The ISO & Compliance Blog is written by Craig Willetts, a UK lead auditor with over 20 years’ experience in ISO certification, industry accreditation and employee screening. It publishes plain-English guidance on ISO standards, UK compliance law, HR, health and safety and tendering, written for small and medium-sized businesses that do not have a compliance department.
Who writes this blog?
I’m Craig Willetts. I’ve been in the security industry since I was 18, and I’ve spent over 20 years helping organisations get certified, stay certified, and get something more useful out of a management system than a certificate on the wall.
I’m a lead auditor across 19 ISO standards, including ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 27001, ISO 22301, ISO 42001, ISO 31000 and ISO 18788. My companies are CAW Consultancy (ISO and accreditation consultancy), CAW Digital (paperless systems, business apps and dashboards), Screen My Staff (BS 7858 screening and workplace wellbeing) and the ISO Training Institute (online ISO and compliance courses).
Most of the businesses I work with are SMEs in security, construction and cleaning. They’re the ones asked for ISO certificates, CHAS, Constructionline and screening records every time they bid for work, and who rarely get a straight answer about what any of it actually requires.
What does this blog cover?
- ISO standards in plain English: what each standard requires, who needs it, and what certification actually involves.
- Audit reality: what auditors look for, and the nonconformities that come up again and again in SMEs.
- UK compliance law, including UK GDPR, employment law, right to work checks, modern slavery, and health and safety.
- Winning tenders: the accreditations that gate access to contracts, and the evidence buyers ask to see.
- HR and people management, from onboarding and conflict resolution to burnout and managing remote teams.
No theory for the sake of it. If something won’t help you on a Monday morning, it doesn’t go on the blog.
Common questions
Who is the ISO & Compliance Blog for?
UK small and medium-sized businesses that need to demonstrate compliance to win or keep work, usually without a dedicated compliance manager. It’s most relevant to security, construction, cleaning and manufacturing firms, though the guidance on ISO standards and UK law applies across sectors.
Is the guidance UK-specific?
The legal and regulatory content is written for the UK: UK GDPR, the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974, the Modern Slavery Act 2015, Home Office right to work rules, and UK accreditation schemes such as CHAS, SafeContractor, Constructionline and SIA ACS. The ISO standards themselves are international, so those articles apply anywhere.
Does ISO certification actually help you win contracts?
For a lot of tenders, certification isn’t a differentiator, it’s a gate. You either hold it or your bid isn’t assessed. Which standards and accreditations gate which work varies by sector and by buyer, and that’s a recurring subject on this blog.
Can I ask a question directly?
Yes. Use the enquiry page or email me. I answer personally, usually within 24 hours, and if I’m not the right person to help I’ll say so.
Get in touch
Questions about ISO certification, an accreditation you need for a bid, employee screening or tender writing? Email Craig@cawconsultancy.co.uk or call 01257 824481.
