Today, British Land has launched a landmark report, 'Regent's Place At 30' that reviews the company's 30 -year commitment to Regent's Place and its partnership with the local community and Camden Council. British Land commissioned nef consulting to independently assess how broader social and environmental benefits over this period have ultimately delivered business benefits.

The review has highlighted successes in local regeneration, job growth, connectivity, housing and services and management of green spaces. Key achievements include:

  • From 2004 to 2010, the area around Regent's Place has featured in the top 1% of London performing areas where deprivation levels have substantially reduced.
  • Since 2010, construction activity has supported the creation of 1,200 jobs and 24 apprenticeships for local people contributing £55million gross value added to the local economy.
  • 55% of people at Regent's Place have benefited from new pedestrian routes created through our partnership with Camden Council and Transport for London.
  • Since 2010, over 300 residential apartments have been created including 50% affordable housing as well as a theatre, arts studio and employment and training centre.
  • Since 2009, carbon emissions have been cut in existing buildings by 6,900 tonnes - equivalent to annual emissions from over 1,000 homes.

The West Euston Partnership, a driving force behind the success of Regent's Place, has a 20-year history of working to make the area a better place to live and work. As a founding member of this successful partnership, British Land has played an important stewardship role.

Adrian Penfold, Head of Planning and Corporate Responsibility said, ' In conducting this review, British Land has proven that direct engagement with local communities, adopting a collaborative approach with key stakeholders and securing support from all levels of government and other public policymakers can deliver commercial success and shareholder value. Initiatives which were once transactional are now much more relationship-based and this can only lead to long lasting benefits for local communities, businesses and society as a whole.'

Graham Randles, Managing Director, nef consulting said,' nef consulting believes British Land has taken a leadership position in its sector through its approach to community engagement and neighbourhood planning at Regent's Place and has shown that this can have very positive benefits for business performance. We look forward to seeing how British Land and others take this approach forward from here.'

Notes to Editors

Media Contacts
Helen Lo 07912 572619

About British Land
British Land is one of Europe's largest Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). Through our property and finance expertise we attract experienced partners to create properties and environments which are home to over 1,000 different organisations and receive over 300 million visits each year. Our property portfolio is focused on the UK, in prime retail locations and London offices which attract high quality occupiers committed to long leases. We have total assets in the UK, owned or managed, of £17.1 billion (British Land share £11.2 billion), as valued at 30 September 2013. Our occupancy rate is 97% and average lease length to first break of 11 years.

UK retail assets account for 59% of our portfolio, around 80% of which are located at prime out of town sites. Comprising around 26 million sq ft of retail space across 67 retail parks, 87 superstores, 16 shopping centres and 12 department stores and 77 leisure assets, the retail portfolio is modern, flexible and adaptable to a wide range of formats. Our active asset management delivers space which is attractive and meets the needs of both retailers and consumers.

London offices, located in the City and West End, comprise 39% of the portfolio, which will rise to an estimated 43% on completion of current committed developments. Our 7 million sq ft of high quality office space includes Regent's Place and Paddington Central in the West End and Broadgate, the premier City office campus (50% share).

Our size and substance demands a responsible approach to business. We believe leadership on issues such as sustainability helps drive our performance and is core to the delivery of our overall objective of driving shareholder value.

Further details can be found on the British Land website at www.britishland.com.

About Regent's Place
Regent's Place occupies a 13 acre site in the London Borough of Camden, just north of the Euston Road, to the east of Regent's Park and west of Euston Station. In recent years, the campus has doubled in size, and now provides accommodation and amenities for around 15,000 workers and residents, as well as the local community.

Further details can be found on the Regent's Place website at www.regentsplace.com

About nef consulting
nef consulting is a transition consultancy. Founded in 2008 and owned by nef (the new economics foundation), we help organization in the transition to the new economy through an understanding of the past, present and future.

We help organizations to think differently about environmental and social impact or how they collaborate, interact and make decisions. We are experts in Social Return on Investment (SROI) analysis and using wellbeing measurement in impact assessment.

Further details can be found on the nef consulting website at www.nef-consulting.co.uk

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