Talk:British Land

Contradiction
Was British Land founded in 1856 or 1859? Oops, forgot to sign Greenshed 19:14, 16 September 2006 (UTC)

1856 - ive sorted it Bensonby 17:06, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Still a plc
Why does the entry say that British Land was formerly a plc? It is still a plc but it has become recognised as a REIT by HMRC for tax purposes.

ADRs in New York
British Land has a Level 1 American Depositary Receipt ('ADR') programme. The ADRs trade under the symbol 'BTLCY' in the U.S. over-the-counter market. Did ADR holders automatically become entitled to the same benefits of transformation to REIT status? I had a few....but dunno if I benefited from the conversion Kingkong77 (talk) 09:46, 24 September 2008 (UTC)

Why is the bonuses section included?
Why is the bonuses section included? It is not timely (three years in the past) nor does it offer any value. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.244.193.62 (talk) 02:48, 29 June 2012 (UTC)

--Arkykra (talk) 10:41, 30 September 2014 (UTC) I agree. There isn't much in this article to begin with, but to talk about bonuses seems really out of place. It doesn't add whatsoever to my understanding of the business (most FTSE businesses will have similar if not higher figures). It comes across as if someone with an axe to grind has edited this page. I'd vote for it to be removed.

--Arkykra (talk) 13:47, 2 October 2014 (UTC)I've deleted it now

Article Improvements
In the interest of transparency I am declaring that British Land is my client. I hope to work with other editors to ensure that this Wikipedia article is accurate. Please contact me on my Talk Page if you have any questions.

A few details included in the article information box need to be updated. I've included a list of these below with relevant references for verification

Information Box
Key People: The current Chairman of British Land Plc is John Gildersleeve. John has been the chairman was appointed Chairman of the Company on 1 January 2013.

Revenue: Please note that, given that it is a property company, net asset value per share is more relevant than revenue for British Land. 688p (2014) http://www.britishland.com/~/media/Files/B/British-Land/downloads/2014/annual-report-2014.pdf

Operating income: Change to £297m (2014) http://www.britishland.com/~/media/Files/B/British-Land/downloads/2014/annual-report-2014.pdf

Net income: Change to £1,106m (2014) http://www.britishland.com/~/media/Files/B/British-Land/downloads/2014/annual-report-2014.pdf

--Arkykra (talk) 13:47, 2 October 2014 (UTC)Key information updated

The corporate logo has now been updated, please can I request that the information box be updated with the new logo which can be found here http://www.britishland.com/media/corporate-identity.aspx  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Emmamay2808 (talk • contribs) 15:42, 30 April 2015 (UTC)

Bonuses
The information in this section would benefit from being updated with 2014 figures. Please note that Andrew Jones, referenced in the current Wikipedia page, no longer works at British Land. A link to the remuneration report is below (p82):

http://www.britishland.com/~/media/Files/B/British-Land/downloads/2014/annual-report-2014.pdf

Emmamay2808 (talk) 06:29, 18 August 2014 (UTC)

--Arkykra (talk) 13:47, 2 October 2014 (UTC)I've removed this section as I don't believe it provides any useful information (as per my argument above)

Information Box
The logo in this section would benefit from being updated with the latest logo. Please find the image in the link below:

http://www.britishland.com/

Ek0041 (talk) 11:08, 1 December 2015 (UTC)

Suggested updates for British Land article
Hi, I’m Eloise and I work in the communications team at British Land. I noticed you recently made edits to the British Land Wikipedia article, and wanted to flag that there are several areas that are out of date or no longer factually correct. It would be great if you could take a look at the updates I've drafted and tell me what you think. My go at the draft is below:

British Land PLC Wikipedia page

The British Land Company plc is one of the largest property development and investment companies in the United Kingdom. The firm became a real estate investment trust when REITs were introduced in the UK in January 2007. It is headquartered in London, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index and a founding member of the European Public Real Estate Association.

History
The British Land Company was founded in 1856 as an offshoot of the National Freehold Land Society (later Abbey National) formed in 1849 with the two chief architects of the freehold land movement Richard Cobden and John Bright. Both were ardent supporters of a movement to extend enfranchisement. To qualify for a parliamentary vote it was then necessary to be a landowner and the main object of the National Freehold was to facilitate the acquisition of small plots of land by the people. To do this the British Land Co. would purchase land and then resell it on the best terms to any customer who wanted to buy it. With extension of the franchise this reason ceased to govern the operation of the company, and it began to operate as a normal business in the latter part of the nineteenth century.[2] In 2004 it received planning permission for a Richard Rogers designed skyscraper at 122 Leadenhall Street, known informally as "The Cheese Grater" in the City of London. Construction of the tower, which is the 6th tallest building in the United Kingdom, began in October 2007 and was completed in 2014.[3] In May 2005 British Land announced that it had agreed to purchase Pillar Property Plc for £811 million in cash to boost its position in the out-of-town retail property sector.[4] In 2006 Sir John Ritblat, who had chaired the company since 1970, stood down and was replaced by Chris Gibson-Smith.[5] Over the past decade, the majority of British Land’s developments have been focused in London. In 2009, British Land formed a joint venture with the Blackstone Group for Broadgate, a 32-acre site in the heart of the City of London. In 2015 British Land and GIC submitted plans for the refurbishment and extension of 100 Liverpool Street, to create a new building totalling 524,000 sq ft of office and retail space. In 2017, the refurbishment of 1 Finsbury Avenue and 135 Bishopsgate, both at Broadgate, began and was completed in 2020. 1 Triton Square at Regent’s Place underwent a 370,000 sq ft refurbishment, which delivered British Land’s first BREEAM Outstanding building. Work started on site in March 2018 and was completed in December 2020. In 2019, British Land submitted a proposal to transform Exchange Square near Liverpool Street Station into a 1.5-acre landscaped park. In December 2020, British Land completed the drawdown of the 500-year headlease with Southwark Council on its Canada Water site in Southwark, London following confirmation in May that planning had been secured. In November 2020, Chris Grigg, who had been CEO for 12 years, was succeeded by Simon Carter, former CFO. At the same time, British Land wrote down the value of its portfolio by almost £1bn after retail income fell due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.[6]

Operations
As of June 2020 the company owned a portfolio valued at £11.2 billion. The portfolio includes the Broadgate Estate, one of the largest developments in London over several decades,[7] and Regent's Place near Warren Street Station.[8] In addition, the portfolio includes the Meadowhall shopping centre in Sheffield, which is one of the largest in the UK, and a large amount of property which has been purchased from and leased back to major retailers such as Tesco, Sainsbury's, House of Fraser and Asda. In October 2011, the company placed in the number one position, with 135 subsidiaries, on a list of FTSE 100 companies that use tax havens for their operations, as revealed in a database of their subsidiaries compiled for the first time by the development charity ActionAid.[9] In June 2020, British Land announced plans to achieve a net zero carbon portfolio by 2030.

Main Projects
•	Broadgate. •	Meadowhall. •	Regent’s Place. •	1 Triton Street. •	Ealing Broadway. •	Paddington Central. •	Drake Circus. •	Broadgate Tower. •	201 Bishops Gate. •	York House. •	For Kinnaird, Edinburgh. •	10 Exchange Square. •	100 Liverpool Street. •	1 Finsbury Avenue.

Look forward to hearing from you. Thank you, Eloise Eh272021 (talk) 14:38, 18 February 2021 (UTC)
 * Hi - For many years I used to help conflicted editors, providing the material they wrote was well presented and factual. Since October 2020, I have decided not to respond to edit requests as the whole area is toxic. I see there are currently some 200 requests waiting to be reviewed, so it appears that other experienced editors may have opted out of providing help as well. I suggest that you use the request edit template. Best wishes. Dormskirk (talk) 10:35, 27 December 2020 (UTC)

Company
A/ Why is the title British Land ? This seems enormously ambiguous and misleading: with all their wealth of properties they only hold a tiny proportion of British land.

I would suggest British Land Company or some such.

To be exact, from their website linked here they now go by the cutesy name, Places People Prefer British Land, which is sufficiently cringe-making.

"Places People Prefer British Land is a leading UK property company, with a portfolio of high quality commercial property focused on London Campuses and Retail & Fulfilment assets."

Which brings me to

B/ Their raison d'etre ? They now seem to just concentrate on building hideous modernist structures for commercial use:  when exactly, and how, did they resolve from the original charitable [ sort-of ] and eleemosynary purpose to being just another property developer and investment vehicle ? It's like the NSPCC ending up as an expensive children's clothing company.

The article merely says:

"With the extension of the franchise, this reason ceased to govern the operation of the company, and it began to operate as a normal business in the latter part of the nineteenth century"

Were they taken over by sharks at that time ? And from then to now how did the evolution unfold throughout the next century of property development, particularly in that strange period of 1945 - 1975 when the sharks were rampant pulling old London down ? Claverhouse (talk) 08:58, 27 June 2021 (UTC)