Blossoming Burnley business gets top marks

(Left-right) CookKit Head of Operations, Steve Wilkinson; Sales Director, Cameron Javed; and Managing Director, Rupert Gatty.

A Burnley manufacturing company has proved itself to be of the very highest quality after receiving top marks during a recent quality inspection.

Refrigeration specialists CoolKit underwent a vigorous two-day visit at their Farrington Place premises for a joint ISO9001 and ISO14001 inspection, scoring a perfect 100 per cent.

CoolKit had previously combined the ISO 14001 standard with ISO 9001 quality management standards in 2016 and is one of the first companies to integrate the two standards.

Steve Wilkinson, Head of Operations at CoolKit, said: “It’s a real achievement to get 100 per cent and this audit shows that our processes are controlled and monitored.

“We have a proactive approach and have integrated the requirements into our business model rather than just having a paper-based exercise,” Steve added.

Auditors reviewed all the policies and procedures CoolKit use to manufacture their products to ensure they are traceable, meet high quality standards, and conform to purchasing, supply, goods and document control.

The ISO 14001 standard has been held by CoolKit since 2011 after the company set itself demanding recycling targets to reduce and recycle waste and reuse materials.

“The results stress the quality procedures now in place to ensure customer satisfaction and return business," Steve explained. “We try to reuse waste materials and encourage staff to suggest different uses for it.

"Everything removed from the van – plastics, aluminium, and wiring - is recycled or reused wherever possible, and vehicles are inspected to ensure high expectations are met.

"A lot of what we do is best practice and we can see the results," Steve said. "We have kept it simple and we are reaping the rewards by taking a proactive approach.”