Welsh demolition contractor the Cuddy Group has been awarded the prestigious ISO 14001 national quality assurance standard, which recognises its effectiveness in addressing green issues and waste reduction.
The certification sends out a message to all prospective clients and partners that in working with Cuddy they are aligning themselves to an organisation with a strong environmental conscience.
Director Christian Jones said: “We pride ourselves on our environmental policy and management systems and we work hard to constantly review our position and push for maximum sustainability.
“Receiving official recognition and certification is a real boost to our efforts. Having previously been awarded the ISO 19001 quality standard and the OHSAS 18001 standard for health and safety, I believe we are now the only demolition contractor in the UK to have all three accreditations from NQA.”
News of the accreditation comes as Cuddy celebrates a 9.8% profit increase in the latest financial year, having maintained one of the highest turnovers in the industry despite the current economic climate, a £2m investment in new plant and equipment and expansion of its civil engineering division.
Cuddy’s work looking after the environment has included introducing a range of sustainably sourced wooden hoardings across all sites, testing site hoardings made from recycled electrical goods, researching opportunities to re-use double glazing abroad, and converting its fleet of 95 vans to bio fuel.
In addition, its demolition teams crush and recycle a minimum of 95% of all materials from demolition contracts, despite many projects generating up to 20,000 tonnes of rubble.
Jones said: “Caring about the environment also means considering the needs of other businesses, residents and general members of the public in areas where we are working, so we pay close attention to keeping noise and dust disturbance low and minimising pedestrian and traffic disruption.
“A prime example of this is a recent project to demolish a 1960’s industrial development at The Moor, Sheffield, in which we completely rewrote our demolition schedule to accommodate an unscheduled archaeological dig. The client was delighted and we still managed to complete the project on time and to budget.
“We like to think of ourselves as a pioneering organisation. Certifications like ISO 14001 confirm to us that we are on the right path.”