The Norwich-based newspaper printer is believed to be the only company of its type to achieve such a feat. Over the last 12 months, Archant sought to meet ISO 9001:2000, ISO 14001:2004 and the BS OHSAS 18001:2007.

The accreditations are demanded by local councils when work is tendered for. The company used an external consultant, Chris Devonport from QED Health & Safety Management System, to implement the changes and all departments within Archant Print were involved in the process.

Nick Schiller, managing director at Archant Print, said: "During my career, I have seen lots of external accreditations. This is the first time I have seen a company achieve three such prestigious accreditations simultaneously. It is a credit to the whole team at Thorpe Print Centre."

Mark Lenton, operations and safety manager at Archant, said: "Although I knew we were already complying with many of the requirements of the standards in all three areas, the challenge was to produce a combined business management system that would be accepted by the auditor and would survive his rigorous examination.

"While it was very pleasing to achieve accreditation at the first attempt it is a continuous process and we must ensure that we comply with the standards in everything we do."