The British Retail Consortium Global Standard (BRCGS) is the trade association for retail businesses. Founded in 1996, they are globally recognised across both food and non-food categories and operate a rigorous third-party certification scheme.
PFF’s own standards and processes have met with those required by the scheme, since 2008. Last year, amidst the onset of the pandemic, the Keighley site was awarded an ‘AA’ Certificate of Conformity with zero non-conformances – the highest grade and accolade that can be achieved under the revised Issue 6 of the Standard.
As Group Compliance, Environmental & Technical Liaison Officer, Kevin Maltby (pictured) oversees PFF’s quality and compliance systems. He has a long-standing career in quality and joined the company eight years ago. He explained how maintaining PFF’s robust standards is a year-round process to ensure they provide a framework that makes the business work and drives continuous improvements.
Compliance Officer, Brenda Greenwood (pictured) joined PFF in 2016 when the BRCGS transitioned from Issue 4 to Issue 5. Last year saw a transition from 5 to 6. She said, “The Standard is equally about creating a safe environment as well as the integrity, quality, legality, and safety of the food packaging that PFF manufactures.”
A wider team manages certification for PFF’s Keighley and Washington sites, which require individual accreditation audits. Kevin described how last year’s appraisal at Keighley presented a challenge, having to adapt to social distancing and personal safety requirements that were implemented following the outbreak of Covid-19. It took place in October and November which fell in-between two lock-down periods. It was a credit to the team that the highest awarded certificate was achieved and that no non-conformances were noted.
Kevin said that compliance is an integral part of PFF which requires smooth on-site management backed up by dedicated, collaborative teamwork. It is about being progressive and audit-ready, 24-7.
Kevin is leading a new Systems Review and Improvement Project at PFF. He said, “Our current systems and process have served the company well and seen PFF gain excellent post-BRCGS audit outcomes year on year. However, we operate a growing business that has ever-increasing and complex demands on technical compliance. A review of our Business Management Systems will position the company so that we can capitalise on the momentum of growth that PFF is seeing following the set-up of our new health division.”
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