Barnsley Council agreement pioneers new public/private partnering

Norse Commercial Services has completed the formation of another ground-breaking, £45 million plus, Local Authority partnership company, its second in the last 12 months. Barnsley Norse Ltd. is a subsidiary of the existing Joint Venture Company (JVC) , NPS Barnsley Ltd., which sister organisation NPS Group set up with Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council (BMBC) in February this year. The new 15-year agreement, worth over £3 million a year, saw approximately 380 staff currently employed by Barnsley Council in schools and civic building cleaning, catering, caretaking and courier services, transfer to the new venture. “This contract, an extension of our proven Local Authority partnering business model, shows just how innovative and flexible Norse Commercial Services is, and how closely we work with other companies within Norse Group” commented Sales Director, Geoff Tucker. “By forming a subsidiary of the existing company, many of the hurdles in transferring services had already been overcome, which has enabled the migration of the traded services to be accomplished smoothly and quickly,” he added. Cllr Alan Gardiner, Cabinet Spokesperson, Corporate Services, said: “Barnsley Council is pleased to be entering into this partnership arrangement for the delivery of cleaning, catering, courier and caretaking services. The formation of this joint venture company will not only protect existing jobs but will give opportunities for expansion and the creation of future jobs.” In June this year, Norse Commercial Services formed an £11 million a year JVC with Devon County Council, whereby Devon Norse took over schools cleaning and catering and civic building cleaning in the county. “To date in 2011,” Tucker says, “ Norse Commercial Services has added around £18 million a year’s worth of new business; a performance that is tremendous in the current economic climate and of course is good news for both Barnsley and Norfolk.”