A new online service launched at the start of April could soon take the hassle out of certification tracking for UK wholesale and import firms.

The website, www.certcheck.co.uk, aims to eliminate the need for technical managers to devote two or three days a month to chasing and checking the certification records of their produce suppliers.

“Our system has been designed to completely take the pressure off technical managers,” CertCheck's Phil Callow told FPJ. “The idea is that wholesalers or importers who subscribe to CertCheck provide their suppliers with log-on details, who in turn then upload scanned-in images of their traceability certificates. When certifications are set to expire, we send email notifications to both wholesalers and suppliers so they are aware they need to update. All the information is laid out in an easily accessible format, which can also be readily printed off.

“What we are essentially aiming to do is cut out the middle man and save a lot of time for companies,” Callow continued. “My background was in this role, and it really was a pain to have to keep constant tabs on suppliers’ certification standards. We hope that Certcheck will really take off.”

The company has big plans for the future, the first being to get people signed up the scheme over the next 12 months.

“If things go to plan, we hope to create a system called CertCheck Plus, which would offer facilities for online audits. We would also like to install an SMS notification system and other services to make life easier for end users. There are plenty of plans in the pipeline,” Callow added.

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