British Land : recognised with 2016 Queen’s Award for Enterprise

British Land has today been recognised as a winner of the 2016 Queen's Award for Enterprise. This has been awarded to the company as part of Her Majesty The Queen's 90th birthday honours and is the UK's highest accolade for business success.

The Award is given to companies which bring major economic, social and environmental benefits through their own business success and has been awarded to British Land for continuous achievement in all these areas over the last five years. The award for Sustainable Development recognises the company's focus on creating Places People Prefer and the emphasis it places on driving improvement across all business activities and at every stage of its operations.

British Land CEO, Chris Grigg, said: 'We are thrilled to receive the Queen's Award for Enterprise. This recognition belongs to everyone who works for and with British Land. As one of the UK's leading property companies we have an important role to play in raising standards across our sector.

'This award acknowledges the huge amount of work we have done on placemaking, on understanding individual customer needs and in delivering enhancements that make a real difference to the experience at each specific location in which we operate.

'It also recognises the importance of integrating social and environmental activities into every area of a business. Sustainability in its broadest sense is not something you can do 'on the side' but a powerful tool to help drive customer preference and deliver lasting value. I'd like to extend my thanks to everyone both at British Land and externally who has played a part in this achievement.'

British Land owns or manages UK assets totalling £19.7 billion. It works with a number of partner organisations and a supply chain of 4,000 firms whose support is key to its ongoing success.

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Notes for Editors

The Queens Awards

• The awards are made annually by HM The Queen and are only given for the highest levels of excellence demonstrated in each category.
• 249 Queen's Awards (QA) have been announced this year for outstanding business achievement in the fields of International Trade, Innovation and Sustainable Development.

British Land Thought Leadership

• British Land has commissioned several studies into its operational impacts which have been presented at major conferences and events* and it is the leading UK REIT on numerous sustainability indices.

Meadowhall at 25 Review 2015 (PwC), explored regional and national contributions of this major retail and leisure destination.
Regent's Place at 30 Review 2014 (nef consulting), explored social, environmental and economic impacts. Featured in RSA thought leadership conference Developing Socially Productive Places.
The Source Skills Academy 10 Year Review 2013 (PwC), gave insights into the socioeconomic contributions of this training centre established by British Land and Sheffield City Council.
Socio-Economic Contributions Report Review 2012 (PwC), explored how construction projects support jobs and economic growth nationwide. It informed a larger review by London First/GLA.

Integrating Social and Environmental Activities into Business Operations

• British Land's 2020 sustainability strategy integrates social and environmental activities throughout the business through wellbeing, communities, future-proofing and skills and opportunities. These have been identified as having the greatest impact and potential to enhance overall performance.
• The company is a leader in key indices
• • FTSE4Good Index 2015 - top 98th percentile.
  • Dow Jones Sustainability Index (Europe & World) 2015 - top 94th percentile.
  • Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) 2015 - Regional Sector Leader for Europe/Diversified, second year running.
  • Best Companies to Work For 2015 - One Star rating, fourth year running.
  • Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations 201% - ranked by Corporate Knights.
  • BiTC Workwell Index: reporting wellness & employee engagement 2014 - leading UK REIT
  • Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) Disclosure Leadership Index 2015 for fifth year running - 100% score for disclosure - leading UK REIT. B for performance.

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About British Land

We are one of Europe's largest publicly listed real estate companies. We own, manage, develop and finance a portfolio of high quality commercial property, focused on retail locations around the UK and London offices. We have total assets in the UK, owned or managed of £19.7 billion (of which British Land share is £14.4 billion), as valued at 30 September 2015. Our properties are home to over 1,200 different organisations ranging from international brands to local start-ups. Our objective is to deliver long-term and sustainable total returns to our shareholders and we do this by focusing on Places People Prefer. People have a choice where they work, shop and live and we aim to create outstanding places which make a positive difference to people's everyday lives. Our customer orientation enables us to develop a deep understanding of the people who use our places. We employ a lean team of experts, who have the skills to translate this understanding into creating the right places, and we have an efficient capital structure which is able to finance these places effectively.

UK Retail assets account for 51% of our portfolio. As the UK's largest listed owner and manager of retail space, our portfolio is well matched to the different ways people shop today. We are focused on being the destination of choice for retailers and their customers by being the best provider of spaces and services. Comprising around 22 million sq ft of retail space across shopping parks, superstores, shopping centres, department stores and leisure assets, the retail portfolio is modern, flexible and adaptable to a wide range of formats.

Our Office and Residential portfolio, which accounts for 49% of our portfolio is focused on London. We have an attractive mix of high quality buildings in well managed environments and a pipeline of development projects which will add significantly to our portfolio. Increasingly, our Offices are in mixed-use environments which include retail and residential elements. Our 7.5 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 industry-leading sustainability strategy is a powerful tool to deliver lasting value for all our stakeholders. By supporting communities, improving environments and growing economies, we create Places People Prefer and enhance long-term returns. Further details can be found on the British Land website at www.britishland.com.

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British Land Company plc issued this content on 21 April 2016 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 21 April 2016 02:33:27 UTC

Original Document: http://www.britishland.com/news-and-views/news/2016/21-04-2016.aspx