Strategy & Profile

The Group’s principal strategic objective is to deliver growth in shareholder value, year on year, through responsible development. We believe that creating sustainable communities adds real value and opens up new business opportunities. The Group is committed to implementing the principles of sustainable development throughout its business.

With sustainability being a core principle of the planning system, we believe that good corporate citizenship benefits all our stakeholders and further enhances new business prospects. It also helps to ensure that our business complies with relevant legislation and forthcoming policies.

'Future Proofed'

We continue to ‘future proof’ our business to ensure that our approach reflects new and emerging policies, legislation and reporting standards, and meets the increasing aspirations of our stakeholders and customers. For some years we have been involved in the drafting of policy through a number of steering groups and committees. This experience has proven to be invaluable in helping the Group to review its ESE objectives to ensure they are aligned with our business strategy and the Government’s development policies.

Business Strategy

Our business strategy seeks to maintain the Group’s reputation for producing high quality products that will augment our status with our stakeholders. We are also ensuring that our approach is increasingly adding value as we continue to refine our business model. We encourage teamwork throughout the Group and an enjoyable approach to work, whilst retaining our culture for being straightforward and trustworthy with our partners and for honouring our commitments. I’m pleased therefore that the results of our recent staff survey showed improvements in many areas with 86% of staff agreeing that Countryside is a good company to be with for the future.

Profile

The Group can deliver every aspect of development, including private and affordable housing, commercial property, and recreational and community facilities, through mixed-use and mixed-tenure schemes. This enables us to deliver all the ingredients required for successful urban regeneration and the creation of sustainable communities.

Countryside Properties has a £6.5billion development programme and has a strong track record of delivery in the Government’s key growth areas. Our principal areas of operation are in London and the Thames Gateway, the South East, East and North West of England.

The majority of the development land in our control is located in the Government’s key growth areas of the Thames Gateway, M11 Corridor and the Northern Way. With the Group’s reputation and wide range of activities and skills, we are well placed to take advantage of the many opportunities that lie ahead.

As a privately owned company, Countryside Properties focuses on medium and long-term value creation. A substantial funding package has been provided by Bank of Scotland which includes the provision of significant working capital facilities to finance future projects.

Working in Partnership

Many of the Group’s projects are successfully developed in partnership with other organisations including local authorities, housing associations and local communities. Indeed, collaboration is often the most successful way of developing complex sites which benefit from the combined skills, experience and shared resources of the partners.

Recognising our commitment to responsible development we were selected this year for a number of important urban regeneration schemes:

• Family Mosaic’s development partners for the large-scale regeneration of the Heathside and Leathbridge estates in Lewisham.
• Affinity Sutton’s preferred development partner for the regeneration of the Ramsden Estate in Orpington.

Organic Growth

In recent years there has been significant rationalisation in the development industry with many companies growing via acquisition. We continue to grow our business organically and in our second full year as a privately owned business we have achieved record turnover, operating profits and housing completions. As a private company we will continue adding value as we believe there are many benefits and opportunities of being a responsible developer.

Graham Cherry
Chief Executive
31st January 2008

St Mary’s Island, Chatham Maritime, Kent