Accreditations, memberships and awards
BICSc
BICSc is the largest independent, professional and educational body within the cleaning industry. With over 60 years’ experience, BICSc is internationally recognised and has over 45,000 members. As corporate members we can utilise their Standards & Best Practice guidance as well as benefit from access to all their training courses and workshops. This means we can tailor our training to the specific needs of our operatives and management team.
Living Wage Foundation:
We are a Recognised Service Provider proudly working with the Living Wage Foundation to promote the real Living Wage. The Living Wage is an independently calculated, voluntary rate of pay that is based on the cost of living. It is higher than the government’s minimum and thousands of companies choose to pay these rates to their staff. Our cleaning teams carry out vital work for many organisations, and we believe that they should be paid at a rate that reflects the real cost of living, therefore we always provide a Living Wage costed bid as part of our proposals.This gives organisations the chance to decide if the Living Wage is right for them.
ISO Standards
ISO Standards are international frameworks of best practice published by the International Organisation of Standardisation(ISO) and are created by experts across the globe to help businesses improve their performance. The ISO does not issue certificates itself; instead, they are issued by external certification companies. We use QMS International for our certification who regularly audit us to make sure we meet the requirements laid out in the ISO standards.
Quality Management Systems
It is our responsibility to assess whether the quality of service required by our customers is being achieved and constantly maintained. It is also incumbent on us to continually look for ways to improve that service. Our ISO 9001:2015 accreditation provides formal acknowledgment that we have an effective quality management system in place, specific to the provision of cleaning services.
Health & Safety Management Systems
Working in environments with children means health and safety is at the forefront of our minds, as is the wellbeing and safety of our employees. The ISO 45001 standard aims to reduce workplace risks and to improve employee safety. Our certification is confirmation that we are able to effectively identify hazards and health risks whilst having the appropriate policies and procedures in place to control and reduce the risk of harm.
Environmental Management Systems
Kindred is dedicated to improving the impact we have on the wider environment through our activities as a business. The ISO 14001 standard aims to help organisations strike a balance between environmental protection and pollution control and social and economic demands. It ensures that businesses obtaining this standard develop robust environmental policies, procedures and have stated objectives and goals to improve their impact on the environment.
Information Security Management Systems
Ensuring that our employee and client data is secure online and offline is of paramount importance to us. Our ISO 27001 accreditation demonstrates that we have assessed our information security risks and have put in place robust security controls and processes. Our Information Security Management System includes all the required policies, procedures and risk controls (legal, physical and technical) to enable effective IT security management.
SafeContractor
We are proud to have been awarded accreditation from Alcumus SafeContractor for achieving excellence in health and safety in the workplace. Kindred have been through a detailed and thorough vetting process with Alcumus. They examined not only our health and safety procedures but also our track record for safe practice. Our SafeContractor accreditation gives our clients’ peace of mind that we’re a safe company to use and are committed to continuously improving our health and safety standards.
NCZ Silver Certified
Kindred are proud to announce that we have achieved NCZ silver certification, signifying that all of the scope 1, 2 and 3 organisational emissions of our business have been assessed and reported on in order for us to set our carbon footprint baseline, and subsequently all currently unavoidable emissions have been officially and verifiably offset, establishing Kindred as a carbon neutral business. This completes the first phase of our comprehensive carbon management programme.
Disability Confident Employer
The Disability Confidence Scheme is led by the Government with the aim being to help employers think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain and develop disabled people. Kindred have achieved Level 2 and are a Disability Confident Employer. This means we have undertaken and completed the Disability Confident self-assessment and have demonstrated that we are taking all of the core actions to be a Disability Confident Employer. We are now working towards becoming a Disability Confident Leader.
Purple Tuesday Member
We are working with Purple who are an organisation dedicated to reducing levels of inequality between disabled and non-disabled people. Kindred are proud to be a Purple Tuesday Sponsor for 2024 working to improve the experiences of disabled people and their families across our industry. With the help and support of Purple we have achieved our Disability Confident Employer (Level 2) status and are now working towards becoming a Disability Confident Leader (Level 3).
Shaw Trust
The Shaw Trust is a national charity that helps people facing disadvantage into work, to gain skills and take control of their futures. We are proud to be working with them in the recruitment of some our employees. For more information on the Shaw Trust and the valuable work they do please click here.
Growing Business Awards Finalist 2022
We were delighted to be named as finalists in the Growing Business Awards 2022. We were in the Santander Growing Business of the Year £10m-£25m category, which recognises privately owned UK companies with this level of turnover. To find out more about the awards and how we got on click here.
In Support of Women’s Empowerment Principles
We are proud to be a signatory of the United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs). In adopting the principles, we are demonstrating our commitment to promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment within our own business and the communities we work with. The Women’s Empowerment Principles guide businesses on how to promote gender equality and empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community. Adopting the seven principles is the best way that businesses can deliver on the ambitions of gender equality and women’s empowerment as outlined in the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development and in the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Armed Forces Covenant
We are delighted to be signatories of the Armed Forces Covenant and hold a Bronze Award from the Defence Employer Recognition scheme (ERS). This reflects our support and commitment to our Armed Forces and their families. By signing the Covenant, we have pledged to make Kindred an Armed Forces Friendly organisation for our employees, customers, and suppliers. We will endeavour to support our employees who are members of the Reserve Forces or Cadet Organisations, and we will be backing National events such as the Poppy Appeal and Remembrance Activities. Armed Forces charities will also be included in our charitable giving programme.