One of South Wales’ key furniture manufacturers has crowned its continued growth with being certified to international standards for quality and environmental sustainability.

Recliners, a major employer in Pentre in the Rhondda valley, successfully passed an audit by Lloyd’s Register to be awarded ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certification.

For over 30 years their factory has designed, developed, manufactured and supplied bespoke electrical ‘Rise and Recline’ and manual furniture to the trade.

ISO 9001 was in recognition of its quality management of its product lines while ISO 14001 saw the company demonstrate its commitment to environmental best practice, particularly in the way they cut carbon emissions and recycled their waste.

The company used South Wales company The Ideas Distillery to help it implement its quality and environmental management systems.

Matt Davies, General Manager, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled to have received our certification, which is a testament to the hard work and dedication of all of our staff.

“Our whole workforce quickly adapted to our new management system’s Standard Operating Procedures and demonstrated fantastic adaptability and maturity.

“Using ISO 9001 quality management processes ensures we continue to finish our jobs to an extremely high standard and on schedule, and using our environmental management system has seen us set challenging objectives around sustainability which we are already well on the way to meeting.

“At the end of this project we were audited for our management system’s certification by Lloyd’s Register and passed with flying colours. Our thanks go out to our consultant who helps us maintain these – The Ideas Distillery – and for their continued support,” he said.

Russell Lawson, Managing Director of The Ideas Distillery, said: “This is fantastic news for Recliners and, as a company, they really deserve it.

“They are a great company to work with, and really take their compliance obligations seriously – all of the standards they operate they genuinely live throughout their whole business, which is obviously why they are a major player in the furniture market in the UK.

“This is exactly the type of company that we need to nurture and develop in South Wales and will be crucial to any recovery post-COVID.

“If anyone wants to take a look at how a company should operate with an emphasis on using management systems, developing a competent workforce and having a focus on quality and customer satisfaction, then they shouldn’t look any further than this company.

“We wish Recliners continued success in everything they do,” he said.