Great-Yarmouth’s seafront – Alexey Fedorenko-Shutterstock
Great Yarmouth Borough Council has decided not to renew its partnership with Norse Commercial Services and will create a new council-owned company to deliver services.
The council and Norse Commercial Services established a joint venture company called Great Yarmouth Borough Services in 2003.
Since then it has provided refuse collection and recycling, street cleaning, public toilet cleaning and maintenance, buildings cleaning, grounds maintenance services, vehicle maintenance, footway lighting maintenance, building and civil engineering work, burials, and pest control for the population of 38,693.
The current arrangements were renewed in 2013, and are set to end in March 2023, but last month the council decided not to renew the contract for a further term.
Council leader Carl Smith said: "The joint venture with Norse has served us very well for nearly 20 years and we are pleased to have been able to work with Norse and the fantastic staff at GYBS to keep improving services over that period.
“However, many things have changed over that time and we think that with the contract coming to a natural end, 2023 is the right time to look again and make sure that services are as responsive to the needs of our residents as possible. We will be working with Norse on a smooth transfer in the months to come."
Nick Maddox, Norse Commercial Services’ interim chief operating officer, said: "We look forward to continuing to work with the council on other services in the future, and we will fully support a seamless transition of current services and staff to the council's wholly owned company."
Image credit | Alexey Fedorenko-Shutterstock
