About Equas
Independent ISO consultants.
Twenty years in.
We help UK organisations achieve and keep UKAS-accredited certification, from a first certificate to the tenth surveillance audit. Plain English, fixed prices and real expertise.
- Years
- 20+
- Certifications achieved
- 1000+
- Pass Rate
- 100%
The Equas Guarantee
Our work, guaranteed.
Complete the programme we agree with you. If your certification audit then raises an issue with documentation we prepared, we will put it right at no extra cost, and pay the certification body's fee to come back and check it.
01
You complete the agreed programme*
Work through the plan we set out at the start, and put the management system into practice across your organisation.
02
The auditor finds an issue in our documents*
Your Stage 2 certification audit raises a finding that needs a return visit to check, and the cause is documentation we prepared.
03
We fix it and cover the return visit*
We correct the documentation with you at no extra cost, and reimburse the certification body's charge for coming back to verify it.
Our clients have a 100% success rate at certification audits. The guarantee means you know exactly where you stand if a finding is ever down to us.
Applies to initial certification. Certification decisions are made by the independent certification body.
*READ THE FULL TERMSWho we are
Our advice is our own.
For twenty years, Equas has helped organisations build management systems that work in practice and stand up at audit. We have supported more than 1,000 client certifications, and today cover quality, environment, information security, IT service management, health and safety, energy, business continuity and AI.
Equas operated within the Amtivo Group from 2019, and returned to independent ownership on 1 September 2026 under Managing Director Julian Russell.
When we recommend which UKAS-accredited certification body to approach, we have nothing to gain from the answer. We work with organisations of every size, from sole traders to listed groups.
Impartial on certification bodies
We are not owned by or tied to any certification body, and we will always advise choosing a UKAS-accredited one.
Decisions made here
We are a small team. The person you speak to can make decisions, rather than passing them up a chain.
UK-based, UK-wide
Headquartered in Chepstow and working with organisations across the UK, on site or remotely.
Who we work with
Most of our clients are already certified.
Around seven in ten of the organisations we work with already hold a certificate and need the system kept current. The rest are working towards their first. We are set up for both.
7 in 10
Already certified
Internal audits, management reviews, legal compliance checks, standard transitions and support at every surveillance and recertification audit, so the certificate stays valid without landing on someone's desk.
3 in 10
Working towards certification
A gap analysis, a system built with you or for you, an internal audit to rehearse, and a consultant with you at Stage 1 and Stage 2. Backed by the Equas Guarantee.
Leadership
Experience from both sides of the audit.
Julian Russell
Managing Director
- MEng Chemical Engineering, University of Cambridge
- Lead Auditor: ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 27001, ISO 45001 and ISO 50001
Julian has worked in ISO certification since 2009. Before that he spent fourteen years in senior roles across the chemicals, food and plastics sectors, which is where the practical bias in his approach comes from: he has run the kind of operations that management systems are meant to serve, rather than only advising on them.
He co-owned Equas before the business joined the Amtivo Group in 2019, and led it back to independent ownership in August 2026. Outside work he is a keen sailor, and travels widely to enjoy it with friends and family.
How we work
What working with us looks like.
Six commitments that apply to every client, whether you are building a system or keeping one running.
Plain English
Gap reports, procedures and advice written for the people who will use them, not to impress an auditor.
Fixed prices
Every support package is quoted up front and agreed before work starts. The figure does not move.
A named consultant
One person who knows your organisation and your system, and who can make decisions.
Systems you will use
Built around how you already work, so the system survives a busy month and a change of staff.
Honest about effort
We tell you how much of your own time this will take, including when the answer is more than you hoped.
With you at audit
We can be in the room for your certification and surveillance audits, and help you close out anything raised.
Client stories
Organisations we have helped.
ISO 9001 · Events management
Corporate Events Ltd
A fast-growing events company with 38 staff needed documented processes to match its growth, and health and safety credibility for blue chip clients.
ISO 9001 · Oil and gas equipment
Ascendant Technologies Ltd
An oil and gas valve supplier operating across five continents cut customer-generated non-conformance to almost zero after migrating its quality system.
ISO 9001 · Construction materials
Concrete Canvas Ltd
An award-winning Welsh manufacturer needed ISO 9001 to win a key export customer in Brazil, where certification was non-negotiable.
ISO 27001 · Legal services
Langleys Solicitors LLP
A 350-person UK law firm applied ISO 27001 across every service, process and asset, treating it as a culture change rather than a compliance exercise.
ISO 9001 · Marine engineering
Coldharbour Marine
A marine technology firm had eleven weeks to achieve ISO 9001, without which its new ballast water treatment system could not reach market.
ISO 9001 · Investigation services
AIS 2000 Ltd
A national investigation firm moved from a non-accredited ISO 9001 certificate to UKAS-accredited certification, and added BS 102000 alongside it.
Getting certified, or keeping a certificate?
Talk to us.
A free, fixed-price quote from a consultant who does the work, backed by the Equas Guarantee.