Meadowhall Shopping Centre
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Property overview
Located in Sheffield, Meadowhall is one of only six super-regional shopping centres in the UK and has been in British Land's portfolio since 1999. In February 2009, we formed a new 50:50 joint venture partnership for Meadowhall with London and Stamford Property Limited and its joint venture partner. The Centre is home to 250 shops and attracts over 25 million visitors a year. It brings up to 7,000 jobs to the area at peak times and provides popular shopping facilities. The Centre is managed by an on-site team, with the support of managing agents, the Smith Young Partnership.
- Our use of resources
An estimated 90% of water used for cleaning, flushing toilets and watering plants at Meadowhall now comes from borehole and rainwater harvesting schemes. This follows the drilling of a 170 ft borehole which was linked up to the 90,000 litre rainwater harvesting scheme. Since August 2008, the borehole has been used to replenish the rainwater harvesting tanks when there is a dry spell, ensuring continuity of supply. The whole borehole project took nine months and needed permission from the Environment Agency. This will cut Meadowhall's annual water bill of £100,000 by an estimated 75%, reducing service charges for retailers in the future.
Meadowhall won the ACT TravelWise Award for Commuter Friendly Workplace of the Year 2008. Paul Clark MP, Under Secretary of State for Transport, named Meadowhall as his leading example of how business can successfully embrace the green travel agenda, at the Smarter Choices conference in March 2009.
- Our customers and us
18 Meadowhall retailers provided guaranteed interviews to 185 unemployed people on the Skills for Jobs Programme at The Source. 23 retailers also provided work placements to students on the Work-Based Learning Programme, as well as many loaning or donating goods for learners to practice window dressing. Centre retailers play a vital role in enabling the team at The Source to help local people to develop the necessary retail and customer skills to gain employment. 10% of Meadowhall retailers also used The Source to help with their own training needs.
Following feedback from retailers that making it easier for their employees to travel to work would improve recruitment and retention, the Meadowhall team has increased efforts to share travel information and improve accessibility.
The core bus service to Meadowhall has experienced a 36% increase in usage over the past year, thanks to a number of initiatives to encourage people to leave their cars at home and use public transport. The Meadowhall team has negotiated a 10% discount on regional travel for the 7,000 people who work in the Centre. This year, up to 160 retail employees regularly used the on-site travel shop, saving £6,000 on over 3,000 weekly and monthly tickets. The team also completed 800 employee travel surveys for 25 retailers, helping them to ensure that late-trading rotas took into account employees' journeys home. More than 600 retail employees also received a free 'try before you buy' travel ticket and over 500 benefited from personal journey planners.
We are working to make everybody change their travel behaviour by 10%. During the school holidays there is an 11% reduction in car use and we all know how clear the roads can be then. If we achieve our target then every day will feel like the school holidays!
Usage of the 44 cycle stands at Meadowhall has increased by 50% over the past year. 37 retail employees joined a new Bike User Group, providing feedback that led to the Meadowhall team making improvements to lockers and signage. The team also provided retail employees with access to two 'try before you buy' bicycles to encourage people to start cycling and gave bicycle users handy cycle repair kits. Leading by example, members of the security team now patrol external areas by bicycle, speeding up rounds by 20% compared to using a fuel-powered vehicle, as well as cutting carbon emissions. A children's play area, made from recycled materials, was installed next to the cycle route and a series of initiatives are planned over the summer to make this a more lively area to encourage people to get on their bikes. Following the success of last summer's cycling training day for the families of Meadowhall employees, another event is planned next year for retailers' families.
Each year, Meadowhall hosts a lively programme of events to attract shoppers to the Centre and provide a positive shopping environment. In March 2009, shoppers enjoyed a performance by Northern Ballet Theatre students. The dancers also encouraged shoppers to join in with a series of fun exercises suitable for all ages and abilities. In November 2008, TV presenter and radio star, Vernon Kay, switched on the Christmas lights and Barnsley X Factor contestant, Alan Turner, sang festive songs. Other Christmas entertainment included Sheffield University Singers Society, Bradfield School Choir, Rainbow Connection Singers and Whiston Brass Band, as well as stilt walkers and acrobats from Sheffield Theatre.
I used to come and watch the Meadowhall lights being turned on every year and there would always be someone on stage. I can't believe this year it was me! I don't normally sing Christmas songs but I made sure I learned a few to get everyone in the mood.
- Our communities and us
Meadowhall worked closely with retailers and community groups to support local initiatives. Projects receiving support included the Darnall Forum, Sheffield Mencap, Sheffield Autistic Society, Whirlow Hall Farm Trust and FareShare, which delivers waste food from supermarkets to local needy causes. Meadowhall also sponsored the local Sunday Football League for the 13th year and Sheffield Star's Superkids Awards for the fifth year. Requests for charitable donations are reviewed on a quarterly basis by Meadowhall's Corporate Responsibility Committee.
18 Meadowhall employees volunteered in two Business in the Community's Cares projects. One team created an outside play area at Wath Primary School and another team renovated office space for Sheaf Domestic Abuse Project. Members of the team were also actively involved with the local Chambers of Commerce, the Darnall Forum, the East End Strategy Group and Handsworth Community Forum.
Meadowhall continued to provide use of space on the malls to a number of charities, enabling them to raise both funds and awareness. These included Cancer Research, Sue Ryder Care, the National Blood Service, Fostering Fortnight, Sheffield PCT Breast Feeding Awareness and Transplant Support Network. The Centre was also the starting point for the Five Weirs Walk and the 2008 Bupa Great Yorkshire Run.
In May 2008, the Centre hosted a Green is Gorgeous event, with over 600 people committing to be kinder to the environment. They pledged to save over 550 tonnes of carbon emissions by switching to green power, lowering their thermostats and using public transport more. This is equivalent to over 50,000 return train journeys from London to Paris. They also committed to saving 140 trees each year by recycling paper regularly, and enough energy to power a computer for over 5,000 hours by recycling glass regularly.
We thank our shoppers for the pledges that they have made to help the environment. By installing water saving devices they will cut water use by over 550,000 litres, enough to run over 23,000 dishwasher cycles. By installing energy efficient light bulbs they will reduce energy use by nearly 36,000 kWh, enough to run nearly 200 fridges for a year. Thank you!
In October, Meadowhall launched one of the UK's first Talent Walls for young people. Over 70 local people completed a Talent Brick featuring their photo, talent and aspirations. These were displayed on the video screen in the Oasis food court during half-term, with prizes presented to the creators of the best Talent Bricks at the end of the week. This partnership project involved Bebo, the British Council of Shopping Centres, Business in the Community, the Edge and the Talent and Enterprise Taskforce.
The Source at Meadowhall provided training to more than 1,500 local people.
- Us and our suppliers
Meadowhall Centre Ltd directly employed 335 people, with 292 full-time equivalents. The team actively encourages people from the local community to seek employment in the Centre, with 71% of employees living within a five mile radius. 43% of the management team is female. 7% of employees have a declared disability.
Our employees benefited from 1,494 hours of training, equivalent to five hours for each full time employee. The topics covered included security, IT, health and safety, first aid, emergency planning, human resources and cleaning. In March 2009, 50% of employees attended our Annual General Meeting, receiving updates on our performance and our plans for the future. We have rebranded our internal communications based on the theme of 'one team' and now hold cross-departmental staff briefings. The Family Circle Group continues to represent staff views and we continue to carry out Performance Development Reviews on an annual basis. Staff feedback informs the development of our business strategy.
We promote health and well-being, offering subsidised gym membership at The Source and access to a corporate healthcare plan. We also provide subsidised crèche facilities at The Source and have an in-house childcare voucher scheme. Next year, we will be simplifying procedures for booking annual leave and creating more flexibility by combining annual leave and bank holiday entitlements. There will be a review of benefits on offer to all staff to consider ways to make benefits more flexible. The return to work interview scheme for employees absent for any length of time will be re-introduced and developed further to enable line managers to adopt a more hands-on approach.
British Land 2009. All Rights Reserved.
For our full Corporate Responsibility Report: britishland.com/crReport/2009