British Land Appoints New Hea

RNS Number : 0600I

British Land Co PLC

04 March 2010

 



4 March 2010

British Land Appoints Head of Retail

British Land today announces a change to the responsibilities within its senior management team.

Charles Maudsley, currently Executive Director for Business Expansion will assume responsibility for the Group's £5.3 billion Retail business in the UK and Europe. He retains his business expansion role.  In addition, Ben Grose, who has been with British Land since 2005, has been appointed Head of Retail Asset Management, reporting to Charles.

Other executive responsibilities are unchanged. Tim Roberts continues to be responsible for managing British Land's £2.5 billion office portfolio as well as for office investment and development. Steve Smith, in his role as Chief Investment Officer, is principally responsible for maximising the Group's capital returns and chairs the Investment Committee.

Commenting on the appointment, Chris Grigg, Chief Executive, said; "I am delighted that Charles Maudsley is taking Board level responsibility for our largest single business. He is ideally suited to the challenge of taking our Retail business to the next level. His property experience and expertise will both complement and help further develop the deep pool of retail talent which we have here at British Land.

"Our senior management team is now directly aligned with our primary objective of driving outperformance in our Retail and Office portfolios. British Land is also well positioned to make opportunistic investments where we see exceptional value."

Enquiries:

Media

Pip Wood, British Land                                                           020 7467 2838

Ed Simpkins, Finsbury Group                                                 020 7251 3801

Gordon Simpson, Finsbury Group

Investors

Sally Jones, British Land                                                        020 7467 2942

Notes to Editors

About British Land 

British Land is one of the UK's largest Real Estate Investment Trusts with total assets, owned or under management, valued at £12.7 billion (British Land share £7.9 billion) as at 31 December 2009.  The hallmark of the business is a focus on customers, based on a portfolio in prime locations in the UK and more recently in Western Europe. Active management of these assets, purchases and sales and new development activity, tailor the property holdings to meet the needs of occupiers.  Retail assets account for 67% of the portfolio, 83% of which is located at prime out of town sites. Central London Offices comprise 31% of the portfolio.

British Land Executive Management

·    Chris Grigg (Chief Executive) joined British Land in January 2009. He was Chief Executive at Barclays Commercial Bank until November 2008, having joined the bank in 2005 as Group Treasurer. Prior to Barclays, Chris held a broad range of leadership positions at Goldman Sachs where his career spanned 20 years. He was a Partner of the firm working principally in its capital markets and derivatives business.

·    Graham Roberts (Finance Director) joined British Land in January 2002 as an executive director and was appointed Finance Director in March 2002. Prior to joining British Land in 2002, he spent eight years at Andersen, latterly as a partner specialising in real estate. He is a non-executive director of Balfour Beatty plc and is a member of the Management Board of EPRA, the European Public Real Estate Association.

·    Tim Roberts (Executive Director, Offices) joined British Land in 1997, was appointed to the Executive Committee in August 2005 and elected as an executive director in July 2006. He was appointed Joint Head of Asset Management in 2002 with responsibilities including investment sales and purchases. He has responsibility for the Office and 'Other' sectors of the Company's portfolio. Before joining British Land he was a partner at Drivers Jonas, an Investment Agency.

·    Steve Smith (Chief Investment Officer) joined British Land and the Board in January 2010 as Chief Investment Officer. He was formerly Global Head of Asset Management and Transactions at AXA Real Estate Investment Managers, with responsibilities for the asset management of a portfolio of more than €40 billion on behalf of Life Funds, listed property vehicles, unit linked and close end funds. Prior to joining AXA in 1999, he was Managing Director at Sun Life Properties for five years.

·    Charles Maudsley (Executive Director, Retail and Business Expansion)joined British Land and the Board in February 2010. He is responsible for the Group's retail businesses in the UK and Europe, for opportunistic investments in the UK & Europe and for expanding our JV platform with International investors. He joined from LaSalle Investment Management where he was Co-Head of Europe, Managing Director of the UK business, a member of the Management Board and an International Director. Prior to LaSalle he was with AXA Real Estate Investment Management for seven years as UK Head of Real Estate Fund Management.

 

END

 

 

MSCEANDDEEEEEFF