Corporate Profile

St George and Sustainability

At St George, the term sustainability describes how we manage our environmental, social and economic responsibilities. Sustainability is about enhancing the communities where we work, stitching back together the urban fabric, creating new areas for people to live, work and play, ensuring affordable accommodation, as well as providing developments which are designed to minimise their impact on the environment.

St George is leading the way in sustainable development. We were the first property developer to have been granted The Queen's Award for Enterprise: Sustainable Development, in 2002. We have played a major part in regenerating large expanses of brownfield land in London and have steadily contributed to the revival of the landscape, creating thriving new communities in attractive landscaped environments.

Protecting and enhancing the environment

Responding to climate change

We recognise that climate change is one of the biggest challenges that we all face. Our key objective is to reduce the carbon footprint of the developments we build and of our own operations. We are constantly looking at the feasibility of including renewable energy on our developments. St George Wharf, Vauxhall will feature one of the tallest environmentally-friendly residential towers in the country. This 50 storey Tower will utilise the thermal storage capacity of the River Thames aquifer and the energy generated by a wind turbine to provide heat and light to the common areas, resulting in energy savings of approximately 60% and reducing carbon emissions.

We also provide sustainable transport options on our developments to help our residents reduce car use and emissions associated with climate change. Many of our developments make significant improvements to the local transport infrastructure, including improving public transport provision and creating cycle routes, cycle storage facilities and better pedestrian access. For example, at Imperial Wharf, Fulham, we have incorporated a number of major transport initiatives, including a proposed new railway station, enhanced bus routes, cycle facilities and a new access route to the river boat service. At St George Wharf, Vauxhall, we have implemented an innovative electric car club, alongside a green transport plan which encourages residents to use the excellent local public transport facilities. We are also developing extranet sites for Beaufort Park and Imperial Wharf which have links to sustainable transport organisations, including Sustrans.

Creating new wildlife habitats

On all our sites, we aim to enhance the natural environment and ecology for the benefit of the environment, residents and local communities. One of our – and London's – most successful environmental projects is on the banks of the River Thames at Battersea Reach. Wandsworth. Here, a team of ecologists and marine engineers have created a tidal and meadow planting scheme which will sustain native creatures, from toads to butterflies and rare birds, transforming barren mudbanks into havens for plants and wildlife. The rare Black Redstart has returned to the banks of the River Thames and St George is creating suitable habitats to encourage it to thrive. Both Charter Quay in Kingston and Brentford Lock, Brentford, incorporate new wetland featuring an impressive variety of waterside flora attracting a range of wildlife. At Imperial Wharf we are creating a new privately funded public park along the banks of the River Thames, the first in London for over 50 years and a new landscaped parkland at Beaufort Park, Hendon. Kew Riverside Park features a wildlife reserve for the rare two lipped snail. The project was awarded a prestigious Gold Green Apple award by the Green Organisation for Environmental Best Practice in the Building & Construction projects class. The Green Organisation is an independent, non-political, non-activist, non-profit environment group dedicated to recognising, rewarding and promoting environmental best practice around the world.

Using resources efficiently:

100% of our developments are on brownfield land and our focus on previously used sites reflects our commitment to make the best use of such a precious resource.

One of the aims of our Sustainability strategy is to make efficient use of natural resources. For example, at Beaufort Park, we've contoured the site in such a way as to minimise the need to export soil away from the site, saving 20,000 lorry movements. We also seek to reduce construction waste and increase recycling on all our sites. At Battersea Reach, which is an exemplar waste management project, we have increased recycling to 87% and have worked with the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to produce a case study for use by the industry. We also encourage residents and commercial occupiers to recycle their waste through the provision of recycling facilities.

Making a long term contribution to communities

Building strong communities

A sustainable development is ultimately judged on whether it meets the needs, and improves the lives, of the people it affects, while ensuring environmental stewardship, economic benefits and social progress are embodied. In all our developments we create the environment for a vibrant and balanced community. Our approach to sustainability and, in particular our commitment to stakeholder dialogue in the planning process, helps us to create developments that meet the real needs of local communities. For example, at Charter Quay, Kingston we worked closely with local conservation groups, the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, the Environment Agency and English Heritage to create a high quality design that included extensive reference to the town's history. As a result, we were awarded the CABE gold Buildings for Life award.

In the interests of social cohesion, our sites incorporate a range of housing. As well as providing different housing types, we also create a variety of tenure opportunities to meet the diverse needs of local communities. At Imperial Wharf we pioneered 50% affordable housing, having worked closely with the public sector to create a housing strategy to meet the needs of the local community. At Beaufort Park we were one of the first developers to pilot the Government's First-Time Buyers' Initiative (FTBI), in association with English Partnerships, the national regeneration agency. The FTBI enables aspiring first time buyers who cannot otherwise afford to buy a home outright to purchase, through an affordable mortgage, and with Government assistance, a new home. This is one of a number of innovative opportunities for low cost home ownership at Beaufort Park. Over 42% of the homes there are affordable housing and we have sold over 150 affordable homes.

Enhancing local facilities

Our developments make a significant contribution to enhancing local facilities through the creation of homes and commercial space, enhanced transport facilities, and new public realm. At St George Wharf we have built a major new medical centre, which will be beneficial to both residents and the local community. Imperial Wharf is fully accessible and family friendly with Gambardo's Children's leisure facilities and Bright Horizon's crèche now open. Regular events, including Jazz festivals, are held which bring the new and existing communities together. At Charter Quay we provided new arts facilities through the creation of a 1,110 seat theatre. At 4 Little Green, we preserved the façade of the former United Reformed Church built in the 1880s to maintain the prominent landmark for the Richmond Green. We also built a new church and church hall behind the development providing new facilities for members of the United Reformed Church and the wider community. The church facility provided a much needed boost to the congregation of the United Reformed Church and has been commended by The Richmond Society.

Boosting jobs and the local economy

St George is committed to providing local jobs for local people by creating business opportunities and increasing employment. Many of our developments are mixed-use schemes featuring a range of commercial uses including offices, retail space, restaurants, bars, crèche/day nursery and leisure facilities which will create significant employment opportunities.

St George believe that we can help to fill the skills gap in construction to the benefit of the local communities in which our schemes are located by providing employment and training opportunities to the local community. We also work with local employers to provide opportunities for members of the local communities to consider working within the development following construction as many of our developments create retail and office related employment opportunities. St George strives to break down barriers to the industry, focussing on getting women and ethnic minorities into the industry.

Both Batterrsea Reach and Imperial Wharf for example, will create around 1000 new jobs once completed on each site. Opportunities for local people to gain employment have been maximised through the creation of an opportunities portfolio which identifies the types of jobs that will be available and provides training through local agencies. At St George Wharf our Work Place Co-ordinator works with under-represented local people helping them to access training and employment opportunities created by the development. To date over 200 people have been helped including homeless people. In 2006/7 75 people have started employment or training on a St George site as a result of our initiatives - this includes work experience, assistance with NVQs and short courses. 49 people have received revision assistance prior to taking their CSCS Health and Safety Test. 16% of people starting on the project are women, compared to 10% of the construction workforce in the UK. Further details on our employment and training activity can be found in our leaflet 'Making the Difference'.

Creating places to live and play

We aim to create places where people can live safely and healthily – not least, by providing open spaces, improving the quality and provision of public realm, permeability and building foot and cycle paths. St George has carried out substantial upgrading of the riverside walkway at St George Wharf, Imperial Wharf and Batterrsea Reach allowing greater access for residents, local community and visitors. For example, at Imperial Wharf in 2004 we opened a new archway allowing public access through to the rest of the Thames Path National Trail and the river boat service at Chelsea Harbour. At Batterrsea Reach, 60% of the site will become landscaped public space fronting the River Thames. We consult Police Architectural Liaison Officers on our planning applications to create safe and secure environments for residents and visitors alike. We have worked with the Joint Mobility Unit and the Centre for Accessible Design to ensure that development designs promote accessibility. Increasingly, we're designing to the principles of Lifetime Homes – design standards that make a home more accessible and adaptable and allow it to be used throughout an occupant's life. Many of our developments also include health and fitness facilities such as gyms, to encourage healthy lifestyles now and in the years to come. Often our developments contain initiatives unique to the local area. For instance at Imperial Wharf, the farmers market brought the best of the country to the heart of Imperial Wharf, attracting over 700 per event. Furthermore, in 2003, The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, opened the new pedestrian tunnel at St George Wharf under Vauxhall Bridge. Constructed by St George, the tunnel connects the Lambeth River Walk to the Albert embankment for public use.

Corporate Responsibility

We go to great lengths to understand the needs and concerns of our stakeholders, including local communities, and incorporate these into the finished product. We develop stakeholder engagement strategies for our projects at the earliest opportunity in order to identify and enter into a genuine dialogue with those who can affect or may be affected by our developments. We believe it's especially important to involve local communities and frequently go beyond local authority requirements in the extent to which we seek their views. For example, our proposed scheme at Kew Bridge Road has been the subject of an extensive community consultation programme – to date ten community events have been held, including a community planning weekend where stakeholders have been encouraged to participate in shaping the emerging design.

As many of our projects are major undertakings, our employees become involved at grassroots level in numerous community initiatives. The strong commitment St George has to local communities is driven from the top, and many Directors volunteer their time as Governors of local schools and on community projects. Examples of such support include the programme with Brentford FC Community Sports Trust to help young people into a range of community sports initiatives. In 2007, the strategic alliance between Brentford FC and St George won the 'Best Club Sponsorship' at the prestigious Football League Awards. We have recently announced a 4 year sponsorship deal to help ensure a sustainable future for the club and Trust. In addition, we continue to provide volunteering support as well as connecting the club with other businesses. As part of this work a new Boating club is being created in Brentford to focus on helping local children and adults experience the river safely.

We also seek to develop links with the industry; two of our projects are demonstration projects under the Government's "Constructing Excellence" programme. At our St George Wharf site, we initiated, with the Building Research Establishment, an innovative research programme for concrete frame construction techniques. A steering group was set up to oversee the project and to ensure that the findings were disseminated widely throughout the industry.

St George PLC continues to raise funds for the Muscular Dystrophy campaign at the annual Estates Gazette Challenge 10K run and to date has raised over £200,000 for the charity.

Safe and healthy workforce

We provide excellent working conditions for all our staff. We have an equal opportunities policy which covers all of the business, and all our offices are fully accessible. We produce a regular staff newsletter, providing an update on our business and the projects.

Health and safety

Central to ensuring safety in the workplace is the effective management of occupational health and safety (OH&S). In 2007, we were the proud winner of the coveted 'Housebuilding and Property Development Sector Award' at the RoSPA Occupational Health & Safety Award. All our sites implement full health and safety management systems. St George aims to achieve a Zero Accident Policy in a safe working environment. Progress to date is impressive:

In April 2007 St George PLC secured two million RIDDOR reportable Injury/Accident Free working hours
The Imperial Wharf development has exceeded one million RIDDOR reportable Injury/Accident Free Working Hours and over half a million RIDDOR reportable Injury/Accident Free Working Hours at our St George Wharf site.
As part of our overall health & safety programme we undertake regular external health & safety training and numerous other initiatives.
All sites are registered with the Considerate Constructors Scheme – in 2006 we achieved a Gold award for St George Wharf, and in 2007 we also received Silver Awards for Imperial Wharf.
We support safety-related schemes, such as 'Goggles for Guide Dogs', that promote a health & safety culture and make a valuable contribution to the community.
St George is a strong supporter of the CITB Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) initiative and is working towards a 100% carded workforce.

Green office management

St George undertakes a number of initiatives within its offices to ensure that opportunities to reduce the environmental impact of our activities are reduced. Examples of such initiatives include:

Reducing the energy use of our operations by undertaking an Envirowise audit of our Head Office, as well as undertaking specific measures such as fitting light sensitive PIR activated sensors in kitchens.
Providing fair-trade tea and coffee at head office.
Recycling printer cartridges and paper.
Use of recycled paper in offices and published materials
Enabling our staff to reduce their transport impacts by providing bike racks and showers.

To find out more detail about our sustainability strategy please click here.