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When the government of Abu Dhabi wanted to create a world class supplier improvement programme, who did they turn to?

That’s very good for Altius you may say, but what’s it got to do with me and the assessment of contractors working for UK high street retailers? Well, the answer to that particular question is that it provides an opportunity to reinforce the message from Altius that we are not just another assessment agency. The work in Abu Dhabi is focussed very clearly at the strategic end of their supply chain and heavily geared towards building strong, effective relationships with key suppliers. However the concepts involved over there are identical to the concepts involved over here with contractors working for retail and licensed trade clients. Put simply, the role of Altius is to help suppliers to understand the requirements of the client, help the client to understand the capabilities of the supplier, and work together with both to fill the gaps, raise standards, reduce risks and improve overall service delivery.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s the construction of the biggest, most luxurious hotel the world has ever seen, or repairing a faulty air conditioning unit in a Victorian building on the high street. What the client wants to know is that all of their contractors meet all of their compliance requirements all of the time, in other words ‘Peace of Mind’. What the contractor wants is the opportunity to do a good job and grow their business, in other words a ‘Piece of the Action’.

From left: Gary Plant, Managing Director, Altius ; Jonathan Kidd, Chief Executive, Abu Dhabi General Services; Ibrahim Lari, Chief Executive, Injazat; Gavin Morton, Sourcing Director, ADGS; Mike McLean, Executive Director, Altius.

That’s what Altius do. We work with clients and contractors to improve things – the principles remain the same irrespective of sector, location or culture.

Altius Assured Vendor Update

Altius’s assessment service in the UK retail and licensed trade sector continues to go from strength to strength, with new vendors and clients joining all the time. Bhs Projects are the latest to ask their contractors to join and SGP’s signing up of KFC, Pizza Hut and Roadchef, means that their contractors will also be undertaking the Altius assessment.

Breaking News: IS09001 Achieved

IMPROVING OUR STANDARDS

Altius is proud to announce that it has now achieved certification against the IS09001 Quality standard. Our audit was carried out by BSI on 7th and 8th January and was against the new ISO9001:2008 standard, which only came into operation at the start of 2009. More detail to follow in our next issue...

Three Peaks Conquered

ALTIUS RACES TO THE TOP

Battling poor weather and aching limbs, the team from Altius (main sponsor TES Ltd) successfully completed the Three Peaks by Rail challenge in July and in the process raised more than £7,500 for children’s charity The Railway Children.

The challenge consisted of climbing the three highest peaks in Wales, England and Scotland (Snowdon, Sca Fell Pike and Ben Nevis respectively) over the course of 36 hours, travelling between each mountain on a specially chartered train.

The challenge started in fairly inauspicious circumstances, as the train was delayed and then pouring rain descended during the night climb of Snowdon. However, all four members of the team made it safely to the summit and back down again, and thereafter the weather did improve at least a bit, even if sleep deprivation and tired limbs started to take their toll. Sca Fell Pike and Ben Nevis were successfully conquered and the team made it to the finish line together. Then, the added bonus was that the amount raised was the third best out of all the teams that took part, contributing to a total of over £200,000 raised for the work of The Railway Children around the world.

Continuous Improvement

GREATER USABILITY, MORE FLEXIBILITY

At Altius, we are continually looking for ways to improve the service we provide to our customers, buyers and vendors alike, and to ensure that in a world that doesn’t stand still, we are always up with the developments that matter.

As part of this process of continuous improvement, we undertake regular reviews of the content of our questionnaires, taking into account feedback from users as well as analysing statistics relating to the questions which prove the most difficult for vendors to complete. We also take on board feedback regarding our software and are constantly looking for ways to improve it.

Following our most recent review we decided to initiate a project to fully revise both the content of our five questionnaires and the software through which they are completed. There were two key aims of the project: improved usability and greater flexibility.

The improved usability will be delivered through the software by such measures as putting the help more up-front, introducing more of a “wizard-style” approach to the assessment process, and by a more sophisticated filtering out of questions that are not relevant to specific vendors. Through the questionnaires themselves, the usability will be delivered by a better structure to the questionnaires, better questions and better help, plus in due course factsheets covering key aspects of the assessment.

However, it is the greater flexibility that will enable us to take the biggest stride forward in our service. Once the new system is in place, any purchasing organisation will be able to specify its own assessment requirements in relation to individual products or services and activities. Vendors will then be asked to identify the clients they intend to work for, as well as the products and services they provide (our catalogue of products and services has also been significantly revised and updated). This will mean that our software can more accurately target the questions that need to be answered and the requirements that need to be met.

Don’t forget also that, as a vendor, if you have other clients that you’d like to be able to see your information, we can give them a free logon to enable them to do just that. Then, if they choose to join fully and bring their other suppliers on board, you could qualify for a free year’s subscription!

All of these improvements are imminent and may indeed already be in place by the time you read these words. If you are already signed up with Altius and have a vendor login, you’ll see the changes by logging on at www.altiusva.com. Alternatively, why not get in touch with us to find out more.

Altius Elite Vendors

Whilst Assured Vendor status remains the benchmark of the Altius assessment, a number of companies are now going above and beyond that to pass all five assessment globes (Commercial, Risk Management, Customer Service, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Quality Management) and become Altius Elite Vendors.

Amongst the companies that have achieved this higher standard of excellence are:

Abbey Fire (UK) Ltd
Anchor Security Services Limited
Detailed Services Limited (DSL)
EMS Group Holdings Ltd
Enviro
GEA Denco Ltd
J Durrance & Co Ltd
Metro Rod Ltd
MITIE Engineering Services (Retail) Ltd

Morris & Spottiswood
Premier Planned Maintenance Limited T/A Fire & Safety Services
Red Sky Group Ltd
SGMS Group
UK Fire International Ltd
Weatherite Service & Maintenance Ltd
Weblight Ltd

Elite Vendor Focus

METRO ROD LIMITED

Metro Rod is a specialist provider of emergency reactive and pre-planned drain care and repair services. These services include drain and pipe blockage clearance, drain tracing and testing, CCTV inspection, and drain repair using traditional excavation and modern no dig lining technology. They also offer pre-planned maintenance of drainage systems. National coverage throughout England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and recent expansion into the Republic of Ireland is delivered through a network of over 50 Metro Rod Regional Service Centres, providing a 24/7/365 service .

Metro Rod serves a wide range of blue chip clients in the retail, commercial, leisure, housing, domestic, industrial and utility markets. They also work as the specialist sub-contractor of choice to blue chip clients in construction, property maintenance and facilities management. Speed of response, robust health and safety standards and a flexible customer focussed approach make Metro Rod a market leader in the drain care and repair market.

Metro Rod’s Commercial Director, Peter Molloy, explained their approach to the Altius assessment and to maintaining high standards across their business:

"The achievement of Altius Elite Vendor status is a logical step in Metro Rod's business growth. Increasingly we find that both our existing and prospective clients are under pressure to find compliant, qualified, service-driven suppliers. Our achievement of Altius Elite Vendor status will give them the assurance that they are engaging with a like-minded organisation."

Assessment Focus

ASBESTOS AWARENESS

When completing the Altius ‘Risk Management’ questionnaire, it is probably quite easy to spot that the majority of mandatory questions are based around legal and regulatory compliance requirements. One of the exceptions to this is the issue of asbestos awareness training. Clearly if you are a contractor providing asbestos containment, removal or disposal services you must be competent and licensed to carry out such work. However if you are just a regular maintenance contractor, there is no legal requirement for you and your staff to have completed asbestos awareness training – so why is it an Altius requirement?

The answer is frighteningly simple: Asbestos is the largest single cause of work-related fatal disease and ill health in Britain today. This week 20 tradesmen will die, and in 2009 more people will die from asbestos related illnesses than will be killed on Britain’s roads.

If you carry out any invasive work in property built before 2000, you could unknowingly come into contact with asbestos. How do we define invasive? Well, in the face of such a malevolent hidden killer, err on the side of caution – if you are an electrician, plumber, heating & ventilation engineer, joiner, plasterer, in fact anyone who could work on the fabric of a building (ceilings, floors or walls), then a little knowledge could save your life.

Altius recommend, and some of our clients insist, that you get yourself and your staff trained by a United Kingdom Asbestos Training Association (UKATA) accredited training provider. Our advice is quite simple – get clued up with proper training now; don’t wait for Altius to insist on it.

For further advice and information go to:

http://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos

http://www.ukata.org.uk

Sticker Picker

MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR STATUS

Flow Rite Limited

Email a photo of your van with the Altius van sticker in place, and in every newsletter we will randomly pick a photo for a brief feature.

In this issue we are featuring Flowrite Services of Maidstone, who were the first ever contractor to send us a picture! Flowrite Services was founded in 1992, and install, repair and service all refrigeration equipment. Current major clients include SGP, Mitchells and Butlers, Enterprise Inns and TCG Acquisitions.

Flowrite employ around 90 people including over 50 field-based engineers, with all the necessary back up, including a dedicated procurement team to make sure you get the right part when you need it!

Colin Meadowcroft, Operations Manager at Flowrite says,

"Working with Altius and their systems will not only enhance the profile of Flowrite Services but hopefully will open doors to other major forward thinking clients in the future"

Check out Flowrite at www.flowriteservices.co.uk

Altius Vendor Assessment Ltd

Wyvern Court Stanier Way Wyvern Business Park Derby DE21 6BF

tel: 08445 616 515 fax: 08445 616 505 email: enquiries@altiusva.com

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