Celebrating 35 years in business this year, Norse Group is the UK’s largest local authority trading company (LATCO), owned solely by Norfolk County Council. With its HQ in Norwich, the group is one of the city’s largest employers and has a daily impact on the lives of its residents.
Although, as its ownership implies, a high proportion of its work is carried out in Norfolk, Norse supports local authorities and businesses across the UK, employing 8500 people nationwide.
“Norse’s growth has been careful and consistent,” explained Justin Galliford, CEO. This considered approach has seen the business achieve a turnover of around £350 million across three pillars of business.
The facilities management company’s core vertical is Norse Commercial, which accounts for around 70% of the business turnover. The frontline service encompasses catering, cleaning, grounds maintenance, highways maintenance, housing repairs, FM and security, as well as waste and environmental management.
The remaining business income is split between Norse Consulting, the umbrella for its property consultancy services, and Norse Care, which provides elderly care services to 1000 people in 30 care homes.
“Our range of services and the experience of our team gives partner organisations the confidence to concentrate on their core operations,” said Justin.
Key to Norse’s success is the long-term joint ventures it has nurtured, with Justin citing the shared ownership of the model as a key factor in building trust with its customers.
“Whilst Norse operates as a commercial business, we understand the challenges and nuances that come with the public sector,” he said, “we operate at a commercial pace whilst maintaining a public sector ethos”.
Norse has worked in a joint venture agreement with Norwich City council for 10 years, supplying them with a suite of services including both housing and ground maintenance.
In addition, it has worked with other councils across Norfolk for 17 years handling their recyclable waste, as well as providing ad hoc services such as out of hours contact centres and security.
As well as operating in its East Anglian heartland, Norse also has partnerships in areas such as Newport, Waltham Forest, Exeter Leeds, and Essex.
“We take a forward-thinking and quality-driven approach to our services, ensuring that we deliver the right solutions for our clients’ needs, whilst supporting the communities in which they operate,” Justin shared.
Now, Norse wants to use its foundation of building pioneering joint venture relationships to evolve its offering to clients, with a strong focus on governance and ESG.
Internally, the business has made a commitment to achieve net zero by 2050. However, at the front of its mind is what additional value and impact it can bring to its customers and partners.
“We are currently exploring a group-wide suite of measures for ESG, which our local authority clients would benefit from,” explained Justin, “this includes implementing alternative, sustainable fuel for our fleet of refuse trucks”.
The business also helps local authorities to decarbonise existing housing estates as well as create new, affordable, low carbon homes.
In addition to sustainability, Norse provides high levels of social value to its local authority partners, tackling the likes of food poverty by supporting initiatives such as Nourishing Norfolk Network.
Set up in 2022 by the Norfolk Community Foundation, the network provides food hubs across Norfolk to help combat food insecurity and make sure no one in the region goes hungry. Norse provides warehouse and logistics support to ensure food is delivered to the hubs.
“The rising cost of living seems to be increasing household food insecurity, and nationally the use of food banks is rising. So far, Nourishing Norfolk Network has supported 26,000 families, and we are very proud of that valuable impact,” said Justin.
Justin also represents the business on a prison Employment Advisory Board, helping prisoners find employment upon release – thus reducing their likelihood to reoffend.
“If we can support prison leavers into employment they are 50% less likely to reoffend, which in turn saves the £50,000 cost per year to house a person in prison. The value we provide partners on this front has both social and economic benefits,” Justin continued.
On its mission to support more communities across the UK, Norse is developing a solid pipeline, with a further eight joint ventures in the offing, which is supported by an increased demand in waste, housing, and highways services.
“We aim to continue the development of our customer-driven offering, which includes upgrading our back office to be more responsive, ensuring we are “match fit” for AI integration, and able to continue our growth across the UK and our support for the Norfolk economy” Justin closed.