, 14001, and 27001. Despite their initial concerns about being able to achieve certification in the timeframe, they achieved all three certifications less than nine months later.
The ISO audit process highlighted a few opportunities for improvement, which have helped Cantium reevaluate areas of the business, upgrade its offering, increase its sales in existing sectors, and go after business in new sectors.
‘The ISOs have given us a framework to drive continuous improvement and enhance the customer experience, whilst increasing the bid opportunities available to allow us to diversify and add value back to the local authority.’
Claire Harman, Quality Manager, Cantium Business Solutions
