2021 marks the tenth year in which FORS has awarded its coveted Gold accreditation. As part of the celebrations of this important milestone, FORS has recognised a group of early adopters who have held the highest level of accreditation since the very beginning.
Since its arrival, FORS Gold accreditation has only been awarded to exceptional operators who have met its exacting requirements. It is the third tier of the FORS progressive model, which encourages members to strive for even higher standards of safety, and efficiency as they move from entry-level FORS Bronze, upwards to FORS Silver, and final the top level, FORS Gold. There are currently 309 FORS Gold members, of whom five have maintained this top level of FORS accreditation for ten consecutive years.
One such early adopter is the City of London Corporation, whose Chairman of its Environmental Services Committee, Keith Bottomley, said, “Being with FORS from the start and maintaining FORS Gold for ten years has been great for the City of London Corporation, supporting our transport operation’s efforts in health and safety, compliance and air quality. Promoting the FORS Standard to our supply chain also gives us confidence that those around us are working to the same high standard”.
Another operator celebrating a tenth year of FORS Gold accreditation is the UK’s largest distributor of building materials, Travis Perkins plc. Frank Elkins, Group Chief Operating Officer, observed:
“Being a FORS Gold member allows us to outwardly demonstrate and provide confidence to our customers that Travis Perkins operates to the very highest of standards in all areas of fleet activity, including best in class driver training, vehicle safety, operational and management standards. Our industry leading fleet management allows our branches and colleagues to focus on meeting customers’ requirements in the knowledge that we are operating a safe and legal fleet at all times.”
FORS Gold accreditation is not just the preserve of large local authorities and listed companies, though. A prime example is the family run waste management business, O’Donovan Waste Disposal, which is among those celebrating a decade of FORS Gold accreditation.
Jacqueline O’Donovan, Managing Director, explained: “We have recently become the first independent company to achieve ten years of FORS Gold accreditation. The Gold standard is a well-recognised and respected accreditation that clearly shows our level of commitment to ensuring operational excellence in our everyday business processes.
“Best practice, enhanced safety modifications to our fleet and our embedded training sits at the heart of our business, and FORS Gold has kept us focussed on continuing to operate at the highest levels of compliance”.
The final two FORS members to have achieved 10 consecutive years of Gold accreditation are Hanson UK and LondonEnergy.
To find out more about FORS Gold accreditation, visit www.fors-online.org.uk
