Honesty Over Sales Pitches
Oxebridge Quality Resources was started by Christopher Paris in 1999 as a simple ISO 9001 consulting firm. Since that time, Oxebridge has grown to become the world’s leading reporting authority on ISO standards and an industry powerhouse, pressing for improvement of the ISO standards and eradication of corruption in the auditing scheme. Oxebridge’s focus has grown to primarily encompass AS9100 (for the aerospace industry), ISO 9001 and a small menu of supporting management system standards.
As the de facto industry whistleblower and reporting source, companies may ask why they should hire Oxebridge, as opposed to a consultant who says only good things about ISO. The answer is simple: honesty.
Most consultants have built their business model on serving ISO and the various registrars first, failing to understand that these bodies are not their customers. Some consultants have backroom deals with auditors, who agree to “go easy” on clients in exchange for referrals, or even cash handouts. Oxebridge serves its clients first and foremost, and at times that means telling them the truth about problems with the ISO standards and the accreditation scheme.
Oxebridge recognizes that most companies approach ISO 9001 or As9100 because of a customer mandate. We don’t judge that. There are benefits to be gained from implementing these standards no matter what a company’s reasons are, and we support those initiatives.
A Fighter in Your Corner
This also means we fight for our clients and for the entire ISO customer base, no matter what. We fight to ensure the standards are improved, easy to understand, and simple to implement. We fight to ensure audits are executed fairly, and that the various certification and accreditation bodies follow international accreditation rules.
What sets us apart from other consultants is that we do not lie to our clients in order to shill for ISO.
ISO is not our customer. The registrars are not our customers. You are.
The Beginning
Because his experience was primarily as a user of ISO 9001, and not as an academic or consultant, when Mr. Paris developed the implementation programs for Oxebridge they reflected his beliefs that:
- ISO 9001 implementation should not shut down the operations of the company
- ISO 9001 implementation should not require endless meetings, over-calibration or unnecessary documentation
- ISO 9001 consultants should do the implementation work themselves, and not require the client to do it.
Focus on Space
As Oxebridge grew, it’s client base became more diverse. The company focused on the in-house skills it held, rather than expanding into industries where it lacked experience. As a result, Oxebridge focused on aerospace and AS9100, and never pursued automotive or telecommunications. By 2007, 80% of the company’s clients were in aerospace, with many of the new “private space” companies as part of the portfolio. In 2005, the company began working with Elon Musk’s SpaceX, and continued supporting the company’s AS9100 quality system through until 2014.
In addition to SpaceX, Oxebridge has implemented AS91xx standards for L3 Communications, GKN Aerospace, Surrey Satellite and Northrop Grumman. Oxebridge has assisted dozens of small companies in obtaining NASA and aerospace prime contracts, such as for Honeywell, Raytheon, Rolls Royce, Lockheed, Sikorsky and Boeing.
In 2013, the company opened its first international office, in Lima Peru. From this office, Oxebridge manages its South and Central America operations, focusing on ISO 9001 for manufacturing, textiles, services and mining.
Customers Referrals, Not Sales Tactics
Oxebridge hires no sales staff. Instead, new clients come to us, typically through referrals or web visits, and then we refer them to previous clients to verify our claims. In short, our customers are our sales team.
