Strand Group in Douglas has become one of the first companies on the Isle of Man to be accredited by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) for outstanding competency in both management and security systems.
"ISO 27001 accreditation shows the commitment of our staff to demonstrably put us ahead of our competitors,” said managing director John Hellowell.
"It sees us at the leading edge of compliance procedures that are essential for our client base, which includes major financial organisations. It unequivocally demonstrates that we take information security seriously and ensure all possible steps are taken to deliver our services professionally and securely.
"This accreditation gives us a considerable competitive edge over competitors who cannot demonstrate a similar professional attitude and also enhances the culture of Isle of Man plc as a place to do business. As many high-profile cases have shown, loss of information can ruin a business or, at the very least, compromise its reputation."
The Group joins a select list of only five companies/organisations on the Isle of Man to be given accreditation and one of the few support service companies in the British Isles to achieve the coveted recognition.
Strand Cleaners was originally founded in 1988 as a window cleaning round in the Douglas commercial district, later diversifying into office cleaning. Its sister company Storall Ltd offers secure document archive, along with confidential document destruction and paper recycling services, while Complete Facilities Management Ltd offers facilities management expertise.
Assessor Denis Taylor, qualified Lead Auditor with International Management Systems Marketing, said that ISO 27001 covered the whole aspect of business security, embracing recruitment procedures, management systems, risk assessment etc.
"It aimed to ensure that adequate controls addressing confidentiality, integrity and availability of information are in place to safeguard the information of ‘interested parties'.
"Unprotected systems are vulnerable to computer-assisted fraud, sabotage and viruses; breaches in information can allow vital information to be accessed, stolen, corrupted or lost.
"ISO 27001 accreditation demonstrates that there is a secure system in place which is subject to checks on an annual basis and underlines the fact that the company is measuring and monitoring itself to a particular standard."
