real estate investment trust traded as lse blnd industry real estate founded 1856 ; 160 years ago 1856 headquarters london england key people sir john ritblat honorary president john gildersleeve chairman chris grigg chief executive lucinda bell finance director charles maudsley head of retail and leisure tim roberts head of offices and residential products london offices and retail revenue 464 million 2015 1 operating income 329 million 2015 1 net income 1 710 million 2015 1 total assets 20 66 billion 2016 2 website britishland.com 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 . 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 . contents 1 history 2 operations 3 main projects 4 references 5 external links history edit 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 . 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 operations edit the broadgate estate in london as of 31 march 2015 the company owned a portfolio valued at 12.6 billion . 1 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 . this includes the broadgate estate one of the largest developments in london over several decades 6 and regent s place near warren street station . 7 in 2004 it received planning permission for a richard rogers designed skyscraper at 122 leadenhall street the cheese grater in the city of london . construction of the tower which is the third tallest building in the united kingdom began in october 2007 and was completed in 2014 . 8 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 main projects edit 122 leadenhall street opened in july 2014 8 5 broadgate 10 4 kingdom street at paddington 11 norton folgate and blossom street 12 surrey quays 13 harmsworth quays 14 references edit a b c d annual report 2014 pdf . british land . retrieved 19 march 2016 . http www.forbes.com companies british land w. c. march the british land company ltd. centenary booklet 1956 british land launches pillar bid . bbc . 23 may 2005 . retrieved 24 march 2012 . gibson smith to helm british land . the telegraph . london . 14 july 2006 . retrieved 24 march 2012 . wearden graeme 18 september 2009 . british land to sell half of broadgate stake to blackstone . the guardian . london . retrieved 24 march 2012 . british land creating a masterplan for one of london s most deprived areas . the guardian . 26 may 2011 . retrieved 24 march 2012 . a b british land pre lets 10 floors of office space to aon in the cheese grater building . sos news . 16 may 2011 . retrieved 24 march 2012 . lawrence felicity 11 october 2011 . third of votes cast against british land pay report . london the guardian . retrieved 11 october 2011 . 5 broadgate under construction . retrieved 2 october 2014 . paddington s kingdom street scheme to be expanded . 14 may 2014 . retrieved 2 october 2014 . new london development blossom street e1 . retrieved 2 october 2014 . british land kicks off its 1bn spending spree with surrey quays stake . 4 april 2013 . retrieved 2 october 2014 . british land reaches key milestone in the redevelopment of harmsworth quays . 4 april 2013 . retrieved 2 october 2014 . external links edit companies portal official website yahoo profile company history from answers.com v t e real estate in the united kingdom real estate economy of the united kingdom companies developers and owners allied london argent group assura group balkan dream properties banks group brent walker british railways property board bruntwood capital & centric cls holdings coin street community builders daejan holdings downing developments goodman uk grainger grosvenor group lexi holdings the maghull group mepc minerva london & associated properties opal property group st. modwen properties sellar property group span developments st martins property group targetfollow the bedford estate the peel group trafalgar house west properties housebuilders barratt bellway berkeley bloor boot bovis countryside properties crest nicholson keepmoat lend lease mccarthy & stone miller muir persimmon redrow taylor wimpey united house property services adzuna alpha1estates atlantis bidwells bnp paribas real estate carter jonas cbre group chestertons ckd galbraith rh & rw clutton cluttons colliers international connells group countrywide cushman & wakefield cyril leonard drivers jonas dtz ec harris edinburgh solicitors property centre foxtons gerald eve gva hamptons international harrods estates isold estate agents jones lang lasalle king sturge knight frank lsl property services nathaniel lichfield and partners nestoria northwood osborne king primelocation regus rightmove savills smiths gore spicerhaart strutt & parker uk property shop whelan commercial winkworth zoopla real estate investment trusts big yellow group british land brixton derwent london great portland estates hammerson hansteen holdings intu properties land securities london & stamford property primary health properties segro shaftesbury plc workspace group industry bodies british institute of facilities management british property federation national association of estate agents law and regulation assured shorthold tenancy building regulations in the united kingdom land tenure in england the property ombudsman right to manage short assured tenancy scotland tenancy deposit scheme england and wales tenancy deposit schemes scotland other council for licensed conveyancers crown estate estate agent estates gazette land agent uk mortgage terminology property retailer property week public estate in the united kingdom category v t e ftse 100 companies of the united kingdom ftse 250 3i admiral group anglo american antofagasta ashtead group associated british foods astrazeneca aviva bae systems bhp billiton bp babcock international barclays barratt developments british american tobacco british land bt group bunzl burberry capita carnival centrica coca cola hbc compass group crh croda international dcc diageo direct line group dixons carphone easyjet experian fresnillo gkn glaxosmithkline glencore hammerson hargreaves lansdown hikma pharmaceuticals hsbc imperial brands informa intercontinental hotels group international airlines group intertek intu properties itv johnson matthey kingfisher land securities group legal & general lloyds banking group london stock exchange group marks & spencer mediclinic international merlin entertainments micro focus international mondi morrisons national grid next old mutual paddy power betfair pearson persimmon polymetal international provident prudential randgold resources royal bank of scotland reckitt benckiser relx group rio tinto group rolls royce royal dutch shell royal mail rsa insurance group sage group j sainsbury schroders severn trent shire sky smith & nephew smiths group sse standard chartered standard life st. james s place taylor wimpey tesco travis perkins tui unilever united utilities vodafone whitbread wolseley worldpay wpp retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title british land & oldid 730193699 categories property companies of the united kingdomreal estate investment trusts of the united kingdomcompanies based in londoncompanies listed on the london stock exchangecompanies established in 18561856 establishments in the united kingdomhidden categories use dmy dates from april 2011pages using infobox company with unsupported parameters navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages deutsch fran ais edit links this page was last modified on 17 july 2016 at 11 02 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view