British Land

The British Land Company plc
Real estate investment trust
Traded as LSE: BLND
Industry Real estate
Founded 1856 (1856)
Headquarters London, England
Key people
 Sir John Ritblat (Honorary President)
John Gildersleeve (Chairman)
Chris Grigg (Chief Executive)
Lucinda Bell (Finance Director)
Charles Maudsley (Head of Retail and Leisure)
Tim Roberts (Head of Offices and Residential)
Products London offices and retail
Revenue £384 million (2014)[1]
£287 million (2014)[1]
£1,106 million (2014)[1]
Number of employees
 242[1]
Slogan Creating Places People Prefer[1]
Website britishland.com

The British Land Company plc is one of the largest property development and investment companies in the United Kingdom. The firm became a real estate investment trust when REITs were introduced in the UK in January 2007. It is headquartered in London. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index and a founding member of the European Public Real Estate Association.

History

The British Land Company was founded in 1856 as an offshoot of the National Freehold Land Society (later Abbey National) formed in 1849 with the two chief architects of the freehold land movement Richard Cobden and John Bright. Both were ardent supporters of a movement to extend enfranchisement. To qualify for a parliamentary vote it was then necessary to be a landowner and the main object of the National Freehold was to facilitate the acquisition of small plots of land by the people. To do this the British Land Co. would purchase land and then resell it on the best terms to any customer who wanted to buy it. With extension of the franchise this reason ceased to govern the operation of the company, and it began to operate as a normal business in the latter part of the nineteenth century.[2]

In May 2005 British Land announced that it had agreed to purchase Pillar Property Plc for £811 million in cash to boost its position in the out-of-town retail property sector.[3]

In 2006 Sir John Ritblat, who had chaired the company since 1970, stood down and was replaced by Chris Gibson-Smith.[4]

Operations

As of 31 March 2014 the company was managing £17.8 billion of property assets, of which British Land owns £12.0 billion.[1] More than half of the portfolio is invested in retail and leisure, comprising 15 shopping centres, 66 retail parks and 85 food superstores.[1] This includes the Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield, which is one of the largest in the UK, and a large amount of property which has been purchased from and leased back to major retailers such as Tesco, Sainsbury's, House of Fraser and Asda. The other major group of assets is office property and residential, most of which is in central London, with 7.3 million sq ft of floor space in 3 campuses, 54 standalone office buildings and 8 office and residential developments.[1] This includes the Broadgate Estate, one of the largest developments in London over several decades,[5] and Regent's Place near Warren Street Station.[6]

In 2004 it received planning permission for a Richard Rogers designed skyscraper at 122 Leadenhall Street (The Cheese Grater) in the City of London. Construction of the tower began in October 2007 and was completed in 2014.[7] It is the third tallest building in the United Kingdom.

In October 2011, the company placed in the number one position, with 135 subsidiaries, on a list of FTSE 100 companies that use tax havens for their operations, as revealed in a database of their subsidiaries compiled for the first time by the development charity ActionAid.[8]

Main projects

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Annual Report 2014" (PDF). British Land. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  2. ↑ W. C. March, The British Land Company Ltd. Centenary Booklet 1956
  3. ↑ "British Land launches Pillar bid". BBC. 23 May 2005. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  4. ↑ "Gibson-Smith to helm British Land". The Telegraph (London). 14 July 2006. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  5. ↑ Wearden, Graeme (18 September 2009). "British Land to sell half of Broadgate stake to Blackstone". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  6. ↑ "British Land - creating a masterplan for one of London's most deprived areas". The Guardian. 26 May 2011. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  7. 1 2 "British Land pre-lets 10 floors of office space to Aon in the Cheese Grater building". SOS News. 16 May 2011. Retrieved 24 March 2012.
  8. ↑ Lawrence, Felicity (11 October 2011). "Third of votes cast against British Land pay report". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  9. ↑ "5 Broadgate Under Construction". Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  10. ↑ "Paddington's Kingdom Street scheme to be expanded". 14 May 2014. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  11. ↑ "New London Development-Blossom Street, E1". Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  12. ↑ "British Land kicks off its £1bn spending spree with Surrey Quays stake". 4 April 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  13. ↑ "British Land Reaches Key Milestone in the Redevelopment of Harmsworth Quays". 4 April 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2014.

External links

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