About us

CEO’s statement

Norse Group’s aim is to improve people’s lives whilst generating a sustainable, ethical profit for the public sector.

A decade of austerity cuts, recently compounded by inflationary pressures, gives rise to increasing financial pressures for councils. Despite this, Norse Group’s offering remains as in demand as ever.

Whilst cost pressures present significant service challenges for councils, the Group’s unique partnership approach to flexible service provision provides opportunities to design solutions collaboratively.

Generating an ethical profit for our shareholder, Norfolk County Council, and partners alike is more important than ever. To ensure we continue to do this, we will evolve our wholly-owned brands within the public sector while partnering with councils through our joint venture model.

In addition to the annual shareholder rebate, we will continue to drive efficiency and value into these services wherever possible to deliver value for money and retain our status as the largest LATCo in the country.

To consistently deliver a wide range of services and solutions at a high quality, we will invest in our people. The Group’s People Strategy will evolve our capability to recruit, train, and retain staff amidst a labour market that looks set to remain uncertain over the coming years.

Our purpose

Our aim is to improve people’s lives.

As Britain’s largest local authority trading company (LATCo), ensuring we put people at the heart of what we do is integral to the ethical value proposition for our stakeholders and shareholder.

Our current Group business activity, and predicted growth over the next five years, will centre on providing services across England, Scotland, and Wales. We will seek to work with unitary, county, and district councils and clients from the education, care, NHS, and charitable sectors.

Investing in local economies and communities by providing employment and career opportunities in our business locations is a key element of our purpose.

We will continue to demand that the highest safety standards are met within our operations, protecting the health and wellbeing of our dedicated staff and the people within our communities.

Our aim is to continue to offer our services in an increasingly integrated delivery model underpinned by a culture of long-term partnership working and ethical profitability for local communities.

These priorities will build durability into our services in three ways:

1. Providing high quality services and monitoring customer satisfaction.

2. Generating ethical returns for partners and our shareholder.

3. Investing in our people, developing their skills, and ensuring job satisfaction.

Download | Strategic Business Plan 2024.28

Our values

We care completely

We are real people who look after each other. We champion diversity, offer a helping hand to those who need it, and build trusted partnerships through empathy.

We collaborate proactively

We create environments where ideas and knowledge are shared and voices are heard. We spot opportunities and solve problems before they occur.

We act with integrity

Even in challenging circumstances, we do what we believe is right for our communities, people, and partners.

We pursue better

We all are empowered to find solutions that benefit our customers, communities and colleagues – using initiative and ingenuity to create a better way.

We make it happen

We act with expertise, specialism and pragmatism every step of the way. We get the job done.

Our approach

Sound governance, corporate social responsibility, and clear communication with our stakeholders are essential in ensuring we are trusted and respected by our customers.

Our Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy (ESG), which aims to create social value in addition to profit, will be the continued drive towards our goal of being net zero carbon by 2050. Reducing the impact of our services on the environment means we will positively support similar actions of those living in the communities we serve. The next five years will see us develop further our ESG Strategy and continue our net zero journey.

To support this, we will monitor and report our ESG activities, reporting back to stakeholders on a triple bottom line basis providing data transparently to facilitate independent review and scrutiny of our performance. Good governance and a strong ESG Strategy will complement our approach to enduring relationships with customers, built on our values to generate and share ethical profits.