The company, which specialises in data capture, digital marketing, creative design and variable digital printing, achieved its ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 27001 certifications officially last week, having been working towards them since it was bought out in an MBO in April 2015.
Rethink was previously Garnett Dickinson’s digital operation but it rebranded and relocated away from Garnett’s premises to a 929sqm site in Barnsley six months after the MBO.
Joint managing director Joel Dickinson said: “We carried over a number of the principles from a previous life when we were part of another business so we were familiar with and working towards a number of practices behind 14001, 27001 and 9001, but when we formed our business and located to a new premises then there was a requirement for us to start from scratch with the process.”
His fellow joint managing director Amanda Dickinson said the achievement wasn’t “just about it being a badge”.
“We believe in what the ISO stands for and believe that we should deliver a quality product and learn from mistakes. To get the actual certification is a nice little cherry on top but for us it’s more important that they [the working practices] are there for a reason,” she added.
ISO 9001 is the international standard that specifies requirements for a quality management system, ISO 14001 specifies for an effective environmental management system, leading Rethink to reach a point where 45% of its energy consumption is solar powered, and ISO 27001 specifies for establishing and maintaining an information security management system.
“ISO 27001 is a principle we absolutely have to be adopting and working towards internally. We manage a significant amount of customer data so there’s clearly a need to be able to demonstrate to our clients that we’ve got some very sound working practises to safeguard them and their customers,” added Joel Dickinson.
All three ISOs are specified for in Rethink’s integrated management system, the Quality, Environmental and Security Management System (QESMS).
Rethink is on a rolling programme of investment and staff recruitment, which was kicked off in January 2016 following a £500,000-plus investment.
The 20-staff outfit, which was previously called GD Digital before the MBO, runs a four-year-old Xerox iGen 4 and an HP Indigo 7800, purchased in October 2015. It has sales of around £1.5m.
Garnett Dickinson was recently placed into administration and sold in a pre-pack deal to a new company, GD Web Offset.
“I think that clearly we are talking about a declining market, there’s no question," added Joel Dickinson.
"GD’s web division hit a perfect storm as they have a publishing interest and commercial web offset, two areas that have been in clear decline year-on-year."
