CR in property management
Teesside Shopping Park, Stockton-on-Tees
Teesside Shopping Park offers a range of retail stores, a cinema and restaurants on a 32,590 m² site. The management team has been involved in environmental and social initiatives for a number of years. Mike Clarke, Shopping Park Manager, has been a director of Groundwork South Tees since 2001.
As part of the Teesside Biodiversity Action Plan there are six floating islands which provide roosting and nesting areas for waterfowl. There are now also Kingfisher perches on the three ponds at the Park, which are used by Kingfishers to search for fish and aquatic insects, nesting in burrows on the river and pond sides. Other biodiversity activities include monitoring the river corridor, developing salt marsh habitats, a programme of reed bed cutting to encourage wildlife and the introduction of barley straw bales to the ponds to prevent harmful algae forming. Children from nearby Preston and High Clarence Primary Schools have also erected 30 bird and bat boxes that they built at school, through a joint project with Tees Valley Wildlife Trust. Each child or class has ownership of the box that they have constructed and can visit the park to watch for bird and bat life.
In an independent survey of occupiers at Teesside in 2005 all participating retailers said that the management understood their needs and that they were satisfied with the service. The team is continuing its efforts to maintain these high customer satisfaction levels.
The team has also been working with occupiers to identify opportunities to improve waste management, assisted by environmental consultants Arup. In 2006 16 occupiers filled in a questionnaire on their waste management arrangements and attended a meeting to discuss waste management. The team is now reviewing the feasibility of setting up centralised recycling schemes, creating an occupier waste forum and organising a single waste contractor to collect general waste from occupiers.
Wheelchairs are available for shoppers at Teesside. All retailers are aware of the service and contact the management team whenever a wheelchair is needed. A member of the team takes the wheelchair to the customer and if required accompanies the customer until their trip is complete. The team hopes to introduce ShopMobility onto the Park in 2007, offering motorised scooters as well as traditional wheelchairs.
In 2006 Teesside and British Land invested £20,000 in the development of a multi-use games area by Groundwork Trust. This games area in the Thorntree area of Middlesbrough provides local people with free access to two football pitches and a basketball court. The project also provides two local people with full-time, permanent jobs.
Jonathan Pounder, Tees Valley Wildlife Trust
“The ponds at Teesside Park provide a valuable habitat for many important species in the Tees Valley area. Away from the hustle and bustle both shoppers and staff can escape their hectic schedules and get close to animals, such as water vole, herons, waterfowl and numerous birds. British Land and Tees Valley Wildlife Trust volunteers have been working hard to make the most of this unique feature.”
Recent CR awards
- British Land Award for customer service (2006)
Links
- Teesside Biodiversity Action Plan PDF > (372KB)
- security permission required Retail warehouses major properties >