166 | UK Enterprise Awards 2023 Apr23375 Best Care Service Provider Community Enterprise 2023 - Norfolk Norfolk Industries For Disabled People (Norfolk Industries) is part of a Community Interest Company (CIC) providing small animal bedding and gift products to commercial customers as well as work placement programmes to people in the local community. The firm also employs people with disabilities and at least half of its workforce have a range of physical and/or learning disabilities. Originally established in 1908, Norfolk Industries was founded to provide work for the blind people of Norwich. In 1980, it became part of the local council which saw the development of the factory it still uses today and the move to employing people with a broader range of disabilities, not just visual impairments. Since 2013, Norfolk Industries has been part of Independence Matters, a CIC providing a wide range of care services to people across Norfolk. The organisation’s mission is ‘to provide eco-friendly products at reasonable prices, manufactured by people with disabilities’. Its products are all made from recycled and repurposed raw materials, and they are despatched across the UK and Europe. “Our goal is to support local people with barriers to work to move closer to employment through our work programmes,” explains General Manager Sharon Tooke. “There is a significant lack of employment opportunities for people with disabilities and so it remains our ultimate goal to raise awareness of our products and grow the business so that we can employ more people with disabilities and support more people in our local community.” Norfolk Industries has two programmes, one which is very flexible to the needs of its candidates and another which is more structured over a set period. The organisation has also developed three Gateway Assured modules (independent living, employability, and project planning) to support these placements and provide structured learning to the people on its work placements. In order to be able to provide a variety of work tasks to the people on these placement programmes, Norfolk Industries also offers a contract packing service to customers across the UK. This allows people on these programmes to work in a quieter area, individually rather than being placed straight into a team environment which can be noisier and unfamiliar. “We stay true to our core values by treating everyone as an individual, not making any assumptions about what people are capable of doing, but encouraging everyone to work at their best,” elaborates Sharon. “We operate the business in such a way that we can offer a low stress environment as we manufacture to stock and then pick orders for customers from stock.” As with many businesses across the UK, price remains key in Norfolk Industries’ ability to gain new work and many companies generally continue to look for the lowest price point. With prices fluctuating wildly at times, this can have the effect of making any form of profit difficult to maintain. Despite these issues, Sharon tells us that the pet products sector continues to grow in the UK and the small pet sector is also growing above that of cat and dog. She believes this is due to the rising cost of living which is impacting on the ability to cover the costs of larger pets such as dogs, cats, and horses etc, whereas small animals are much cheaper to buy, look after and maintain. With regards to recruiting new team members, Norfolk Industries tends to positively discriminate in an effort to find people with disabilities who wish to work. “Our recruitment process is very ‘values based’ as we are able to train and develop people, but having the right qualities and values is much more important to us when working alongside people with learning disabilities or who may have restrictions in place,” she continues. “We are working to gain a harmonious environment where everyone works with empathy and supports one another.” It is due to this dedication and commitment to helping this community that saw Norfolk Industries recently celebrating success in the UK Enterprise Awards and being crowned with the prestigious accolade of Best Care Service Provider Community Enterprise 2023 – Norfolk. But it doesn’t stop there, as Sharon explains, the organisation has its sights very much set on growth. “2023 is looking really promising for us,” she enthuses. “We are working with a couple of larger new customers to broaden the reach of our own branded products which is very important to us and so you should hopefully be seeing much more of us in the marketplace in the near future!” Contact: Sharon Tooke Company: Norfolk Industries For Disabled People Web Address: www.norfolkindustries.co.uk Norfolk Industries For Disabled People is a small, local company with a big social conscience and a long history of providing employment to people with disabilities. We find out more about this unique way of working from Sharon Tooke as the organisation celebrates a big win in the UK Enterprise Awards 2023.
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