British Land appoints William Rucker as Chair Designate

11 March 2024

The Board of The British Land Company PLC ("British Land") is pleased to announce that following a comprehensive selection process, it has appointed William Rucker as Chair Designate. William will join the Board as Non-Executive Director, Chair of the Board and Chair of the Nomination Committee at the conclusion of the British Land AGM on 9^th July 2024. William will succeed incumbent Chair Tim Score on that date, when Tim will stand down after five years as Chair and ten years on the Board.

Since January 2023 William has been Chair of Intermediate Capital Group plc. Having been in place since October 2018, he will step down as Chair and a member of the Board of Marston's Plc prior to taking up his role at British Land.  He was most recently Chair of Lazard in the UK, an investment bank focused on asset management and financial advisory businesses, which he joined in 1987 from Arthur Andersen where he qualified as a Chartered Accountant. William has extensive experience in the real estate sector having previously been Chair of Crest Nicholson Holdings plc (2011-2018) and Quintain Estates and Development PLC (2009-2015), where British Land's CEO, Simon Carter, was Finance Director from 2015-2017. 

Tim Score said "I am very proud to have served as Chair of British Land and am pleased to hand over to someone of William's calibre and experience to steer the business through its next chapter. I am confident he will provide the Board with strong and effective leadership and will be a great support to Simon and the executive team".

William Rucker said "I have long admired British Land as a company with a terrific heritage and am delighted to be taking on the role of Chair. It is a fantastic business with a strong track record and a highly effective team at its helm. I look forward to working with the Board and the team as we take the business forward".

Simon Carter commented "I am hugely grateful to Tim for his advice and support during his tenure as Chair. British Land has benefitted greatly from his expertise and guidance over his ten years on the Board.

I am very much looking forward to working with William again.  He has extensive relevant experience, having chaired both public and private UK real estate businesses. His insights will be invaluable as we continue to execute our value add strategy and look to seize growth opportunities in the portfolio and those emerging in the market".  

William's other key appointments are listed below.  No other information is required to be disclosed pursuant to LR 9.6.13R of the Listing Rules.

Charities, public bodies and not-for-profit

Chairman of the UK Dementia Research Institute

Steward of the Jockey Club

Founder Director of Flint Housing, a registered for profit housing association

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Investors

Sandra Moura                                                                                     07989 755 535

Media Enquiries:

Charlotte Whitley, British Land                                                           07887 802 535

About British Land 

Our portfolio of high quality UK commercial property is focused on London Campuses and Retail & London Urban Logistics assets throughout the UK. We own or manage a portfolio valued at £12.7bn (British Land share: £8.7bn) as at 30 September 2023 making us one of Europe's largest listed real estate investment companies.

We create Places People Prefer, delivering the best, most sustainable places for our customers and communities. Our strategy is to leverage our best in class platform and proven expertise in development, repositioning and active management, investing behind two key themes: Campuses and Retail & London Urban Logistics.

Our three campuses at Broadgate, Paddington Central and Regent's Place are dynamic neighbourhoods, attracting growth customers and sectors, and offering some of the best connected, highest quality and most sustainable space in London. We are delivering our fourth Campus at Canada Water, where we have planning consent to deliver 5m sq. ft of residential, commercial, retail and community space over 53 acres. Our Campuses account for 62% of our portfolio.

Retail & London Urban Logistics accounts for 38% of the portfolio and is focused on retail parks which are aligned to the growth of convenience, online and last mile fulfilment. We are complementing this with urban logistics primarily in London, focused on development led opportunities.

Sustainability is embedded throughout our business. Our approach is focused on three key pillars where British Land can create the most benefit: Greener Spaces, making our whole portfolio net zero carbon by 2030, Thriving Places, partnering to grow social value and wellbeing in the communities where we operate and Responsible Choices, advocating responsible business practices across British Land and throughout our supply chain, and maintaining robust governance structures.

Further details can be found on the British Land website at www.britishland.com.