Raising the Bar: ATT Achieves ISO 9001 Certification
Active Training Team (ATT) has achieved ISO 9001 certification — an internationally recognised standard for quality management systems. We spoke with Operations Director, Lucy Townsend, to find out what this milestone means for ATT, its people, and its clients.
What ISO 9001 means in practice
ISO 9001 is the world’s most widely recognised quality management standard. At its core, it’s about ensuring organisations consistently deliver excellence through strong systems, continual improvement, and customer focus.
“For ATT, it’s about making sure every single process — from first enquiry to programme delivery — is managed to the highest standard,” Lucy explains. “We want to look after our clients, their participants, and our own teams. ISO 9001 helps us prove, and continually improve, that commitment.”
Why now?
The decision to pursue ISO 9001 certification was both strategic and values-driven. We want to maintain and grow a successful business, do excellent work and retain brilliant teams. So we need to look after every single process from end to end, ensuring we’re doing right by our clients and their participants, as well as our staff and delivery teams.
“Firstly, we want to set the benchmark in safety leadership and in all our programmes. Our ethos is that every one of our clients gets our best work, every time” says Lucy. “As we deliver hundreds of training events each year, we need dependable, repeatable processes to ensure excellence of execution, and the ISO 9001 process has helped us think about that again.”
The second driver was growth. “Holding ISO 9001 positions us to bid competitively for large-scale and international projects. Many clients — especially publicly funded projects such as Tideway’s super sewer project — require suppliers to meet or match their own operating and quality standards.”
A smooth journey with valuable lessons
Working with advisory partners The ISO Centre, ATT found the certification process refreshingly straightforward.
“Most of the structures and processes were already in place,” Lucy reflects. “It was simply about building a platform to formally monitor them, aligning everything with ISO standards, and recording it properly. Sarah Ford, our Systems Executive, was an incredible collaborator throughout.”
The process also reinforced ATT’s own training message: everyone is a leader. It was a whole-team effort to work through the process smoothly. “We want everyone at ATT to feel empowered to challenge, improve, and take ownership for their own areas. Passion and creativity show through when our own team members are striving for improvement— but structure is vital.”
Raising standards, creating impact
For ATT, certification is about more than compliance. It aligns seamlessly with the organisation’s values of high standards, respectful collaboration, and innovation.
“Our work is dynamic, and no two days are the same. But underpinning everything is our drive to create consistently impactful, long-lasting learning experiences. ISO 9001 strengthens that by giving us a globally recognised framework.”
Auditors also endorsed ATT’s distinctive approach. One described ATT’s EPIC programme as “brilliant” and praised the company as “such a dynamic and gifted group of people.”
What it means for clients
For clients, ISO 9001 offers reassurance that ATT’s immersive programmes aren’t just creatively powerful — they are delivered to rigorous, internationally recognised standards.
“ISO 9001 is a differentiator,” says Lucy. “It proves we can integrate the best of creative input with the best learning outcomes, while meeting the highest standards of excellence across every aspect of delivery.”
Looking ahead
With ISO 9001 secured, ATT is already planning its next step: strengthening data and cyber security.
“Our next goal is to achieve certification in this area — potentially ISO 27001 for information security,” Lucy reveals. “It’s all about building a robust platform for growth and continuing our reputation for excellence.”
Achieving ISO 9001 certification is both a milestone and a springboard for ATT. It confirms the strength of the systems already in place and sets the stage for even greater impact — for clients, participants, and the industries ATT serves.
View the ISO 9001 Certificate here
