With new contracts being announced each month of the latest financial year, demand for Norse catering and cleaning services has never been so strong. Catering has always been a key service in the group’s portfolio, with the education sector accounting for over 75% of its catering business. “All catering sectors, educational, corporate and care home clients, are seeing sustainable growth,” Catering Operations Director, Andrew Lipscomb says, “but the schools and academies side of the business has also seen over £2m worth of contract awards since the start of the new financial year.” These contracts are typically three-year agreements and, as Lipscomb points out, business retention is one of the key features of a business’ longer-term stability. “Both the company and its staff, and its supply chain, benefit when high-value, three-year contracts are renewed,” he says. “It is this confirmation that the company is delivering good value, and retaining the trust of its customers, that enables us to plan for the longer term.” Over in the cleaning side of the business, Norse has also had an impressive start to the year. The company provides cleaning services from its head office in Norwich and from eleven of the partnerships it has with local authorities around the country, accounting for around £70m of its £200m annual turnover. “We’ve had an incredible first few months in the current financial year, with a number of contracts renewed, some with additional services incorporated,” Rob Trewick, Cleaning Operations Director at Norse, said. “We have the ability to provide cleaning services across the country, via our partnership operations. This, combined with our high levels of staff retention and reputation for quality and value for money, make us a very attractive supplier for both local and national clients.” Cambridgeshire in particular has seen a big push by the company’s cleaning division, with £1.14m worth of new business in the last 4 months. Amongst its partnerships, the one with Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council has had one of the biggest new deals of the year so far, winning a £640k cleaning contract in nearby Doncaster. “It has been one of Norse’s most successful starts to a new financial year,” Sales Director Geoff Tucker commented. “The company is set to become a 500 million business over the next five years, with a forward orders value of more than £2 billion. This, added to our commitment to adding social value to contracts, means that Norse is fast becoming recognised as the benchmark in ethical outsourcing.”