ISO QSL Crowned ‘Family Business of the Year’ at Herefordshire & Worcestershire Chamber Awards

ISO Quality Services, based in Worcester, has been crowned ‘Family Business of the Year’ at the recent Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber Business Awards.

The event held at the Worcester Arena is a much-anticipated annual event, recognising local organisations for their achievements over the past 12 months.  The ISO providers based in Worcester are already proud winners of ‘Excellence in Professional Services 2019’ and ‘Excellence in Customer Service 2018’ as well as highly commended in last year’s ‘Accomplishments in Adaptability 2020’ and the British Chamber of Commerce ‘UK Business Hero 2020’.

Chairman Peter Appleton founded the firm back in 2000 where he acted as MD, Business Development Manager and Auditor, whilst his wife Susan looked after the finances.  Despite being at school, daughters Jennifer and Debbie were also involved in the business from a young age, spending their afternoons filling envelopes with ISO brochures.  Some 10 years later, Jennifer joined the firm, shortly followed by Debbie.

Today, the Board of Directors comprises all four family members with Jennifer and Debbie looking after the day to day running of the business.

The Chamber judges said: “What impressed us is that it is a second-generation family business that is continuing to successfully navigate the challenges of passing from generation to generation.

We were particularly impressed by their appraisal system and their staff mentoring program. Non-family members who work for them describe them as flexible, quick decision makers, and that they have found that it is a very easy business to work for.

We were also impressed by the fact that they had considered and used the benefit of an external facilitator in their board meetings to help them make decisions!"

Managing Director, Jennifer Appleton said “We are honoured to have won Family Business of the Year.  Being a family run business is important to us and how our whole company operates.  Our close-knit team operates as one large family, and we hope this is felt by both our clients and partners.

The introduction of our Board Advisor, Rachel Keefe, has been a great asset to the business, helped us maintain perspective during Board meetings”.

ISO Quality Services is an independent organisation specialising in helping SMEs improve their businesses through the implementation of ISO and BS EN Management Standards.