Norse Group Announces New Chair

Norfolk County Council and Norse Group are today announcing that Dr Andy Wood OBE, DL has been appointed as the new Chair of the Board at Norse Group this week.

Andy, Chief Executive of Adnams PLC, replaces Fiona McDiarmid as her tenure as Chair came to an end after two years at Norse, the UK’s largest commercial local authority trading company.

The Norse Group is owned by Norfolk County Council and brings together building consultancy services Norse Consulting, care provider NorseCare and facilities management specialists Norse Commercial Services.

It works with private and public sector clients through more than 30 local authority partnerships throughout the UK, including the NHS, and offers tailored solutions for commercial clients’ needs, offering a diverse range of high-quality services. These range from running mobile lateral flow testing teams and supporting the Covid vaccine roll out, to household waste collection, cleaning and catering in schools and businesses, as well as offering residential care, property design and estate management services.

On taking up his new role, Andy said: “I am delighted to be joining Norse at this important moment for the Group as it looks forward positively to the next few years. And I am extremely taken with Norse’s stated purpose – to ‘improve people’s lives.’

“This demonstrates the importance of the company and what it does, whether providing commercial services, contributing to the construction of new public buildings, or caring for some of the most vulnerable in society.

“What Norse does undoubtedly matters.”

Having held several previous Chair and Non-Executive positions, Andy said his aim now is to help further develop Norse’s positive culture and build on its commercial success.

As she handed over the chair to Andy, Fiona McDiarmid welcomed him to the Group and saying he would find it in a robust position.

“Andy will have a firm foundation of a strong Board, a clear strategy and an amazing team of almost 10,000 people across the country committed to delivering to their best to their communities,” she said.

Justin Galliford, Interim CEO of Norse, said: “We are delighted to welcome Andy and knowing his vast experience, he will be invaluable as we continue to grow our operations and strengthen our business.”

County council leader Councillor Andrew Proctor said: “I’m delighted with Andy’s appointment. He has the experience and most importantly the commercial nous to take the Norse group from strength to strength.”