Social value

We take an asset-centric approach to our social value activity, supporting communities local to our assets and offices. Thriving local communities and strong local stakeholder relationships are essential for the long-term strength of our business. 

We work closely with schools, charities and community groups local to our destinations and offices to understand and respond to genuine local need. As part of our commitment to supporting our communities, we offer colleagues four paid volunteering days per year, encouraging teams to volunteer their time and skills. 

We focus on how we can use the professional skills of our colleagues to support young people and develop skills for employment, alongside contributing to local nature initiatives and listening to diverse community groups to ensure everyone feels welcome and valued at our destinations.

Hammerson and partner colleagues work hard to support social value initiatives around our offices and destinations. Recent highlights include:

• Celebrating our annual Giving Back Day, when Hammerson colleagues headed out to volunteer at local schools, charities and community groups. Teams participate in a broad range of activities including beach and river cleans, delivering careers workshops for children, preparing social meals for older people, painting murals and delivering CV review sessions etc.
• Hosting a two-day creative takeover of the car park at Westquay; featuring commissioned works from Southampton artists, DJ sets, skateboarding and dance performances, welcoming the community into a space which feels truly their own.
• Collaborating with Verte to host a pop-up clothes swapping boutique at Brent Cross. For four days, customers were invited to bring in adults’ and children’s clothing items in good condition to swap for treasures that were new to them. The event offered customers a more sustainable way to revitalise their wardrobes, and a tailor offered a free repairs service to extend the life of clothes that may otherwise end up in landfill.
• Continuing to support our enterprise challenge at schools across the UK and Ireland, working with hundreds of students to develop their professional skills and public speaking.