Step-change with Launch of National Standardisation Strategic Framework

UK's National Standards Body evolving rapidly to serve market needs

BSI's director of British Standards, David Lazenby, today commented on the launch of the National Standardisation Strategic Framework (NSSF) by announcing that BSI has already made significant changes to its business structure to help increase the competitiveness of British enterprise.

The NSSF is about putting standardisation squarely on the agenda of British businesses by making the case that standards make firms more productive, more innovative, more customer friendly and more efficient. Standards mitigate business risks, cut red tape and enable global trade.

David Lazenby says, "Standardisation will do the right job for British business if the national standards body is in the right shape to deliver what businesses want - and these days we certainly are."

Mr Lazenby continues: "The landscape that the National Standards Body is operating within has changed out of all recognition in the last 15 years."

"We understand that product life-cycles have accelerated, customer expectations are radically heightened and new and different demands are being made on businesses now - for instance in the arenas of services, sustainability and corporate social responsibility - that were undreamed of twenty years ago."

To meet the challenges of the 21st century British Standards has changed in a number of ways to be more responsive and outwardly focused:

• Market engagement has been strengthened with the hiring of a new generation of market development managers to reconfigure BSI's market priorities 
• A new raft of bespoke business document solutions are now available to customers for Private Standards and Publicly Available Specifications (PAS), designed to bring rapid benefits from the formal standardisation processes 
• British Standards' internal processes are being streamlined with the adoption of new, faster, smarter ways of working including e-document handling and virtual workspace collaboration 
• An extensive communications programme, designed to put British Standards better in touch with its stakeholder audiences and streamline consultation with customers, is being put in place 

Mr Lazenby concludes: "I am confident that British Standards is now in good shape to support the NSSF initiatives so that they bear fruit for the benefit of the UK."

-ENDS-

For more information please contact:

Wilma Tulloch on +44 (0)20 8996 6330 OR
Marc Edney on +44 (0)20 8996 6330Editors' notes:

Further information of British Standards is on: www.bsi-global.com

Further information on NSSF is available on: www.nssf.info