News article • 8 mins read
This year’s World Accreditation Day coincides with a major milestone for UKAS: our 30th anniversary as the United Kingdom’s National Accreditation Body. Since 1995, UKAS has been championing the value of accreditation and helping organisations build trust, trade internationally and improve performance across all sectors of the economy. The 2025 theme for World Accreditation Day, ‘Empowering Small and Medium Enterprises’, reflects the vital role accreditation plays in supporting the growth and resilience of SMEs.
Over the past three decades we’ve worked alongside thousands of businesses, including countless SMEs, to ensure that accreditation remains both rigorous and accessible, building a reputation for technical excellence, and international recognition. This anniversary provides an opportunity not only to celebrate the achievements of the past, but to reaffirm our commitment to empowering businesses of all sizes for the future.
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the beating heart of the UK economy. Representing over 99% of all UK businesses and employing approximately 61% of the private sector workforce[1], SMEs play a critical role in driving innovation, creating jobs and fuelling growth. Yet despite their agility and ambition, many smaller organisations face challenges when competing in global markets or entering highly regulated sectors.
This is where accreditation can make a meaningful difference.
UKAS accreditation helps level the playing field by enabling businesses of all sizes to demonstrate the credibility, competence and consistency of their services. Whether through accredited testing, certification, inspection, or validation, SMEs can use accreditation as a powerful tool to build trust with customers, improve operational efficiency, reduce risks and open the door to new markets.
From compliance to competitive edge
For SMEs, achieving UKAS accreditation provides independent and impartial confirmation that their systems and services meet recognised international standards. This endorsement can enhance credibility with larger clients, regulatory bodies, and international partners—giving a competitive edge when bidding for contracts or entering new supply chains.
Accreditation can also drive internal improvement. By encouraging robust quality systems, accreditation helps businesses streamline their operations, reduce waste, and focus on continual improvement. These efficiencies are particularly valuable for SMEs, where resources are often stretched, and every advantage counts.
“Accreditation is definitely part of our commercial strategy and we are already planning to extend the scope of our accreditation to cover additional testing methods.”
— Hugh Barton, Director and Principal Consultant, OptiConsulting
Fueling innovation and expanding global reach
SMEs are often at the forefront of innovation—particularly in high-growth sectors such as clean technology, digital health, and artificial intelligence. These sectors demand not only technical excellence but also demonstrable trust and compliance. Accreditation plays a crucial role in enabling SMEs to prove that their processes, outputs, and innovations meet recognised national and international standards. For example, SMEs working in renewable energy technologies often rely on accredited testing and certification to meet regulatory thresholds and gain access to government grants or partnerships. In healthcare innovation, where patient safety and data integrity are paramount, accredited conformity assessment provides the credibility necessary to secure procurement contracts or pilot projects with the NHS.
Furthermore, in the emerging AI and machine learning space, SMEs must now navigate increasingly complex expectations around algorithmic transparency, bias mitigation, and governance. Accreditation aligned with standards like ISO/IEC 42001 for AI management systems is becoming essential for organisations looking to demonstrate responsible innovation and secure investor confidence.
“It was important to us to be accredited by UKAS as the UK’s National Accreditation Body. We are at the cutting edge of calibration innovation with the development of the FPG and our laboratory; we strive to have our performance and operations verified by accreditation that is recognised internationally.”
— Robin Farley, Director, Qrometric
UKAS accreditation is also a critical enabler of international trade. In the post-Brexit landscape, with shifting regulatory alignments and new bilateral trade agreements, UK-based SMEs must show that their certifications are globally accepted. UKAS’s role as a signatory to multilateral arrangements with ILAC, IAF, and EA ensures that UK-accredited certificates are recognised in over 100 economies, facilitating market access and eliminating the need for duplicate testing or inspection.
This international recognition is vital for smaller companies that may lack the resources to repeat assessments in every market. For exporters in the food, construction, or electronics sectors, UKAS-accredited testing is often a passport to global competitiveness.
Accreditation also aligns directly with the UK’s national economic priorities. From the government’s Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution to its AI and digital strategy, accreditation provides the assurance backbone for scaling innovation responsibly. It helps SMEs secure funding, comply with emerging regulations, and partner confidently with larger corporations or the public sector.
In short, accreditation is not just a compliance exercise; it is a strategic enabler that empowers SMEs to innovate, compete and expand internationally with confidence.
Breaking down barriers to accreditation
Despite these benefits, we recognise that SMEs can face challenges in accessing accreditation. Cost, time, and unfamiliarity with the process can all act as barriers. UKAS is committed to making accreditation more accessible for smaller businesses—without compromising on quality or the technical rigour of our assessments.
Over recent years, UKAS has introduced a number of targeted measures to support SMEs on their accreditation journey:
- Readiness assessment tools – UKAS offers a suite of free online self-assessment tools available to any organisation considering accreditation. These tools were first introduced to support applicants seeking accreditation to ISO/IEC 17025, but due to their popularity and effectiveness, UKAS has expanded the service to cover all major accreditation standards. The readiness tools help organisations gauge their preparedness for accreditation by providing structured checklists and feedback across key areas of compliance. This early insight allows SMEs to identify potential gaps, understand expectations, and take proactive steps before formally applying—saving time, reducing costs, and increasing the likelihood of a successful outcome.
- Free webinars – UKAS regularly hosts webinars that explain the basics of accreditation, what it involves, and how it can benefit businesses. These sessions are especially valuable for SMEs exploring accreditation for the first time. The Demystifying Accreditation webinar series, which has grown over time to include four themed webinars. These sessions aim to break down perceived complexities of accreditation, offering practical insights and live Q&As to help demystify key concepts for smaller organisations. In addition, UKAS is soon launching a new Digital Fundamentals webinar series, aimed specifically at supporting conformity assessment bodies (CABs) as they prepare for digitalisation. These webinars will provide critical guidance on digital readiness, tools, and challenges, empowering CABs—including SMEs—to modernise their operations in line with emerging standards and technologies.
- UKAS Academy – Through the UKAS Academy, a wide range of courses are available to support SMEs and conformity assessment bodies in developing the knowledge and skills needed to gain—and maintain—accreditation. This includes foundation-level courses, standard-specific training, and internal audit programmes. The Academy also offers an ever-expanding portfolio of eLearning courses, enabling learners to access high-quality training at their own pace and on their own schedule—an ideal solution for SMEs where staff may not be able to take significant time away from day-to-day responsibilities. Some of these eLearning courses are free of charge, further reducing barriers to essential knowledge and allowing smaller businesses to build internal capability affordably.
- Assisted application services – Designed to guide applicants step-by-step through the process, this tailored support helps SMEs navigate the documentation and technical requirements involved in gaining certain types of accreditation. This supportive pathway reduces uncertainty and provides clarity on expectations, giving applicants a greater chance of success on their first submission.
By investing in support services that reflect the needs of smaller businesses, UKAS is working to reduce barriers and help more SMEs unlock the full benefits of accreditation.
The road ahead: a shared commitment to SME growth
This World Accreditation Day, we celebrate the role that accreditation plays in empowering SMEs to thrive. By providing independent assurance of competence, helping businesses build trust, and supporting access to international markets, accreditation remains a vital enabler of sustainable growth.
Yet we must continue to ask: What more can be done to democratise access to accreditation? How can accreditation become a routine and achievable goal—not just for established enterprises but for new and growing SMEs?
UKAS is proud to champion this cause, not only by maintaining the highest standards of accreditation, but by actively working to ensure that SMEs have the tools, support and confidence to succeed in their accreditation journey. As Matt Gantley, Chief Executive of UKAS, puts it:
“As we celebrate 30 years of UKAS, we’re reminded that accreditation is not just about technical assurance; it’s about enabling ambition. For the many SMEs we’ve supported over the decades, accreditation has been a launchpad for growth, innovation and global reach. Our commitment to empowering them has never been stronger.”
In the years ahead, we will continue to engage directly with SMEs, collaborate with trade associations, and explore the co-creation of services that reflect the specific needs of smaller businesses. Because when SMEs succeed, the whole economy thrives.
[1] Department for Business and Trade. Business population estimates for the UK and regions 2023. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/business-population-estimates-2023