Land Securities
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| Real estate investment trust | |
| Traded as | : |
| Industry | Property |
| Founded | 1944 |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
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Key people
|
Alison Carnwath, Chairman Robert Noel, CE |
| Products | Property Development, Property Investment |
| Revenue | £744.4 million (2016) |
| £285.7 million (2016) | |
| £1,338.0 million (2016) | |
| Website | landsecurities.com |
Land Securities Group plc is the largest commercial property development and investment company in the UK. The firm switched to Real Estate Investment Trust status when REITs were introduced in the United Kingdom in January 2007. It is headquartered in London and traded on the , and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
The Group traces its origins to 1944, when its founder Harold Samuel purchased Land Securities Investment Trust Limited, which owned three houses in Kensington and some government stock. Further acquisitions followed shortly afterwards and from 1947 the company concentrated on commercial property. In the early days some non-UK investments were acquired, but in 1971 these were sold off and the company has concentrated solely on the UK market since then. The company name was changed to Land Securities plc in 1982. After buying Trillium in 2000, it formed a 50/50 JV company Telereal in 2002 with William Pears Group (WPG) to buy the property portfolio of British Telecom: after selling its shares in Telereal to WPG in 2007, Land Securities sold Trillium to WPG in 2009.
On 31 March 2012, Francis Salway was succeeded as chief executive by Robert Noel. Noel was managing director of the company's London properties, having joined Land Securities in January 2010 from Great Portland Estates plc, where he had been property director since 2002.
Land Securities owns and manages more than 26,000,000 sq ft (2,400,000 m2) of commercial property, from London offices and high street shops to major shopping centres and out-of-town retail parks. At 31 March 2016 the company's property portfolio was valued at £14.3 billion.
The Company owns the The Piccadilly Lights in Piccadilly Circus in London.
In July 2012, the Company was looking for a volume housebuilder for its development opportunity of 'Eastern Quarry' to be built opposite the Bluewater in Swanscombe, Kent. It will eventually consist of 6,250 homes, three primary schools, a secondary school, a health and social care centre, more than 20 acres of new parks, lakes and woodland areas. Phase one, will deliver 1,500 homes. The company has already invested more than £100m in the site, but the plans were put on hold in August 2012 when complications arose over the cost of transport infrastructure. Agreement was subsequently reached with Kent County Council, Dartford Borough Council and Gravesham Borough Council, who agreed a reduced cost with the Department for Transport and the Highways Agency. The first homes are set to be completed by December 2013.
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