Company name: The Berkeley Group Holdings plc
Company website: www.berkeleygroup.co.uk
Address: Berkeley House, 19 Portsmouth Road, Cobham, Surrey KT11 1JG
Contact details: Emma Lidefjard, telephone: 01932 868 555
Number of employees: Over 1,100
Company summary: The Berkeley Group builds homes and neighbourhoods. We operate across the south-east of England and are the biggest residential developer in London. Each of our five main businesses, St George, St James, St Edward, Berkeley and Berkeley First, have established strong brand identities synonymous with high quality and the idea of place-making. We work through autonomous, experienced management teams who have the vision and flair to create the kind of places where people love to live.
Company culture: Berkeley has created an environment where our people have the confidence and freedom to operate to the best of their ability. Since our inception in 1976, the core values that underpin the business have remained constant. These are a real passion for creating successful places; quick decisions based on deep experience and common sense; and financial strength. Every one of our sites is different but our principles and approach to development remains the same.
Social responsibility: Early in 2011, Berkeley launched a new foundation to spearhead our CSR programme. This supports disadvantaged young people and their communities across London and the south-east. We now have two major partnerships. The first is with the Lord's Taverners, developing a sport-based training for work programme called Street Elite. The second is with Shelter, supporting a complete range of housing advice services for young people. Our intention is to actively involve every employee across the group and develop a strategic approach to modelling new ways of changing young people's lives for the better.
Environment and sustainability: Berkeley's sustainability strategy is built around a set of 40 commitments and ambitions at the heart of our business plan, Vision 2020. We have a 'fabric-first' approach that focuses on enhancing environmental performance through the quality of a building, before installing new technology. We also focus on the concept of social sustainability, helping to provide the social infrastructure that makes a place sustainable. Berkeley is proud to have been ranked first for the fifth year running in the Next Generation benchmark, which ranks the top 25 UK home builders on sustainability.
Innovation: Innovation runs through our development cycle. It begins at the land acquisition stage, where Berkeley has worked closely with local authorities to regenerate government land and in joint-ventures with other land owners, through our breadth of product and innovation of design, to reacting to market conditions and the opportunities they present. In 2010 we launched the first Private Rental Fund together with the Homes and Communities Agency. We have delivered 300 rental properties within the first year, which will be increased to 896 when the initiative is complete.
Opportunities: Passionate individuals are the key to our success. The group is always keen to recruit experienced, talented people to help us continually improve. If you would like to apply, please send your CV and covering letter to emma.lidefjard@berkeleygroup.co.uk.
