Corporate Responsibility summary 2011 London Portfolio

Transcription

1 Corporate Responsibility summary 2011 London Portfolio

2 As a landlord and developer, our impact on communities is not only physical but social and environmental too. We therefore have a responsibility to consider these issues as part of our everyday business. We accept that responsibility, and do things differently and better, because we can and because it s the right thing to do. To be the business others want to do business with, CR has to be integral to how we do things at all levels of the business. That s why, at Land Securities, we do not separate corporate responsibility from our business strategy. Embedding CR into our everyday work means our people take personal responsibility for the things that make our business a better business. Find out more in our full Corporate Responsibility Report at

3 Being part of such a fabulous capital city doesn t just mean taking what you can from it. Our role in London means we play our part, get stuck in and help to make it a continuing success. Having more than half of our business in London gives us opportunity but with that comes responsibility; you cannot separate the two. The opportunity comes in the shape of commercial success for us and economic success for the city, while our responsibility is a social and environmental one, to the people who are local to our operations. My team is committed to behaving responsibly; it is simply part of their DNA. But without our partners, we could not hope to achieve some of the things we do. We have made great progress on some fantastic initiatives this year which will, over time, really make a difference to our local communities. Of particular note is the pilot of our new London-wide employment strategy where we will be making the most of our London-wide scale to provide training and real job opportunities in construction for local unemployed people. Another personal highlight is our continued involvement in local Business Improvement Districts (BIDs); without these partnerships, London s drive to be a better place for businesses would not make the progress it does. Partnership is vital. My team is committed to behaving responsibly; it is simply part of their DNA. But without our partners, we could not hope to achieve some of the things we do. So I end on a note of thanks to our local authority partners, our construction supply chain, our training providers and our service partners for thinking and working in the same way we do. I hope you enjoy reading our highlights, and I encourage you to get involved wherever you can. Robert Noel, Managing Director, London Portfolio

4 Over the last seven years, we have pioneered the use of ground temperature and ground water to reduce our energy use and carbon emissions. For example, One New Change contains 60km of pipework to both heat and cool the building. David Noonan, Technical Services Manager Our environment Our long-term objective: To reduce our carbon emissions by 30% by Carbon reduction plan To achieve our long-term carbon reduction objective, we need to design and build more sustainable properties, and manage our existing ones better. In addition to setting interim reduction targets, we are developing a long-term carbon reduction plan for our London portfolio, which will assess the effects of carbon-efficient design, sustainable material use, retrofitting new technology and occupier behaviour. Using the Carbon Neutral Company, we have also voluntarily offset our business travel and London head office operations again this year. Display Energy Certificates To help us to manage energy use, we are the first company to voluntarily put Display Energy Certificates (DECs) in all our office buildings. DECs show 12 months of actual energy use, and are renewed every year. This is just business as usual for us now. BREEAM ratings A Very Good rating under BREEAM (Building Research Establishment s Environmental Assessment Method) has been the minimum standard for all our London developments since April To date, all our projects are expected to achieve at least this rating on completion, and we also expect the same rating at current refurbishments.

5 10:10 campaign Land Securities is a signatory of the 10:10 campaign, which requires member companies to reduce their carbon emissions by 10% during 2010/11; we achieved a 22% reduction in our London head office. We also joined a 10:10 Day of Action, promoting the scheme with a banner on the Piccadilly Lite advertising panel. Building Regulations To remain the leader in our sector, we design our new London offices to be below the Building Regulation (Part L) requirements for CO 2 emissions. Groundbreaking technology We have been pioneering the use of groundsourced heating and cooling for seven years. This year, the 60km of pipework to both heat and cool One New Change, the City s newest shopping and office building, is up and running. On his visit in January, Climate Change Minister Greg Barker described the scheme as British innovation at its best. Annual environment conference To share best practice and to learn from others, we held our sixth environment conference in June at Sainsbury s HQ in Holborn. The event sought to engage customers, business partners and industry experts on the issues surrounding a low-carbon future. Wood and paper Achieving the FSC project-specific Chain of Custody Certification Standard for each of our London developments is just another example of business as usual. In fact, FSC certification is a contractual requirement and included in the Sustainability Brief. Customer behaviour As only 2% of the UK s buildings are replaced in any one year, the behaviour of tenants in our existing offices presents us with the best opportunity to reduce carbon emissions. We help them to understand the business case for reducing their own environmental impacts through free energy audits, expert advice and site-specific environmental management plans. Waste and recycling Last year, we recycled or reused 50% of the waste generated by our London managed office portfolio. This year, that total rose to 70% across the entire portfolio by March We also achieved a landmark zero waste to landfill through a combination of recycling and recovering energy from waste. Head office test-lab This year s trials in our London head office have included the introduction of voltage optimisation technology and the installation of lifts that use 75% less energy. Water consumption We are now in the fourth year of a partnership with University College London (UCL). This year, MSc students studying building, construction and design disciplines are researching the most cost-effective way to retrofit water-efficient systems such as taps, toilets and sensors. We have been trialling some of these technologies in our head office in London, and hope to set a realistic water-reduction target in Find out more in our full Corporate Responsibility Report at

6 We seek partnerships that, in the long term, make our communities better places in which to live and work, and to visit. Our communities Our long-term objective: To be recognised by local communities as the number one partner for the delivery of positive social and economic impacts. Construction training and employment Our developments and office portfolio extend our ability to benefit the long-term unemployed population across London. The National Skills Academy for Construction (NSAfC) helps many people to get training, apprenticeships or employment in the industry. At One New Change, Bovis Lend Lease s BeOnsite scheme offered an upskilling training programme including NVQs and apprenticeships. The programme, which finished on completion of the scheme in 2010, also provided jobs and work experience for a number of long-term unemployed and ex-offenders. As a result, 235 people have gained employment across the supply chain. Building on the NSAfC model, we have developed our own strategic and collaborative approach, based on our new London-wide Employment Strategy. This will offer more opportunities across all our development schemes in the city, as employment and training can now be delivered by contractors own programmes or through our new preemployment routeway into construction. Employment Charters This year, supported by the Mayor of London, we partnered with the Cheapside Initiative and the London Employer Accord to establish the Cheapside Employment Charter. The Charter links local unemployed people with vacancies in the area, including jobs with some of the businesses based at One New Change. We also supported the launch of the Victoria Employment Charter. The Charter has helped to drive local recruitment by our retail occupiers and other sectors such as construction. Education To help us to be the number one partner in our sector for positive social and economic change, we support schools and colleges.

7 Through our many sites, specialist knowledge, main contractors and extensive supply chain, we support the long-term employment prospects of young people looking at construction and property careers. We also launched our Schools Prospectus in September 2010 to help schools and colleges across London benefit from our programme of activities. This outlines how we can help young people prepare for work or choose a career through work experience, site visits, mock interviews, careers information and CV workshops. Work placements Through an ongoing partnership with the Construction Youth Trust, and supported by sponsorship partner Bouygues, we launched a mobile classroom at our SW1 Gallery in April This will go into schools, youth clubs and community venues in some of the more deprived areas of London, giving young people a taste of the construction industry and offering advice on training and apprenticeships. UCL scholarships This year, we renewed our commitment to the future of the industry by running the Land Securities Planning Scholarship for the second year. We take four MSc students from University College London s Bartlett School of Planning under our wing, each of whom receives a 5,000 scholarship to help with their studies. They will then complete summer internships with us ahead of their dissertations being completed. As a result of this experience and the introductions we make during the work placements with us, the recipients are better able to secure employment. In addition, we host Knight Frank graduate trainees and other proactive graduates who request work experience. Grant-giving and sponsorship We have developed a strategic approach to corporate giving, with an emphasis on sustainability. We continue to provide flowthrough funds and are helping to develop endowment funds, such as the Westminster Fund, which, once established, use the interest accrued by the capital donated to provide sustainable funding in perpetuity. This year, through the Capital Commitment Fund, 75,000 was distributed to 17 groups that support education and skills, housing and homelessness, and young people not in employment, education or training. Since it started in 2004, the Fund has provided nearly 812,000 in small grants to charities and community groups. We also continued to support the Young Vic Theatre s Vocational Training Programme, which offers placements and advice about careers in theatre production and stage design, and funded the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts XL Workshops, a programme where third-year students receive training on communication and teamwork before going into schools to help pupils. Commercial space for charities To support local charities, we let office space at much-reduced rates. In 2010, we provided office space in Victoria to the Blue Peter Christmas card appeal, and gave the Voluntary Services Centre space at Hillgate House to sublet to smaller charities. This second initiative meant that we saved rates on an empty building and the charity received a rent-free location to help other charitable groups. We have also donated space on Piccadilly Lite, a short-term advertising position on the prestigious Piccadilly Lights. Community investment Within London, the value of our community investment activities, which include charitable donations, in-kind gifts, time spent in volunteering and organising investment activities, totalled more than 1.8 million. Find out more in our full Corporate Responsibility Report at

8 Our marketplace Our long-term objective: To set the standards for innovation, value and service to which others aspire. A lot of our marketplace partners are heavily involved in our community activities (see overleaf), and many of our construction partners support our Employment Strategy. The Alandale Group of Companies, for example, supports the programme by delivering our pre-employment training, and Alandale Sustainable Solutions Ltd is our main training provider. We therefore spend a lot of time engaging with these partners, and also with local authorities, neighbours and customers. Customer satisfaction Thousands of people work and live in the properties we own and manage, and they all have different needs, expectations and aspirations. Our challenge therefore remains continuing to engage and communicate effectively on the issues they think are important. Supply chain health and safety We have policies and procedures in place to underpin our daily activities, and regularly report on RIDDOR accidents, events and near misses (there were just three across our London portfolio in 2010/11). Our reportable accident rate on development and refurbishment projects was 39 reportable accidents per 100,000 employee contractors across the portfolio, which is way below the industry benchmark of 906. Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) BIDs play a pivotal role in the promotion of London as one of the best cities in which to do business. We are members of BIDs in the areas where we operate, and play an active part in helping them to achieve our joint aims. Several of our people also regularly provide BIDs with additional expertise and professional support by sitting on economic, marketing, corporate responsibility and homelessness sub-groups. Many of our construction partners support our new Employment Strategy and assist people back into employment. This approach is currently being piloted at sites like 62 Buckingham Gate. Trevor Mitchell, Project Director Find out more in our full Corporate Responsibility Report at

9 We encourage volunteering opportunities that make the most of our expertise and skills. For example, through a partnership with social enterprise London Early Years Foundation (LEYF), we have given advice and mentoring on IT systems and marketing, provided free venue space for events, and financial donations towards refurbishments, training and resources. Jack Lawrence, Community Investment and Liaison Officer Our people Our long-term objective: To be recognised in the UK as an employer of choice for developing people to be the best that they can be. Individual volunteering All our staff are encouraged to volunteer, and 61% of our London team volunteered at least one day in the past year. Where possible, we encourage individual volunteering that enables staff to use their own expertise and skills. This includes assisting charities and voluntary groups with rent renewals, leasing arrangements and facilities management. For example, across our London portfolio: we have been providing charities such as Westminster Volunteer Centre with advice on issues relating to building leases and negotiations we helped The Passage, which runs London s largest voluntary sector day centre for homeless people, with the renovation of some of their office space, advice on building refurbishment and donations of business wear, to help their service users to attend interviews and start work we are helping Noah s Ark, a children s hospice in Barnet, with the planning application for a purpose-built property, and through our involvement, we have helped to reduce the expected build costs by 40% our Marketing Manager provided mentoring support for the London Early Years Foundation, which runs nurseries at 22 sites, the majority of which are in Westminster. Team volunteering We also provide manpower through team events. This year, our London Development team volunteered with Centrepoint, the youth homeless charity, helping to renovate an entire hostel in Clapham North. We also invited pupils from the Paddington Academy to visit Broadcasting House, which we have been redeveloping for the BBC. The students had a tour, met our project managers and contractors, and undertook a team-based engineering project. Find out more in our full Corporate Responsibility Report at

10 About Land Securities Land Securities is a Real Estate Investment Trust and a FTSE 100 property company. We own and manage office space, mainly in central London, with an estimated 50,000 people spending their working day in a Land Securities building. We also have 26 shopping centres and 17 retail parks, which puts us at the heart of local communities across the UK. Increasingly, we are involved in residential development as part of our mixed-use approach to city centre development. Contact us We would love you to share your ideas and initiatives with us. Please do get in touch. Community investment: Jack Lawrence jack.lawrence@landsecurities.com Employment and education: Debbie Akehurst debbie.akehurst@landsecurities.com Land Securities Group PLC 5 Strand London WC2N 5AF Telephone: +44 (0) Design and copywriting by Flag