Principal Officers

Chief Fire Officer/ Director of Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service - Ceri Sumner

Ceri joined Norfolk Fire and Rescue as our first, non-operational Chief Fire Officer in September 2022. She has over 25 years experience spanning the private and public sector.

After graduating from Warwick Business School, Ceri initially worked as a management consultant with Arthur Andresen, before taking up roles for such firms as Centrica, developing customer service improvements, and British Airports Authority where she held a number of roles including Organisation Development, Passenger Insight Lead and Head of Customer Strategy.

In 2010, she joined Norfolk County Council as lead for Customer Services, and later Director for Community Information and Learning. Most recently, Ceri jointly led the Norfolk Covid support for clinically vulnerable people, self-isolation support and Norfolk's local test and trace offer with Public Health. Just before joining the fire service, she took the county lead on Homes for Ukraine and Hardship.

Ceri's experience will support Norfolk Fire and Rescue to continue to build on its strengths going forward.

Deputy Chief Fire Officer - Scott Norman

Scott joined Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service as a wholetime firefighter in 1999, initially serving at Great Yarmouth fire station. He has also undertaken on-call roles at both North Walsham and Mundesley.

Scott has held management roles within eastern, central and western districts. He has a passion for training and incident command having also worked in this function. He was been instrumental in developing improvements for on-call recruitment.

One of Scott's most recent projects was leading the development of the service's new cultural framework which has helped to drive a new approach and inclusive vision for all staff. 

Assistant Chief Fire Officer - Tony White

Anthony 'Tony' White joined Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service in 2006 as a wholetime and on-call firefighter at Thetford Fire Station, having previously served in the Royal Navy for 14 years and rising to the rank of Petty Officer Artificer.

As part of his work with the Fire Service, Tony worked nationally for the National Resilience Assurance Team as a High-Volume Pumping Instructor and Tactical Advisor, where he was deployed to large-scale flooding events across the country. By 2012, Tony advanced to the position of Development Officer at Bowthorpe Training Centre. In 2015, he was appointed as the Community and Fire Safety Station Manager at Kings Lynn, and later took on the responsibilities of Group Manager for the Western District in 2020. Tony has also served as Area Manager for Capability and as the Head of Prevention and Protection.

In May 2023 he was appointed as Assistant Chief Fire Officer, operating from Fire HQ in Wymondham.