Hammerson

Infobox_Company
company_name = Hammerson REIT
company_
company_type = Real estate investment trust
company_slogan =
foundation = 1942
location = London, England, UK
key_people = John F. Nelson (Chairman), R. John Richards (Chief Executive), Nicholas Hardie (UK Finance Director)
num_employees =
industry = Property
products = Investment, Property management
revenue = £311.5 million GBP (2007)
operating_income=£259.7 million GBP (2007)
net_income = £111.6 million GBP (2007)
homepage = [http://www.hammerson.com/ www.hammerson.com]

Hammerson REIT (lse|HMSO) is a major British property development and investment company. Formerly a plc, it switched to Real Estate Investment Trust status when REITs were introduced in the United Kingdom in January 2007. It is traded on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. The majority of Hammerson's portfolio is in the United Kingdom, but is also operates in continental Europe, including operations in France and Germany. It invests mainly in offices and retail premises. It is also listed on Euronext stock exchange in Paris.

History

The business was founded by Lewis Hammerson, who began to invest in property in 1942, converting houses into apartments. [http://www.hammerson.com/pages/30/History.stm Hammerson History] ] His company L.W. Hammerson & Co moved into the commercial property sector in 1948 and became a listed company in 1953. It first expanded outside the UK in the 1960s, when it moved into Australia, New Zealand and the United States. In the 1970s it ventured onto the continent and back in the UK it developed the Brent Cross Shopping Centre, which was the first major covered shopping centre in the country. [ [http://property.standardlifeinvestments.com/content/en/retail/brent_cross/brent_cross_index.html Standard Life Investments Property] ] In the 1990s the operations outside Europe were sold and further properties were acquired in Europe. 2003 saw the opening of the new Bull Ring shopping centre in Birmingham, which was one of the largest city centre retail developments ever built in the UK. [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5379/is_200201/ai_n21308698 Building the Bullring Birmingham] ]

Operations

Hammerson, Henderson Group and Land Securities together form the Birmingham Alliance who are responsible for the Bull Ring Shopping Centre development, Martineau Place and the up-coming Martineau Galleries development. Hammerson have been chosen to partner up again with Urban Splash to lead a £1 billion redevelopment of Swansea city centre. [ [http://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/dailynews/2008/01/urban_splash_and_hammerson__swansea.html Urban Splash and Hammerson to regenerate Swansea] ]

The company also operates a number of high quality office towers in the City of London, such as 99 Bishopsgate as well as the redevelopment of 125 Old Broad Street which was formerly the London Stock Exchange

Hammerson's current headquarters are 10 Grosvenor Street, London.

References

External links

* [http://www.hammerson.co.uk/ Official site]
* [http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=HMSO.L Yahoo profile]
* [http://www.birminghamalliance.co.uk Birmingham Alliance site]