Landsec

A London-headquartered property company, formerly Land Securities, that owns and shapes shopping centres, offices and flexible workspace in cities across the UK.

About Landsec

Landsec is one of the UK's biggest property companies. It owns, develops and looks after buildings and the spaces around them: shopping and leisure destinations, central London offices, and a flexible workspace brand called Myo. Its places include Bluewater in Kent, Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth, St David's in Cardiff, Liverpool ONE, The Piccadilly Lights at Piccadilly Circus, and the Victoria area of London. Wikipedia says the company holds more than 24 million square feet of commercial property.

The company traces its roots to 1944, when Harold Samuel bought Land Securities Investment Trust, and it focused on commercial property from 1947. It took the name Land Securities plc in 1982 and rebranded as Landsec in 2017. It became a real estate investment trust, or REIT, when the UK introduced them in 2007; a REIT is a listed company that owns property and passes most of its rental income on to shareholders. Wikipedia lists Mark Allan as chief executive. Landsec describes its role as to identify, shape, curate and sustain places that create value for all of its stakeholders, and it says it wants to create opportunity, improve quality of life and bring enjoyment to the people who live, work in or visit its places. It also says collaboration produces better results.

Landsec is headquartered in London but works across the UK. Its own pages name Bluewater (Kent), Gunwharf Quays (Portsmouth), St David's Dewi Sant (Cardiff), Liverpool ONE, Clarks Village, MediaCity in Salford, Depot Mayfield in Manchester, Cardinal Place in Victoria and West 12 in west London. It has also announced the purchase of the whole of Metrocentre in Gateshead, in north-east England. We did not find an employee headcount on the pages we read.

The company's Life at Landsec page describes its purpose as creating sustainable places, connecting communities and realising potential. It lists employee networks, including a Women's Network, a Pride Affinity Network and a Diaspora Network, and says staff get four paid volunteering days a year. It also mentions mentoring through a programme called Circl and youth partnerships such as 20/20 Change and the Construction Youth Trust. Staff profiled there work in retail, workplace, data and technology, compliance, corporate affairs and social sustainability. These are the company's own descriptions.

A property company needs far more than surveyors. The people profiled on its site work in retail leasing, running shopping centres day to day, customer experience, sustainability, data and technology, compliance and communications, so there are routes in for people who like maths, people, design, technology or the environment. The company's pages also describe an apprenticeship route called the Landsec Academy and an internship programme called Landsec Futures; the page is undated, so check the website for the current versions.

What they do

• {'desc': "Looking after centres such as Bluewater, Gunwharf Quays, St David's and Liverpool ONE.", 'title': 'Shopping and leisure destinations'}
• {'desc': 'Owning and developing workplaces and landmark sites in central London.', 'title': 'London offices and Piccadilly Lights'}
• {'desc': 'Open-plan, flexible office space in London that businesses can rent for short periods.', 'title': 'Myo flexible workspace'}

Key facts

• Origins in 1944; became Land Securities plc in 1982 and rebranded Landsec in 2017; a REIT since 2007
• Headquartered in London with places across the UK, from Kent and Portsmouth to Cardiff, Liverpool, Salford, Manchester and Gateshead
• More than 24 million square feet of commercial property (Wikipedia)
• Four paid volunteering days a year and employee networks, as described on its Life at Landsec page

Website: landsec.com