This week I had the pleasure of spending a day with a lovely family business, looking at their ISO9001 management system.  It was their stage 2 assessment and the stage 1 had raised a number of findings, which their 'consultant' had been tasked with addressing.

I soon realised that what had been done was poor, with some issues not addressed at all and others given the vaguest brush over.  I was pretty hacked off - not with the company but with this individual, to whom they had paid good money expecting to get good service.  How they had been let down.  We progressed through the system and as I went I managed to close some issues but had to raise many more.  The final nail in this consultant's coffin as far as I was concerned was the internal audit report he'd produced following a visit earlier in the week.  I'd already identified that the management review meeting the business had held at the beginning of the month had failed to address the required elements of ISO9001 - his comment in the audit was 'no issues'.    So bitterly disappointed that yet again someone who purports to be expert enough in the standard and it's application to call himself a consultant can let a business down so badly.  

​Choosing a consultancy to work with you?  Make sure that you talk to some of their customers and pick someone who knows what they are doing!

Delighted that the courses which I've written for a client have just had the seal of approval from IRCA - nice to have your work appreciated and recognised!  Now to complete 2 more!!

So funny to hear that Network Rail are going to to push things out to the Regions.  A real GroundHog day . . .  We will be having BR back again next!

Today is the final day of a 5 day programme I've been running, and my delegates are all now sitting their exams.  I've just read through their feedback forms and am touched by the comments made about the journey we've been on together this week.  Sometimes I see people on courses and think 'oh my, you're not auditor material' but not this group - they are 5 very talented folk who will go on to do great things with their audit skills.

Working in a lovely building in Edinburgh this week, with huge windows overlooking a very nice 'square' and gardens.  We've been entertained by the man sweeping up the leaves (which promptly blew away again) but more so by the traffic warden and his relentless patrol of the area with his ticket machine in one hand and the other clearly itching to 'issue and stick' tickets to windscreens.  It's 12.10 now and he's just done his 4th patrol . . . bless him!

I am in Edinburgh, and it's a grey cloudy day but so far surprisingly windless.  I fear that this is about to change as we nervously await the arrival of 'Abigail' and the foul weather she is forecast to bring with her.  Tales of a snowy winter ahead make me very glad I've just put winter tyres on the car!  Take care folks, it's going to be wild out there.