Meet John Norris – Founder and Owner of Norris Commercial Refurbishment

Hi, I’m John Norris, the owner and founder of Norris Contracting. As someone who has worked with many businesses and contractors over the years, I know how important it is to find a company which is knowledgeable, reliable and trustworthy.  I, like you, value jobs which are quoted for fairly and delivered with the right expertise. That’s why I wanted to introduce myself and let you know a little more about the person behind the business.

More years ago than I care to admit, I attended Nottingham Trent University (Trent Polytechnic back in my day) for a three-year HND in Construction Business Management. At the time, as with many young people, I was unsure of where I wanted to go career-wise, but upon leaving university, I began work as an estimator surveyor, working my way up to chief estimator surveyor at a commercial painting company. 

Redundancy in May 1991 came as a bit of a shock, but I quickly realised I’d been handed a great opportunity. During my time as an estimator, I’d always taken an interest in the contracts side of the business too. Combining my experience with knowledge from my HND, a Government Small Firms Loan Guarantee and a good pinch of the boldness of youth, gave me the confidence to start my own business. And so, Norris Commercial Painting was born! 

“I’d borrowed quite a lot of money for those days and told pretty much everyone what I was doing; to fail would have been very embarrassing. So, you get out of bed, because you’re scared of not getting out of bed, and you get on with it. The fact that I was quite enthusiastic about the whole thing helped as well!” 

On May 21st, I launched with my first contract – painting some external windows on a building on the Hot Point site in Peterborough. Working from a room in my house for the first six years, I was able to steadily grow Norris – not without its ups and downs of course – before moving into our own commercial premises.

At around this time, I also noticed our clients were often looking for more than just commercial painting when they came to us. 

“I would go to a premises to quote and they’d tell me they were having a full office refurbishment, including suspended ceilings, partitions and flooring and I thought ‘we could do all of that’.”

This led to the expansion of the company to become Norris Commercial Refurbishment. A moment of immense pride for me as it felt as though all the hard work to build a trusted reputation in the industry had paid off!

Nowadays, our company identity is stronger than ever. We’re able to offer our customers full interior refurbishment and refit, from fitting out new buildings to gutting and revamping existing premises. 

As our contracts got bigger, so did the demand for skills and expertise. In this business, you never stop learning, and I’ve always placed a lot of importance in myself and the team’s continuous development. Two of us are site management safety trained, so we can run a site, and I now work with large companies on building regulation approvals, one of the newer skills I’ve added to my toolbox!

Of course, Norris is so much more than just me. Our core office team is small, but their experience and efficiency drive Norris forward. And I’ve built great relationships with our team of trusted contractors over the years. I know if I can rely on my team, my customers can too.  

I’m not all work and no play of course. During Norris’ 35 years, I’ve been married and am the proud father of two children – now young adults. Regular trips to the Lake District and abroad give me the chance to go running, outdoor swimming and paddle boarding, so I can come back to the office refreshed and ready for the next chapter.

I’m as excited today for the future of Norris Commercial Refurbishment as I was 35 years ago. I’m interested to see a big increase in requests for some of the niche aspects of the business, such as silo painting, washroom refurbishment and concrete floor painting. But our focus remains what it has always been; on delivering the best job, for the best price, in the best way for all our customers.

Now you’ve read my journey with Norris Commercial Refurbishment, it’s time to start yours. We’re always ready to discuss your commercial refurbishment needs. From planning to execution, you can rely on Norris. Get in touch with us today.

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