PEOPLE AT TEQSAS These are the core personnel comprising TEQSAS. Additional pre-vetted personnel can be brought in to meet customer briefs on specific projects. This keeps overheads to a minimum and enables special expertise to be made available. James Stewart James has worked in food manufacture for over 26 years. He graduated in Biological Sciences at Edinburgh University and this was followed by one year advanced training for membership of the Institute of Biology (MIBiol) at Paisley Institute of Technology. James started TEQSAS in 1991 after a technical career in Food Manufacture with United Biscuits (Adams of Dalkeith factory), Golden Wonder Snacks (Cheesy Wotsits) and latterly Sun Valley Poultry, where he gained management experience in production planning/scheduling and stores management as well as a range of technical management roles. In the year following the Food Safety Act of 1990, James was responsible for Supplier Assurance at Sun Valley, gaining his Lead Assessor Certificate to support this activity. It was this last company role that prompted James to set up TEQSAS for the initial purpose of helping suppliers to resolve criticism and to improve/implement their own Quality Management Systems. Graham Parslow Graham first became involved with TEQSAS in 1994, having already worked in the food industry for 15 years. After graduating with a BSc (Hons) in Food Science, he started out as a technologist in the canned drinks sector, moving on to gain wide-ranging experience in a variety of technical management roles with companies such as Golden Wonder Ltd, Brooke Bond Foods, CPC (UK) Ltd and Stratford upon Avon Foods. Over this period, he built up a sound knowledge of snack products, spreads, sauces, marinades and seasonings, canned fruit and vegetables and jams/fillings. Since joining TEQSAS, this knowledge has expanded to include fresh and frozen herbs and meat products (cooked and fresh). His areas of expertise include product development, product sourcing and auditing. Andrew Keir Andrew has worked in the food industry since 1977,starting as a laboratory assistant carrying out Plant Breeding Trials. Andrew graduated in Plant Science at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. His abiding interest has been improving the Food Supply Chain. As a result his career has taken him to all parts of the food value chain, working with growers improving agronomy, through marketing, sales and supply chain management, and in large scale food manufacturing. Before becoming independent Andrew worked for a number of "blue chip" companies including H JHeinz Co, Northern Foods, Nickersons, Fenmarc Produce Ltd, and latterly Sun Valley Foods. Andrew qualified as a Lead Assessor for BS5750/ISO 9000 audits with Lloyds at Chipping Campden in 1994. In addition to working with TEQSAS in a technical role Andrew?s other interest is training, helping people reach their full potential, where they initially may not have academic qualifications. To this end he is a qualified assessor (D32/33) for NVQs and teaches part time at the local agricultural college. Maureen Stewart Maureen has worked as administrator/book keeper at TEQSAS since its inception in 1991, with 15 years? office experience prior to this working in a broad range of industries. Maureen has an MA (Hons) in French from Edinburgh University and has put this knowledge to good use translating specifications and articles as required by TEQSAS clients.