History
The IQA Group was first established in August 2002 as Independent Quality Assurance Ltd. The Company at that time carried out Independent Gas Auditing and Operational Procedures for Local Authorities and Housing Associations with six employees and a turnover of £250k until early 2005.
It was in March 2005 that the Utilities function of the business was created with David Gowans, Chris Fergus and David McKinlay bringing their extensive knowledge in the electrical field to the Company. We quickly employed a number of experienced Electricians holding authorisation to work on the Scottish Power LV network who have all helped the Company to grow. Also in 2005, IQA moved into its current head office premises in Paisley and changed its name to IQA Utilities Ltd following the introduction of new business streams.
The following year we expanded further by creating a Building Services section to assist the Electrical operations. This included Home Energy where qualifications were obtained allowing IQA to undertake Energy Assessments of domestic properties. The Building Services section has grown to include property maintenance services including Joinery and other trades.
2007 saw a major change in operations at IQA when a web-based work management system was introduced to the Company. This highly effective system allows us to control, monitor and programme all field operations with the technology itself putting IQA ahead of competitors to enhance the delivery and flexibility of our services.
By 2008, the company had grown to a turnover of £3.3M and further expansion came when a base was opened in Armadale, West Lothian, to target operations in the East of Scotland.
A more recent development came in late 2009 when IQA brought in personnel to help the Company diversify into Electrical Contracting and work under the Building Services team. In December 2009 the Company changed its name to IQA Operations Group Ltd, operating as IQA Group.
As a measure of our success, IQA was listed in Insider magazine's list of the 100 fastest growing small companies in Scotland. Our Managing Director, David Gowans, featured on the front cover and everyone within the Company has used this as inspiration to further develop and grow stronger along with our client base. In the September 2009 issue, IQA was polled as the 9th fastest growing small company in Scotland, and in September 2010 IQA was polled as the 4th fastest growing.
During 2010, the Building Services team has grown to offer additional services such as Minor Civils, Substation Maintenance and Electrical Contracting.
The latest development in the growth of the Company came in November 2010 when a new base was opened in Liverpool to focus on the increasing operations in the North West of England. This also coincided with the number of employees growing to over 100 in November 2010. IQA Group continues to grow with our employee numbers reaching 250 in October 2011.
IQA Group is an award winning company and recently picked up the prestigious accolade of "Excellence in Skills and Learning" at the Glasgow Business Awards 2011.
