APPOINTMENT OF CHIEF MARKETING AND IMPACT OFFICER
SIRIUS REAL ESTATE LIMITED
(Incorporated in Guernsey)
Company Number: 46442
JSE Share Code: SRE
LSE (GBP) Share Code: SRE
LSE (EUR) Share Code: ESRE
LEI: 213800NURUF5W8QSK566
ISIN Code: GG00B1W3VF54
18 February 2021
Sirius Real Estate Limited
("Sirius Real Estate", "Sirius" or the "Company")
SIRIUS PROMOTES KREMENA WISSEL TO NEWLY CREATED ROLE OF CHIEF MARKETING AND IMPACT OFFICER
Executive appointment reflects further integration of ESG into day-to-day strategy deployment
Sirius Real Estate, the leading owner and operator of branded business parks providing conventional space and flexible workspace in Germany, announces the promotion of Kremena Wissel to the newly created executive role of Chief Marketing and Impact Officer. Kremena has been with Sirius since May 2006 and as Marketing Director can be credited with transforming the Company's approach to marketing and developing its leading digital marketing platform.
As part of her extended remit, Kremena will manage the business's ESG strategy, implementing a consolidated approach that supports the delivery of sustainable returns while further enhancing the business's investment proposition. She will continue to be responsible for Sirius's marketing activities and will report directly to CEO Andrew Coombs while providing regular updates to the Board.
Kremena Wissel's appointment and the establishment of this new senior management role reflects the further integration of ESG principles into the day-to-day running of the organisation. Following a full independent audit of the Company's existing ESG activities completed over the last six months, Kremena will oversee the deployment of the ESG strategy and delivery of the Company's commitments. These include examining the potential for the decarbonisation of the portfolio and incorporating the TCFD framework1 into the Company's reporting, alongside additional activities at both a platform and asset level. On a social and governance level, Kremena will continue her work as a Diversity & Inclusion ("D&I") ambassador to roll out a D&I roadmap and will oversee a number of ethics and compliance activities.
Kremena is Sirius's longest standing employee, having joined the Company from university. During her tenure, she has transformed the business's marketing activities, designing a platform that enables it to generate and manage its data and enquiries directly. As a result, over 85% of all business leads are currently generated independently of intermediaries, enabling Sirius to retain its lean and agile business model, which has proven invaluable in the last year.
Sirius's ESG transformation has been a major focus for the Board over the last few years across all three elements, particularly since the establishment of the Social and Ethics Committee in January 2018 under Andrew Coombs's leadership; since relaunched as the Sustainability and Ethics Committee in March 2020. A major current workstream has been to measure and deliver a significant improvement with regards to the Company's impact on the environment. For example, in 2020, the business increased its renewable energy use to 86%, across approximately 92% of its portfolio, while almost 100% of portfolio electricity consumption is now sourced from green electricity sources. Sirius's progress on responsible investment has also been recognised by the MSCI, which upgraded the business' ESG rating from A to AA in November 2020.
Commenting on the promotion, Andrew Coombs, CEO of Sirius Real Estate and Chair of the Sirius Real Estate Sustainability and Ethics Committee, said: "ESG is an embedded part of the Sirius business and is at the heart of the way we continue to deliver successful returns in a sustainable and ethically sound way. Kremena has been integral to the development of our ESG credentials to date and formalising the new role of Chief Marketing and Impact Officer reflects how serious we are in ensuring that we maintain and increase the momentum of delivering high standards of ESG throughout our group.
"Since joining the business almost 15 years ago, Kremena has made a major impact on shaping our marketing capabilities, making a significant contribution to our growth into a FTSE 250 company. I look forward to continuing to work closely with her in this expanded role, supporting Sirius in our efforts to deliver long-term, sustainable growth, while also making a positive impact to the society and world we live in."
Kremena Wissel added: "As a major property owner across Germany, we recognise our responsibility to our employees, partners, tenants and communities in which we operate, as well as to the planet. Empowering others and delivering a positive impact is not only a moral imperative, it is good business sense. The property industry has a critical role to play in creating a sustainable future, and I look forward to spearheading Sirius's efforts as we continue to develop and implement our ESG approach."
- ENDS -
1. TCFD: Task Force on Climate related Financial Disclosures
For further information:
Sirius Real Estate
Andrew Coombs, CEO / Alistair Marks, CFO
+49 (0) 30 285010110
FTI Consulting (Financial PR)
Richard Sunderland / Claire Turvey / James McEwan / Talia Jessener
+44 (0) 20 3727 1000
SiriusRealEstate@fticonsulting.com
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Sirius Real Estate
Sirius is a property company listed on the main market and premium segment of the London Stock Exchange and the main board of the JSE Limited. It is a leading operator of branded business parks providing conventional space and flexible workspace in Germany. The Company's purpose is to create and manage optimal workspaces that empower small and medium-sized businesses to grow, evolve and thrive. Sirius seeks to unlock the potential of its people, its properties, and the communities in which it operates, so that together we can create sustainable impact, and long-term financial and social value.
The Company's core strategy is the acquisition of business parks at attractive yields, the integration of these business parks into its network of sites under the Company's own name as well as offering a range of branded products within those sites, and the reconfiguration and upgrade of existing and vacant space to appeal to the local market, through intensive asset management and investment. The Company's strategy aims to deliver attractive returns for shareholders by increasing rental income and improving cost recoveries and capital values, as well as by enhancing those returns through financing its assets on favourable terms. Once sites are mature and net income and values have been optimised, the Company may take the opportunity to refinance the sites to release capital for investment in new sites or consider the disposal of sites in order to recycle equity into assets which present greater opportunity for the asset management skills of the Company's team.
Sirius also has a venture with clients represented by AXA IM Alts. Titanium was formed through the acquisition by AXA IM Alts, on behalf of its clients, from Sirius, of a 65% stake in five business parks across Germany. Sirius retained the remaining 35%. The venture seeks to grow primarily through the acquisition of larger stabilised business park assets and portfolios of assets with strong tenant profiles and occupancy. As well as its equity interest, Sirius acts as operator of the assets in the venture, on a fee basis. Sirius will continue to grow its wholly owned portfolio through acquisitions of more opportunistic assets, where it can capitalise on its asset management expertise to maximise utilisation of the space, grow occupancy and improve quality of the tenants. The strategies have been clearly defined so that the venture does not conflict with Sirius's existing business.
For more information, please visit: www.sirius-real-estate.com
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