Justin Galliford
CEO, Norse GroupJustin joined Norse Group in 2006 after completing an MBA in Business Administration and Management. He also holds an MSc in Environmental Impact Assessment and a BSc in Environmental Sciences
He worked as Operations Director in a wide range of Norse divisions, and helped develop the company’s pioneering local authority partnership model.
In 2020 Justin was appointed Chief Operating Officer, and in January 2022 became Chief Executive Officer. In this role he has embraced the ESG agenda, introducing the mantra of “Improving People’s Lives”.
Norse Group has an annual turnover of £350 million, and employs over 9,500 people across the UK. Wholly owned by Norfolk County Council, it is the country’s largest and most successful local authority owned trading company.
This ownership means that Norse Group combines commercial knowhow with a public service ethos, and has a strong commitment to ESG, championing social value and committed to achieving net zero.
My Speaker Sessions
Thursday 11 September 2025
The difficulties of commisssioning merged services following LGR
LGR will lead to the creation of large new unitary councils, formed by the merger of districts and smaller unitaries. To achieve economies of scale and maximise efficiency, it will make sense to combine services such as waste collection into a single operation. However, this brings its own challenges. In merging two, three or even four councils into one, the new authority may be faced with different service delivery models, collection frequencies and wide disparities in employee terms and conditions; and the likelihood of varying end dates of contracts. Combining the services into a single entity is going to be enormously complex, and will require a high degree of flexibility to encompass the changes. Procurement is likely to be extremely difficult. What are the alternatives?
