The company has been awarded a hat-trick of ‘AA’ grades in the BRCGS Storage and Distribution standard, the highest grade possible, for our sites in Wardle, Crewe and a Co-Pack Facility, also in Wardle.
For the Crewe warehouse, this was the third consecutive audit that the site achieved the ‘AA’ grade, while the Wardle facility received a ‘AA+’ mark, the ‘+’ grade indicating an unannounced audit when inspectors arrive without providing companies with any notice.
This was the first occasion the Co-Pack Facility had been audited separately to the Wardle site. The facility provides a range of value-added services to the food industry including shrink wrapping, re-boxing, re-labelling, free-standing display unit assembly and re-palletising.
The 237,734 sq ft ambient warehouse in Crewe opened in 2020 and combined with the 48-acre site in Wardle, provides a total of 137,000 pallet spaces.
The BRCGS accreditation provides important benchmarking for logistics companies and their customers and recognises best practice and facilitates a process of continual improvement. It ensures the quality and safety of products during their storage and distribution throughout the supply chain. The grading scale is from ‘AA’ to ‘D’ and then Uncertified. Audits are carried out by independent inspectors accredited by the BRCGS.
Sarah Hall, the company’s ESG & Quality Manager managed the audit and on receiving news of the grades she said, “We are all extremely proud to have been awarded three top marks for our Wardle and Crewe warehouses, and the Co-Pack Facility for the first time.
“Without the commitment of our team to uphold extremely high standards in food safety and quality control, these awards would not have been possible.
“Really special for the Crewe award was that the auditor was particularly complimentary about the team’s knowledge, confidence and the overall morale that was portrayed during the audit.”
As Sarah explains, the BRCGS award is far from a tick-boxing exercise, “The award is constantly evolving and drives continual improvements within our industry. It’s all about pushing boundaries and encouraging businesses to implement new practices to forge positive change.
“Following each audit, we come away with enhanced information and great new ideas to put into practice.”
