Norse launches joint venture in South East

Norse South East will provide household refuse, recycling and garden waste collections, as well as street cleansing, cemetery and allotment maintenance in Havant up to 2026.

Havant borough council has previously conducted its fortnightly waste and recycling collection services in-house, but formally teamed up with Norse in 2015 to  explore ‘commercial opportunities’ and achieve £1.4 million in savings by 2018/19 (see letsrecycle.com story).

Norse, a wholly-owned joint company set up by Norfolk county council, operates in partnership with several local authorities across England. Its latest business venture will see all profits split ‘50/50’ with Havant borough council.

The arrangement means Norse South East will collect waste from around 49,000 wheeled bins in Havant, and will also allow Havant council to bypass a formal procurement process for services if the newly-formed company meets Teckal provisions.

However, a public consultation launched in May 2015 provisionally found that 57.1% of 207 respondents did not support the principle of outsourcing waste services. A council report also claimed that the authority could stand to lose £3 million if Norse were to terminate the contract or the venture became insolvent.

Business

Sandy Hopkins, chief executive of Havant borough council, has moved to reassure residents that the venture will “change the way” the authority does business in the future.

She said: “This is by no means a merger or privatisation, it is exactly what it is – a joint venture, two companies in the service sector working together to deliver high quality services for our customers.

“Norse South East will have the freedom to bid for extra work, such as commercial waste collections, grounds maintenance, catering, cleaning, vehicle maintenance including MOT’s and facilities management, and it has the expertise and equipment to do so. There will be a lot of opportunities opened up as a result of this venture.”

Managing director of Norse, Peter Hawes, added: “We are delighted to have formed this joint venture with Havant Borough Council, the first of its kind in the South of England.

“This is our fourteenth such partnership across the UK, and follows the successful business model that has helped local authorities maintain frontline services, protect jobs and feedback additional funding in times of continued economic pressures.”