IRCA and the CQI announce restructure

The Chartered Quality Institute (CQI) has announced a major restructure which brings together the CQI and its personnel certification body IRCA.

The CQI’s chief executive, John Frame, explains: "When I took over the CQI in May 2007 it was immediately apparent to me that we had two operations doing essentially the same thing and I saw the opportunity to take the best from both sides to do it bigger, better and more efficiently."

For many, especially stakeholders outside the UK, the CQI and IRCA brands have not been closely associated but it is important to re-establish that IRCA was set up by the Institute of Quality Assurance (as the CQI was previously known) in 1984. This was part of a UK government initiative and IRCA has remained a part of the CQI ever since, albeit operationally independent.

From today the CQI and IRCA combine to operate four joint functions:

  • Simon Feary: executive director operations, combining the CQI and IRCA operations functions
  • Mike Debenham: executive director policy and professional affairs
  • Vincent Desmond: executive director business development, combining the CQI and IRCA marketing and communications functions
  • Helen McBride: executive director finance, dealing with finance, IT and facilities

The CQI’s new executive director operations, Simon Feary, indicated that: "The new structure provides a framework that encourages CQI staff to focus more closely on the benefits we must provide for our customers and stakeholders. We see the changes as a significant and very exciting development."

Commenting on the longer term vision, CQI board chairman, Jim Speirs, said: "The new structure allows the CQI to take advantage of IRCA's dominant global position and use our resources to establish an institute that provides leadership for UK plc and globally on the key issue of quality."

Contact address:

The Chartered Quality Institute
12 Grosvenor Crescent
London, SW1X 7EE
Tel: +44 (0)20 7245 6722

Contact email addresses:

About the Chartered Quality Institute

The CQI (previously the Institute of Quality Assurance - the IQA) exists to provide leadership, education and assessment in the field of quality in the UK and globally. The CQI's 11,000 members and IRCA's 14,000 certificated auditors are located in over 120 countries making it the leading international quality membership organisation and the largest international auditor certification body in the world. The CQI website: www.thecqi.org