In our Geography lesson on Tuesday, we were lucky enough to have a talk from Grosvenor by Fergus Evans, Ellen Lockhart, and Edward Cadbury. Grosvenor is a privately-owned international property company. They have a track record of over 340 years, they develop, manage, and invest with a purpose of improving property and places to deliver lasting commercial and social benefit. They achieve their purpose by adopting a farsighted approach, being locally engaged, and sharing and benefitting from their international experience. They call this their Living Cities approach. The Grosvenor Holding Company aims to ensure that the strength of the Group is greater than the sum of its parts. It is responsible for supporting the Group Board in making strategic decisions (for example in relation to allocating the Group’s capital); for maintaining oversight of the Group’s activities and for governance; and for a range of value-adding activities which provide expert assistance, advice and support across the Group in a number of specialist areas including: communications and brand management, corporate finance, corporate reporting, human resources, legal, research, tax, technology and treasury.

What they do is very important because they don’t just focus on their business activities delivering social benefit, but also that they promote philanthropic initiatives, fundraising and volunteering efforts to support local charities, organisations and causes to bring about sustainable change. Their three main aims are improving property and places, respecting the environment, and efficiently using natural resources and making a positive impact on communities. They do this by reducing their carbon impact, waste generation and water consumption.

We all learned a variety of new things and fun facts. Did you know the reason that London streets are so narrow is, so the area is more pleasant to walk around in. When the street is wider, cars will go faster, meaning pedestrians are less likely to enjoy themselves. We also learnt about how much time and planning goes into these projects and how they can sometimes take up to 10 years to be finished.

Here is the link to the Cundy Street redevelopment, which is one of their recent ideas: Cundy Street Corner

Jemima H – Lower Sixth