Costain : leads the way with Kitemark™ certification for innovation in industry

PRESS RELEASE

03 December 2020

Costain, a smart infrastructure solutions company, is one of the first to achieve the BSI Kitemark for innovation. Costain worked in partnership with BSI, the business improvement company, to help design and pilot the new global certification scheme for innovation.

Designed to help organisations improve their innovation management performance and demonstrate the value and impact to internal stakeholders and customers, this new scheme is based on the ISO 56002 innovation management standard. It validates that organisations have a robust innovation vision, strategy, policy, and objectives underpinned by processes to deliver innovative ideas.

Commenting on the prestigious certification, Costain's chief digital officer Nathan Marsh said,' Innovation is core to Costain's work, its people and its business. It defines what we do and how we serve our clients and society, and helps us leave a legacy of better, greener and digitally optimised infrastructure that improves people's lives. We look forward to continuing our partnership with BSI and to innovating with and for our clients and the UK Infrastructure industry.'

Costain partnered with Europe's largest infrastructure project High Speed Two (HS2) for the pilot which enabled wide-spread engagement with numerous organisations across the built environment supply chain. The establishment of a benchmark for organisations will enable collaboration, enhance the success rate of solution development and accelerate innovation across the industry.

HS2 Ltd's head of innovation Howard Mitchell said: 'Innovation as a concept can be understood at varying levels of value and maturity. The BSI kitemark that Costain has achieved is the first instance of us setting a common standard, enabling us to work cleaner, faster and smarter.'

The BSI Kitemark is a world recognised mark of quality and safety and products or services with BSI Kitemark certification have been independently and rigorously tested. The certification gives clients, consumers and organisations confidence in terms of quality and the highest levels of safety and reliability.

Andy Butterfield, managing director of Built Environment at BSI said, 'Huge congratulations to Costain for their efforts in achieving this - and being one of the first organisations to do so globally. Many companies are developing or have developed their approach to innovation; however up until now there has been no tangible way of benchmarking an organisation's innovation capabilities against another's. In response to industry, we have designed this Kitemark certification scheme to help businesses measure the impact, value and return on investment (ROI) of their innovation programme to inspire trust with their stakeholders and ensure resilience. Crucially, it will also enable innovative organisations across the industry to collaborate on critical national projects.'

ENDS