Whatever Happened to the Q word? - A panel discussion sponsored by the Chartered Quality Institute

On May 18th 2010, YouGovStone hosted a panel discussion sponsored by the Chartered Quality Institute on the issue of the quality of services in this country: has short termism killed our long term commitment to quality in services, business and industry and if so, what can we do to bring back such a culture?

The debate followed a YouGovStone survey to our panel of over 4,000 influential people from UK. To view the summary report, please click here.

Findings from the report indicate that quality is identified as essential to future organisational success, but while half claim quality it is at the heart of their organization only 23% say they deliver it consistently. There is a belief that the general quality of goods and services in the UK has fallen in recent years with government, the media, local authorities and utilities singled out as having got worse, while the NHS, public transport, retail and consumer goods have all improved.

The debate, chaired by the broadcaster and publisher, Andrew Neil, took these findings as a starting point to discuss the future of Quality in the British Market place. The panel: Alan Jones CEO Midlands Excellence; Stefan Stern, Columnist FT; Roger Cliffe Director of Quality, Vodafone; Crispin Burridge, Head of Plan A and Sustainable Construction for Marks & Spencer and Estelle Clark, Group Business Assurance Director, Lloyd's were quick to use the findings to argue for a stronger profile of quality within British services: they differed however in their opinions on how this was to be achieved. The key points of the debate are available to watch below.