Board of Directors contribute to British Land Community Investment Fund
At British Land, we recognise the very material impact that Covid-19 is having on the communities at our places and are committed to supporting them through this challenging time. Reflecting this, we are redirecting the remaining budget within our FY20 Community Investment Fund to some of those most affected.
The British Land Community Investment Fund has been running for over 10 years, providing funding for charities and community partnerships in and around our places. The £1.3m fund for FY21 has already been established and to provide additional support in these challenging times, the Board of Directors will be waiving 20% of their base salaries or fees for an initial period of three months effective 1 April 2020 which the Company will be allocating to the Fund to support those most in need.
Our Communities team has worked with our network of local partners to identify how we can most effectively support them now and in the coming months, refocusing many existing community programmes to respond to the crisis.
We are funding expert, strategic advice from the CASS Centre for Charity Effectiveness for the leadership of many of our community partners. We are also funding bespoke programmes, providing employment support to help staff at our retailers and suppliers in their response. In London, this includes working with the East London Business Alliance to help redirect workers to areas where there is a clear need. Elsewhere, in Plymouth, Edinburgh and Sheffield for example, we are providing long term skills and employment support to people whose livelihoods have been affected.
At Broadgate, Regent’s Place and Paddington Central we are supporting local organisations, such as Providence Row homelessness charity, North London Cares and Pursuing Independent Paths, with technical equipment and digital upskilling to ensure that they can work remotely. Through the National Literacy Trust we are providing funding for reading resource packs to be directed to vulnerable families in 20 of our locations.
Across our campuses and at a number of retail assets we have made car parking freely available to support NHS staff and through our campus networks, we are connecting occupiers with local volunteering opportunities provided by partners. We have also increased our contributions to the charities we work most closely with, including doubling our annual donation to Shelter’s housing advice line and support for LandAid.
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| David Walker | 07753 928 382 |
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| Charlotte Whitley | 07887 802 535 |
About British Land
Our portfolio of high quality UK commercial property is focused on London Offices and Retail around the UK. We own or manage a portfolio valued at £15.4bn (British Land share: £11.7bn) as at 30 September 2019 making us one of Europe’s largest listed real estate investment companies.
Our strategy is to provide places which meet the needs of our customers and respond to changing lifestyles - Places People Prefer. We do this by creating great environments both inside and outside our buildings and use our scale and placemaking skills to enhance and enliven them. This expands their appeal to a broader range of occupiers, creating enduring demand and driving sustainable, long term performance.
Our Offices portfolio comprises three office-led campuses in central London as well as high quality standalone buildings and accounts for 55% of our portfolio. Our Retail portfolio is focused on Regional and Local multi-let centres, and accounts for 41% of our portfolio. Increasingly our focus is on providing a mix of uses and this is most evident at Canada Water, our 53 acre redevelopment opportunity where we have plans to create a new neighbourhood for London.
Sustainability is embedded throughout our business. Our places, which are designed to meet high sustainability standards, become part of local communities, provide opportunities for skills development and employment and promote wellbeing. In April 2016 British Land received the Queen's Award for Enterprise: Sustainable Development, the UK's highest accolade for business success for economic, social and environmental achievements over a period of five years.
Further details can be found on the British Land website at www.britishland.com