Frequently Asked Questions

You are welcome to ask for a sample of the material before you order, and our website is set up to highlight which materials are suitable for which pets.   

However, as a guide: 

Paper Flake bedding is suitable for all small animals and provides a good litter and bedding type material. It’s also ideal if you have a pet suffering with straw/hay/dust allergies as this material is dust free. Repurposed from food grade paper manufacture. 

Cotton is suitable for all small animals but is mainly used as a nesting material for hamsters, mice, rats and gerbils who like to snuggle up and sleep. This cotton is safe for use and has extremely short fibres which do not tangle around small feet or cause blockages if swallowed by hamsters. Repurposed from nappy manufacture. 

Recycled paper is again suitable for all small animals but is mainly aimed at larger small pets such as rabbits, guinea pigs, ferrets, chinchillas etc. Generally used as a bedding material, this is absorbent and is completed recycled newsprint paper.

Give us a call on 01603 667957 and we will speak to you about what went wrong and arrange collection of the order. 

Of course! With the high costs of carriage, this may be a cheaper option for you.  Click and Collect orders can be place through our website shop. 

Our postal carton system is designed to get smaller quantities of product direct to small retailers and independent shops in the UK.  

There is no minimum order; you can pick loose product, or product in shelf ready cartons, and mix up quantities as you please. Once your order reaches £75 or more you get free postage to anywhere in the UK. This system includes all of our own brand products including our award-winning animal houses and plastic free products.  

This product is available to retailers only and requires an account. Prices are available once logged in.  

We aim to get Click and Collect orders ready within 2 working days of receipt of the order and available to collect from reception. 

Postal carton orders can take up to a week to despatch depending upon quantities and which products are ordered. 

We aim to get Product Sets despatched within 2-3 days of receipt of the order.  

• Paper flake products are produced from repurposed materials. 
• Recycled paper products are produced from fully recycled newsprint paper. 
• Cotton products are produced from repurposed materials. 
• Our plastic free product lines are produced without any plastic whatsoever. 
• Furry Friends Farewell is a plastic free product and the burial tube, ends and bedding (the elements that are buried) are biodegradable.
• We are working to move our poly bags and film over to 30% post-consumer waste poly which has a 30% recycled content. 

The repurposed materials we use are ‘waste’ materials produced by other industries. The material is all new and clean and is largely manufacturing offcuts from products such as tea bags and cleaning cloths. Repurposing this material prevents it from going to landfill.  

All of them! 

Our logo is made up of several elements:  

• Supporting people with disabilities – the wheelchair type image with two people, one using the wheelchair and one who is not. 
• Manufacturing – the grey cog in the wheel of the chair. 
• Green – for our recycling work. 
• Blue – industry. 
• Pink circle – represents our parent company Independence Matters CIC.  

Give us a call (01603 667957) and come for a visit to take a look at the environment, the work and the people here! You would need to be able to get yourself here via foot or public transport as we do not provide transport to the factory. See what you think and we can go from there. 

Give us a call (01603 667957) and we can talk about what you can offer and whether we can utilise this.   

At the present time our programmes are free of charge, but there are plans to get EVOLVE as a commissioned service in the future. 

The majority of our people on work placements are on the autistic spectrum or have learning difficulties. We do also support people with physical disabilities where the work allows and also people who suffer with anxiety and depression. 

We have also supported people from a homeless background, long term unemployed and people with a criminal record, although this would be closely risk assessed, taking each circumstance into consideration. 

Norfolk Industries working hours are 8:00 to 16:30 Monday to Thursday and 8:00 to 13:00 on Fridays. As long as the individual is available during these hours, we can normally find hours that suit all parties. 

Some people work just 4 hours per week and others work up to 30 hours per week, depending upon the individuals’ circumstances, and financial situation. 

No, getting here is the responsibility of the individual. Buses stop at Anglia Square in Norwich which is just a 5 minute walk to the factory. The train station is about a 25 minute walk away. 

This is a factory environment, so it can be noisy and dusty, although some areas more so than others.  We try to take this into consideration for each individual. 

For a factory we do not have too many people in the factory at one time, normally a maximum of 10-12 people, so not too busy or overwhelming. 

The work tasks are packing tasks such as filling bags, sealing bags, packing and palletising product, shredding paper, labelling products, heat sealing products etc.  Tasks are generally lightweight but repetitive. 

As well as our production lines in the main factory we also have a contract packing room which is quieter and tends to be labelling and packing of a range of products from electrical items, educational toys, dog chews and other products.