As the first phase of our Canada Water development nears completion, the results of our local employment and skills partnership show that investing in social impact is not only the right thing to do, but is also supporting our customers in winning the war for talent.
From the start, our ambition at Canada Water has been to connect thousands of local people with the new opportunities being created, as we deliver a new piece of central London. Working in partnership with Southwark Council, we set ambitious employment targets (with penalties for non-compliance) to ensure that local people feel the benefits of our investment, really listening to local priorities.
Inspired by Broadgate Connect, we joined forces with charity ELBA to launch Canada Water Connect, linking businesses with great local talent and connecting Southwark residents to jobs they love. As a result, we’ve achieved our first local employment target six months ahead of schedule. This is phenomenal and reflects how cross-sector partnerships can deliver for London.
We have created home grown talent, with over 130 formerly unemployed Southwark residents now moved into jobs with our suppliers and customers, and more than 100 local people having completed professional training courses, supported by our community partners and charities. These numbers are constantly growing as Canada Water evolves.
CREATING VALUE – FOR US AND OUR CUSTOMERS
We see this as a virtuous cycle – when we invest in local employment and skills, this then attracts like-minded businesses to take space, reaping the benefits of our early seed funding and going on to do even more and better.
The option for customers to tap into an established programme that gives unique access to a diverse local talent pipeline, rather than having to create their own, is compelling. For businesses with a vision of what their real estate means for their people and the impact they want to make on the community in which they operate, it’s a real point of difference. This has the power to feed into leasing activity, which is our commercial DNA.
We also see the value of initiatives like Canada Water Connect in growing the diverse bank of real estate professionals essential for our future. We believe that attracting and developing diverse talent makes our business better and more profitable, more reflective of our customers and communities.
Finally, there’s a direct financial benefit for us and our JV partner AustralianSuper. Meeting our local employment target has already saved us £1.3m in penalties – far more than the cost of running the programme.
LOOKING FORWARD
We want Canada Water to be a place for all. The whole point of regeneration is to create new sustainable places in partnership, ensuring that local priorities guide the positive outcomes of your investment.
As different businesses move to Canada Water, we’ll continue connecting them to local talent. We’ve already started discussions with incoming brands around their recruitment needs, offering to tailor programmes for different sectors and looking at progression from entry level roles to advanced skills.
We extend our heartfelt thanks to all our partners who are having a positive, long-lasting social impact and contributing to a thriving new piece of central London. The challenge now is to keep the success rate up – or ideally beat it!