THREADNEEDLE LOW-CARBON WORKPLACE TRUST LEASES GROVE HOUSE IN HAMMERSMITH TO WINTON CAPITAL MANAGEMENT
LONDON 25 JUNE 2012, The Threadneedle Low-Carbon Workplace Trust (LCW) has successfully completed an agreement with alternative investment manager Winton Capital Management (Winton) for the lease of Grove House in Hammersmith.
Grove House will be let on a new lease to Winton upon completion of its refurbishment to provide high quality office accommodation with a focus on reducing carbon, both embedded and in-use.
Grove House’s high energy efficiency specification will enable Winton to apply for the Carbon Trust’s Low Carbon Workplace Standard, which recognises the occupier’s class-leading low carbon footprint. The completed refurbished accommodation is expected to achieve in the region of a 50% reduction in carbon emissions when in use at high occupancy levels.
Winton is the third organisation in the UK to sign the Low Carbon Workplace Charter with Low Carbon Workplace Ltd, a Carbon Trust subsidiary and key advisor to LCW. The Charter is an ongoing commitment undertaken by the tenant, closely supported by Low Carbon Workplace Ltd, to minimise carbon emissions while occupying the premises.
The Threadneedle Low-Carbon Workplace Trust is a partnership between leading property investment manager Threadneedle, The Carbon Trust and developer Stanhope plc.
Hanover Green and Jones Lang LaSalle acted for landlord Threadneedle while JSS Egerton represented Winton.
Robin Eggar Head of Communications & Public Affairs, for Winton said: “This agreement ensures that our business in London will now be consolidated into a single headquarters building with sufficient expansion space for our future needs while reducing our carbon footprint”.
Don Jordison, Managing Director of Threadneedle Property Investments said: “When we launched LCW we anticipated strong demand for these types of buildings and our agreement with Winton is testament to this. Corporates are increasingly facing up to their environmental responsibilities and through LCW they can achieve their targets of minimising carbon emissions while occupying high quality office accommodation”.
Tom Delay, Chief Executive of the Carbon Trust, said: “We set out to demonstrate that low carbon properties make sound commercial sense; that they are not only attractive to high quality occupiers but also secure long-term income for investors. This agreement with Winton does just that. The UK is at a turning point as business moves from debating whether there is opportunity in green products and services to an all-out race for competitive advantage. The Low Carbon Workplace concept is at the centre of this green growth.”
David Camp, CEO of Stanhope, said: “The partnership has gained excellent momentum since its launch in 2010. The lease with Winton, confirms our belief that this approach to retro-fitting dated office stock in the right location and the relationship with the occupier is the right one, and I am sure that it won’t be too long before the market sees it as the new norm.”
The approach to delivering low in-use carbon emissions at Grove House is based upon four key areas: 1) improving the fabric of the building, 2) deploying high efficiency technologies to heat, cool and ventilate the space, 3) reducing operational energy consumption through sophisticated energy monitoring and 4) a high level of occupier engagement.
Many of the principles adopted at Grove House have been applied to all the LCW projects, although the technical solutions to the building fabric and for providing environmental control are tailored to the particular building to take account of its condition and form and the local environment.
Launched in 2010, LCW was formed to provide an investment vehicle offering exposure to a low carbon workplace UK commercial real estate portfolio. LCW’s investment strategy is unique within the UK commercial real estate investment sector, being focused on satisfying the growing demand for low carbon workplaces and providing the solution to the single specific low-carbon issue readily identified by occupiers.
ENDS
For further information please contact:
Ella Tekdag, Threadneedle – 020 7464 5082
Mar Marcus Rand, Carbon Trust – 020 7544 3100
Rob Watts, Stanhope plc – 020 71701700
Robin Eggar, Winton – 020 7610 5350
NOTES TO EDITORS:
The Four Properties in the Low Carbon Workplace Trust:
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1-4 The Billings, Walnut Three Close, Guildford, GU1 4UL
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Premier House, Twickenham
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Mansel Court, Wimbledon Hill Road, Wimbledon London, SW19 4AA
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Grove House, 27 Hammersmith Grove, London, W6 0NE
The roles of the partners:
Threadneedle is the fund manager for the Threadneedle LCW Trust. Threadneedle has one of the largest and most experienced property teams operating in the UK today with 26 investment professionals.
Threadneedle has been investing in commercial property since 1994 and currently manages approximately £6bn in property assets (as at 31 Mar 2012). Our property team has an average of 17 years’ market experience and have been with Threadneedle for more than nine years on average. This stability has been a key factor in the team’s success. The team was awarded:
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Property Asset Manager of the Year at the 2012 PROPS Awards
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Property Asset Manager of the Year at the 2011 Financial News Awards
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Property Fund Manager of the Year at the 2011 Property Week Awards for the second time in three years and the fifth time in 16 years.
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Fund Manager of the Year at the 2009 Property Week Awards – the fourth time they have won this high profile award
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Europroperty’s Fund Manager of the Year 2009.
Stanhope Plc is a specialist UK real estate developer of major commercial and mixed-use projects. With 25 years experience, and more than £10 billion of completed projects behind it, Stanhope has built an unrivalled specialist in-house team which has earned a reputation for quality and integrity that is second to none.
Stanhope will devise and deliver all the refurbishment work for LCW. With a strong focus on research and innovation, Stanhope has been at the forefront of sustainable innovation in the built environment for over a decade. Stanhope’s experience in the field and established supply chain, along with a commitment to working with the occupier throughout the design process, will reduce both financial and material waste.
Stanhope’s completed projects include Broadgate, the Royal Opera House, Tate Modern, HM Treasury and Paternoster Square and totals more than 30 office buildings delivered for owner occupiers or pre-lets. The team is currently working on a pipeline of 10million sq ft across 17 projects with partners including the Crown Estate, Legal & General, BSkyB and Schroders.
The Carbon Trust is a not-for-profit company with the mission to accelerate the move to a low carbon economy, providing specialist support to business and the public sector to help cut carbon emissions, save energy and commercialise low carbon technologies.
Low Carbon Workplace Limited is the exclusive Carbon Advisor to the Low Carbon Workplace Fund and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Carbon Trust. It contributes low carbon design advice for refurbishments, coordinates the Low Carbon Workplace Standard and provides ongoing low-carbon assistance to occupiers under the Low Carbon Workplace Charter.
About Winton
Winton Capital Management is one of the largest, most successful alternative investment managers in the world and a leader in financial mathematics and empirical scientific research into financial markets. Winton was founded by David Harding in 1997 with an absolute commitment to employing advanced mathematical, statistical and computational techniques to develop profitable trading strategies for global markets, a belief which still remains at its very core. Its unique company culture has fostered a first-class environment where innovative ideas can flourish and robust research is highly rewarded. The company now employs over 260 people, including 110 scientific researchers with PhDs and Masters Degrees, at specialist campuses in Oxford, London and Hong Kong and currently manages assets of $29 bn.
About Threadneedle
Threadneedle is a leading international investment manager with a strong track record of outperformance across asset classes. We actively manage £77.0bn (as at 31 March 2012) of assets, investing on behalf of individuals, pension funds, insurers and corporations. We are the 4th largest UK retail fund manager1 and the 7th largest UK fund manager¹ by AUM. In Europe we rank in the top 30². Established in 1994 in London, Threadneedle has a presence in 16 countries across Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and North America.
Threadneedle's distinctive investment approach is based on creative thinking, sharing of ideas and rigorous debate. Our 130 investment professionals invest across developed and emerging market equities, fixed income, commodities and UK property. As at 31 March 2012, 72% of Threadneedle funds outperformed over 1 year, 72% over 3 years and 83% over 5 years3. So far in 2012, Threadneedle has won over 90 prestigious fund management industry awards globally4.
Threadneedle is owned by Ameriprise Financial (NYSE: AMP), a leading US diversified financial services company with over US$675bn in owned, managed and administered assets. As its international investment platform, Threadneedle provides Ameriprise and its retail and institutional clients with world class investment solutions.
1 UK IMA ranking, Feb 2012, see www.investmentfunds.org.uk
2 Europe ranking, Morningstar Feb 2012
3 All funds managed by Threadneedle, including segregated accounts/portfolios. The data does not include funds sub-advised by third parties or guest funds on a Threadneedle platform. All figures are as at 31 March 2012, in GBP unless stated otherwise. Total value of funds outperforming their relevant benchmark expressed as a percentage of total assets under management. This information aims to demonstrate the overall performance capabilities of Threadneedle’s asset management team. It is not intended to indicate the performance of individual funds or products. Please refer to product specific documentation in relation to individual funds. The value of investments and any income is not guaranteed and can go down as well as up.
4 For details see: www.threadneedle.com/awards