Page 17 - Project Acanthus_Mainstay

15. Comment on the specific controls you have in place in respect of segregation of duties and processes relating to supplier management, purchase ordering and invoice approval.
Our Business Improvement Manager, Rebecca Usher, leads Quality Control within Mainstay Group, ensuring all activities follow industry and regulatory best practice.
Integrated audits covering ISO 9001 and BS OHSAS 18001
are undertaken across sites, following an annual schedule.
In addition, a team at Head Office undertakes internal audits
to review and recommend necessary improvements for departmental processes. Any non-conformance items are monitored by Rebecca as the Lead Auditor to ensure corrective actions and follow-up actions are completed.
With regards to supplier management, we ask all contractors to submit up to date Public and Employers Liability Insurance. Depending on the works involved, risk assessment method statements (RAMS) and Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) statements would also be required. We also require all our contractors to have an accreditation with one of the Safety Schemes in Procurement (SSIP), as recognised by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), as well as appropriate levels of insurance cover.
As part of our Qube business management system, the majority of works orders would be raised by the Building or Property Manager and contractors will be subject to SLAs. All works
will be signed off and approved by the Building or Property Manager before invoices are paid. The onsite Building Manager supported by the Property Manager/Associate Director would be responsible for assessing completed works in advance of signing off routine work orders.
On the receipt of an invoice, journals are registered by our in- house purchase ledger team, with approval being required from the Property Manager or Associate Director prior to payment being authorised. There is further opportunity for supplier review at this stage, allowing for a review profile of the supplier to be built, with an associated rating for their standard if work.
Our Integrated Property Management teams also have additional processes for any works over £2,000, £5,000 and £10,000, which require further checks and sign off from the appropriate Associate Director.
Mainstay has several processes to protect clients against fraud. All new suppliers are checked against the official register at Companies House as part of our new supplier process. As
part of our invoice payment schedule, we ensure there are appropriate levels of segregation between the departments that receive and approve invoices, and those that make the final payments. At each step, the invoice details are checked to ensure they match the details we hold on Qube. If any of the details are found to be inconsistent, the property team must speak to the named contact at the supplier to confirm the discrepancy. Upon approval by the Property Manager, each invoice is given to our cashier team. Here, supplier and invoice details are checked again. Once the invoice passes through these tiers, it will be checked and authorised for payment by
a senior member of the financial team, for instance James Fletcher, the Group Financial Controller or Paul Stevenson, Finance Director.
Our Experts
Rebecca has extensive experience with managing ISO 9001 and OHSAS 18001 systems. She conducts regular integrated audits at our managed sites to ensure systems are being adhered to and provides advice and guidance to ensure compliance with IOS 9001 and OHSAS 18001.
Rebecca Usher
Business Improvement Manager
Mainstay: Response to Tender | Project Acanthus - Part One
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