NEPIC get gold

April 19th 2014

NEPIC is amongst Europe’s ‘most excellent cluster organisations’ – and becomes first in the UK to receive Gold Label.

Today, Tuesday 01 April 2014, saw Process Industry Cluster body NEPIC awarded Gold Label for excellent cluster management – and has become the first Cluster in the UK to do so.

The European Secretariat for Cluster Analysis has awarded its Gold Label for excellent cluster management to the North East based Cluster on the date that also marks its 11th year in business. 

The Gold Label acknowledges cluster organisations that demonstrate highly sophisticated cluster management and that are committed to further improving their organisational structures and routines for the benefit of an even higher performance.

Gold LabelCertification with the Gold Label demands an intensive audit and proven levels of excellence in fields such as strategy, structure, recognition, service offers and results.

The objective of the scheme is not only to identify the best cluster management organisations in Europe, but also support the cluster management organisations with advice on how to further improve.

To date, of the 490 established cluster institutions in Europe, only 39 hold Gold Label and of these just six are production and engineering focused clusters such as NEPIC.

Paul Booth Chairman of NEPIC said:

“On behalf of the Leadership Team and the Cluster’s member companies, we congratulate the NEPIC team for this outstanding achievement. Gold Label not only brings credit to NEPIC but also international recognition to our industry and region.   
 
“I know Stan Higgins (NEPIC CEO) and his team were somewhat nervous about the outcome of the intense auditing of their work.  However, they should be proud of achieving an exam result of 96%.  From a membership perspective, this success reaffirms the high standard of professionalism that NEPIC delivers.”

One long-term Cluster participant, Ian Stark of Teesside-based Chemoxy, said:

“I have received much support and advice from the NEPIC team over the years - from help during the management buy-out to set up Chemoxy, to being introduced to real business opportunities and much more in between. The NEPIC team have real industry knowledge and experience.

“They have the grit of business under their fingernails and local companies are foolish if they do not tap into this intelligence. I have always known that NEPIC is a leading organisation representing the Chemistry-using industries both regionally and nationally - and now they have the label that proves it!”

NEPIC has represented the 600+ chemical-processing companies and its supply chain since its inception in 2003.

Dr Stan Higgins, NEPIC CEO, said:

“Quality Management has long been a focus for all types of business and service providers. This accreditation scheme has been introduced in Europe to share best practice and quality-assure the management processes, activities and outcomes of cluster management teams across all sectors.

“A Cluster cannot work without its members embracing the principles of working together to increase the profile of the sector in the region, improving the capability of the sector - as well as identifying new business opportunities for members.

“They are putting in resource for the benefit of the whole sector and this can be shown by the 83 significant investments captured for the region since 2004 totalling £4 billion, securing some 4000 jobs. This alone is worth more than £2 billion of Gross Value Added to the region’s economy”.

More detailed information about the European Cluster Excellence Initiative is available at www.cluster-excellence.eu