Directorate Change

RNS Number : 5083R

British Land Co PLC

20 November 2012

 



British Land Announces Board Changes

British Land announces that Chris Gibson-Smith will be stepping down from the Board on 31^st December 2012 on conclusion of his second three-year term as Chairman and will be succeeded, with effect from 1^st January 2013, by John Gildersleeve. John joined British Land as a Non-Executive Director in 2008 and is currently Senior Independent Director.

Chris Gibson-Smith joined the British Land board in January 2003 as a Non-Executive Director and became Chairman in January 2007. He has made a considerable contribution to the company over the past ten years during a significant period for the property industry.

Chris Gibson-Smith said: "I have had a fascinating ten year journey with British Land, and the last six years as Chairman have been deeply rewarding. The Company is in an excellent position with a first rate team, portfolio and strategy. We are delighted that he has agreed to deepen his connection with the company. His broad range of experience makes him an ideal Chairman for British Land."

John Gildersleeve said: "I am delighted to take on the role of Chairman at British Land. The Company is in good shape and I look forward to working with the team to ensure it continues its strong performance."

Chris Grigg, Chief Executive, British Land said, "On behalf of British Land I'd like to thank Chris for his contribution to the company over the past ten years and for the important part he has played during that time. I wish him success in his new role. I also look forward to working with John in his new capacity as Chairman from the start of the New Year."

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Notes to Editors

The current British Land Board is as follows:
Dr. Chris Gibson-Smith, Chairman and Chairman of the London Stock Exchange Group

Chris Grigg, Chief Executive

Lucinda Bell, Finance Director

Charles Maudsley, Head of Retail

Tim Roberts, Head of Offices

Stephen Smith, Chief Investment Officer (standing down from the Board on 31st March 2013 and leaving British Land on 30th June 2013 as announced on October 19th 2012)
John Gildersleeve, (Senior Independent Director) Deputy Chairman of Carphone Warehouse Group PLC and a Non-Executive director of TalkTalk Telecom Group PLC and formerly Commercial and Trading Director of Tesco PLC

Aubrey Adams, formerly Chief Executive of Savills PLC
Simon Borrows, Chief Executive of 3i Group and Non-Executive Director of Inchcape plc

Dido Harding, Chief Executive of TalkTalk Telecom Group PLC

William Jackson, Managing Partner of Bridgepoint
Richard Pym, Chairman of UK Asset Resolution Limited and formerly Chief Executive of Alliance & Leicester
Lord Turnbull, formerly Secretary of the Cabinet and Head of the Home Civil Service

The recruitment of John Gildersleeve was conducted by the Company's Nomination Committee with assistance from the executive search consultants, Russell Reynolds.

Enquiries:

Investor Relations

Sally Jones, British Land                                     020 7467 2942

Media 

Pip Wood, British Land                                       020 7467 2838

Gordon Simpson, Finsbury Group/                       020 7251 3801

Guy Lamming, Finsbury Group

About British Land 

British Land is one of Europe's largest Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) with total assets, owned or managed, of £16.3 billion (British Land share £10.4 billion), as valued at 30 September 2012. 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 visited by over 300 million people each year. Our property portfolio is focused on prime retail locations and Central London offices which attract high quality occupiers committed to long leases. Our occupancy rate of 97.3% and average lease length to first break of 11.1 years are among the highest of the major UK REITs.

Retail assets account for 60% of our portfolio with around 28 million sq ft of retail space across 82 retail parks, 92 superstores, 13 shopping centres and 9 department stores.  The retail portfolio is modern, flexible and adaptable to a wide range of formats and our active asset management delivers space which is attractive and meets the needs of both retailers and consumers.  80% of our retail parks have open A1 consent.

London offices, located in the City and West End, comprise 35% of the portfolio (which will rise to an estimated 40% on completion of current developments).  Our 7 million sq ft of high quality offices includes Broadgate, the premier City office campus (50% share) and Regent's Place in the West End.  Over the last 2 years, we have committed £1.2 billion to create Central London's largest committed office development programme which will deliver 2.3 million sq ft of high quality space by 2014, including a 700,000 sq ft building at 5 Broadgate, the 610,000 sq ft Leadenhall Building in London's insurance district and a 500,000 sq ft mixed office and residential scheme at Regent's Place in the West End.

Managing our environmental, economic and social impacts is central to the way we do business and deliver value for our shareholders.  We assess the issues that matter most to us and our stakeholders on an on-going basis and, where appropriate, adjust our strategic focus to reflect this.  We focus on managing our buildings efficiently, supporting communities, developing sustainable buildings and engaging our staff.  For each of these priorities we are targeting our efforts and resources at initiatives where we can achieve the biggest impacts.

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

 

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