Enabling the communities that live close to our key industrial assets to thrive is a core part of our Purpose and strategy and something we are incredibly passionate about. We are committed to building and nurturing long-term relationships with local organisations that can enable us to have a positive impact in the areas where we have a major presence.

We believe that partnering with organisations that really understand the needs of residents enables us to have the biggest impact in tackling inequality and help improve the lives, and prospects, for our communities in the UK and across Continental Europe.

This approach enables our teams in our key markets to respond to the needs of the local community with a range of highly impactful community and environmental programmes by:

• Creating a strategic, coherent and outcome-driven approach across SEGRO;
• Empowering the local teams to respond to local needs;
• Maximising our impact by putting our customers and suppliers at the heart of the programme;
• Working in partnership with local stakeholders such as charity partners, local government, business groups and the community

We want to create local employment hubs. We have always facilitated routes to training, mentoring and support, and enabled local people to build and grow new businesses. We are now broadening the scope and scale of these programmes.

Widening access to quality jobs and reaching more parts of the community is a crucial goal in this, and we’re putting into place long-term local investment plans to make it happen.

Supporting local economies

Building close ties to the communities in which we operate creates powerful opportunities for collaboration and local innovation culture.

From small enterprises to industry leaders, we support and showcase our local heroes, enabling them to scale up, learn from one another and connect with local suppliers, partners, community leaders, schools, colleges and higher education establishments.

Enhancing the space around our buildings means enabling teams and communities to think—and act—outside the box. This ranges from volunteering days to biodiversity ventures and environmental projects to improve (for example) local air quality.

Putting in place infrastructure that facilitates lower carbon transport solutions is also critical, whether that’s through building cycling lanes or including charging points for electric vehicles as standard at our sites.

Case Study: UK Apprenticeships

In 2021 we participated in a UK government scheme to support the London Progression Collaboration’s ‘Reskilling the Recovery’ Campaign, pledging £50,000 to support apprenticeships.

Our funding enabled three young people to move into sustainable, meaningful jobs and with longer-term career progression. We also partner with Langley College in Slough to fund apprenticeships on the Slough Trading Estate. Our Centenary Fund is supporting a Finance (Level 3) apprenticeship at Leicestershire and Rutland Community Foundation.

Through these apprenticeships, talented young people are earning qualifications and finding employment, while small businesses are benefiting from the ability to take them on and build capacity with all of the training fees covered.