The company used support from Accelerate and technical consultants E9 Ltd to implement IPPC in a complex six-month project.

Henrik Skouby, managing director of EC Williams, took part in a series of Network programmes, specifically designed by E9 to help companies collaborate to meet the challenge and stringent deadlines of IPPC.

Mr Skouby said: "In the automotive sector, there has always been reluctance to network and share better practices, but on this occasion we found that sharing information with other businesses in our industry reduced the cost of implementation."

Once the company had set out its objectives, it began to focus on implementing an accredited environmental management system using E9's Evolve14k1 software. Mr Skouby added: "The system is easy to set up and simple to update and maintain. It is the keystone of our IPPC systems".

"Henrik's team has shown exactly what a forward-looking SME can achieve when they have the right tools and support required to help with critical business decisions, " pointed out Dr John Trainor of E9.

www.ecwilliams.co.uk