In 2006, 43% of British Land Head Office employees and 21% of managers were female. We maintain a policy of employing the best candidate available for each position, regardless of gender, ethnic group, age, disability, sexual orientation or background.
Following stakeholder feedback in 2006 the Human Resources team at Meadowhall Shopping Centre in Sheffield has been trying to recruit more people from the local community*. Each week the team distributed up to 2,000 job sheets in the Centre and to local community groups. These groups included Tinsley Forum, Sheffield Futures, Tinsley Job Net and Sheff.gov.uk. The team also continued to advertise positions in local job centres, on the Meadowhall website and at job fairs in the Centre.
In spite of these efforts and a slight increase in applications from local people the number of new starters from the local community decreased slightly in 2006. The team at The Source at Meadowhall will continue to provide training to local people in 2007 to help ensure that they have the necessary skills to find employment in the Centre.
An Equality and Diversity Advisory Group was set up at Meadowhall in 2005, meeting on a quarterly basis. The Group’s aim is to raise retailer and employee awareness of equality and diversity. In 2006 they worked with the Learning and Skills Council, the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service, South Yorkshire Employer Coalition and Business in the Community.
In 2006 the Work Based Learning team at The Source at Meadowhall worked with Burngreave Community, a primarily ethnic community. The team’s aim is to widen participation on the training programmes, increasing numbers on the equality and diversity impact measures.
*Local refers to people living within three miles of the Centre.