Creating value and impact for Local Government
Working together to build resilient local communities
Commercial Services Group delivers a huge range of products and services to customers in local government, education, housing and health. But across our 33 businesses we have one clear vision: to create value and impact for every customer, every day. We do that by working collaboratively and commercially. This in turn drives innovation and service excellence.
We’ve been helping Local Government deliver efficient public services for decades. Today, we’re trusted by local authorities across the UK – working together at every level to deliver solutions covering children and education, energy and environment, people and talent, and procurement and partnerships.
Whether we’re designing strategic joint-venture partnerships, building innovative procurement models, helping executive teams develop leadership skills, supporting decarbonisation plans, or supplying schools and colleges with essential equipment, we have the right expertise and breadth of experience to deliver sustained success and measurable impact.
As one of the UK’s largest publicly owned, commercially run businesses, we offer the best of both worlds – a clear focus on market insight and leading-edge thinking, alongside a deep commitment to transparency, compliance and social value.
Our surplus provides sizeable returns to the public purse but that’s just one part of our story. Ultimately, everything we do creates better places for people to live, learn and thrive.
People & Talent
We understand the issues around retaining and managing the people on your frontline and in supporting roles – from social workers to school management teams, local government executives to teaching and academic staff. Pay constraints, workload pressures and competition for skilled workers can contribute to high staff turnover and difficulty in keeping experienced professionals.
With over 25 years at the forefront of human resources, we’re trusted by over 1000 customers nationwide to help create better workplaces, improving staff retention and reducing recruitment costs. Through our companies HR Connect, EmploymentCheck, Staff Care Services and Prospects Payroll, we provide payroll, pension, HR advisory and administration services, DBS checking and support with staff health and wellbeing.
HR Connect helps to create better education workplaces – providing HR advisory,
strategy, payroll, pension and HR administration services.
EmploymentCheck provides fully hosted and compliant SaaS and Umbrella Body Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checking solutions.
Staff Care Services delivers essential staff occupational health and wellbeing solutions through an experienced team of clinicians, consultants, counsellors, and trainers.
Children & Education
At Commercial Services Group, we deliver a range of services and solutions all aimed at helping local authorities deliver high-quality education and care for children.
Whether it’s supplying essential school equipment, providing simplified, secure IT systems or helping make sure your workforce is resilient and supported, our goal is to create solutions that make a measurable difference. We also deliver specialised legal services covering employment law and child protection. We’ve built our educational supply business over many years to offer our customers a one-stop shop for whatever schools and colleges need to thrive.
Our teams work closely with you, always supporting your goals. We’re committed to delivering value with impactful solutions, saving you money. Our services are delivered by experts across a family of companies – The Education People, EIS and Invicta Law, KCS Education, Landscapes for Learning, Gresswell, Maudesport, Technology Supplies and Timstar.
The Education People empower educators at every level – with solutions covering
professional development, training resources, consultancy, SEND support, conferences and outdoor learning experiences.
Kent-Teach is the leading recruitment platform for Kent schools, colleges and nurseries, with over 3 million visits per year.
Timstar empowers science educators and technicians by providing high-quality laboratory equipment, chemicals, and resources that enhance practical science education.
Landscape Services specialise in the planning, development and management of school grounds and sports fields, with a clear focus on sustainability.
Maudesport supplies sports equipment and playground products that inspire movement and support healthy, active lifestyles.
KCS Education offers over 26,000 products – ranging from crayons and craft supplies to complete classroom furniture solutions – providing a one stop shop for schools and academies.
Landscapes for Learning create unique, accessible and long-lasting outdoor
children’s learning equipment.
Gresswell provides library equipment and supplies to support academic literacy,
creative learning, and reading development.
Invicta Law provides specialised legal services to the education sector, with extensive
experience in employment law, data protection compliance and child protection.
EIS delivers specialist digital and IT services that help schools and academies simplify IT, stay secure, and get the most from their technology.
Procurement & Partnerships
Our procurement services give local authorities access to specialist expertise, market insight and proprietary technology, delivering more efficient tendering, improved supplier performance, and better value for money. We also support compliance with complex procurement regulations to help mitigate risk. We work with our partners to continuously improve the way contracts and spending are managed, to deliver both savings and enhanced quality of service.
Our partnerships are at the heart of how we deliver value and impact, with our innovative joint-ventures with local authorities up and down the country helping to build stable workforces, strengthen the public sector, connect communities and drive regional economies.
Procurement Services offers a wide range of procurement solutions and contract management to help schools and academies make life easier and focus on what really matters.
Energy & Environment
We understand the challenges facing local government. Tight budgets, volatile markets, and growing sustainability demands can make energy procurement and management seem overwhelming. The energy landscape is evolving rapidly, whilst energy security is increasingly vital for resilient local government and ensuring the delivery of essential public services.
We are a leading partner for energy and decarbonisation to the public sector, through our specialist energy procurement business, LASER. We provide a range of energy procurement services and net zero initiatives to local government, helping customers reduce energy costs, improve efficiency and connect to sustainable solutions.
We work with hundreds of customers in all areas of energy management, from procurement to managed services – with a clear focus on value and sustainability.
As a team, we bring best-in-class expertise and technical capabilities, working in partnership with local authorities to offer co-investment opportunities in renewable energy generation.
LASER supports schools and academies to reduce their energy costs, improve efficiency and adopt sustainable solutions.
