Excuse the pun in the heading, but it is difficult not to separate the word ‘mustard’ from ‘Norwich’, a branding exercise which has placed the name on supermarket shelves across the world. The city has, of course, much more to offer than the famous companion to bangers and steaks. It is a historic and regional centre, and was once the second city in England after London, while the city council has aspirations for unitary status. Laura McGillivray’s aim as new chief executive of the authority, now run by a Labour minority administration, has been to ‘maximise our talent’ and, after a period of huge internal change, make the organisation more outward-looking. A major remodelling of services under her predecessor, Anne Seex, included a 15-year, cutting-edge partnership with Steria to provide key frontline services. Apart from dealing with some historical baggage soon after her arrival, including the challenge of a budget black hole and critical Audit Commission report for the 2004/5 year, Ms McGillivray’s first task was to try and meet every member of staff, as well as the ‘great and good’, and then focus on the building of externational relationships, especially the strategic partnership. A review of senior posts has enabled her to seek key posts in neighbourhoods, resources and customer care to reflect the council’s priorities (see The MJ Jobs this week). The council is also keen on the ‘eastern cities region’ concept of smaller cities working together, while badging Norwich as the largest city in the east of England. Ms McGillivray’s early background was geared to social work, community and the voluntary sector. She was born in Aberdeen, but brought up in York from the age of eight, and later in 1972-5 studied sociology at Liverpool University. She trained as a social worker with Liverpool City Council where, ‘I really discovered about life’, covering the entire range of inner-city casework in an area of 32 tower blocks. She recalls: ‘What struck me was that despite their problems, so many families managed to live decent lives. But I realised all I was doing was helping them cope, and I wanted to change things. ‘ Later she set up an advice centre, working with the voluntary sector, then had a change of tack and moved to London where she worked in various community-based jobs, including setting up a cleaners’ co-operative in Lambeth, and also for the GLC’s inward investment arm, the Greater London Enterprise Board. Curiously, her view of local authorities at the time was relatively favourable. ‘It was easier to get things done on the outside than on the inside,’ she says. In 1991, she became, as she describes ‘respectable’, working for Milton Keynes BC as a community development manager. During the next decade, while bringing up a family, she rose to become head of policy and communications, overseeing the council’s transition to unitary status. A move to Dacorum DC running leisure services was followed by the deputy chief’s job at York in 2003, responsible for the council’s community vision programme. By then, she had set her heart on the top job, and was finally successful last October with Norwich, a job she describes as ‘fantastic’. Plainly, her background at two unitaries, including helping create one, was attractive to the members. Norwich, together with other historic boroughs such as Exeter, Oxford and Ipswich has unitary aspirations, with all-party support The council argues that while there are 125,000 people within the current boundaries, there are some 200,000 in the wider urban area. If next-door Broadland DC is included, a unitary based on Norwich could reach 250,000 and 350,000, if it also included other neighbour South Norfolk DC. Ms McGillivray’s believes ‘a sensible option’ would be a unitary of 200,000, including a bit of South Norfolk and most of Broadland. The county, Norfolk, is underwhelmed by the proposals. All is academic until the White Paper outlines exactly how unitary bids would be received. In the meantime, her task is to raise the council’s profile and help boost the city’s bid to attract ever-more world-class HQs. As well as mustard, of course. n
