Which external stakeholders help shape your approach?

We engage with a large number of external stakeholders, the most important groups being investors, occupiers, local communities and suppliers. I would highlight investors as a group where we have really made progress in the past 12 months, as we have focused on improving our disclosure.

Our sustainability performance has improved consistently over the past three years and I am delighted that these efforts have been recognised by investors and industry specialists: Hammerson became a sustainability leader in 2009, ranking first among the real estate major European companies in both the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP7) and APG/PGGM/USS investor surveys.

Increasingly, we are also turning our attention to our supply chain as we recognise that our suppliers have the potential to affect significantly our sustainability performance. From 2010 we will be asking suppliers to complete sustainability questionnaires and setting a minimum standard for a supplier to work with us. Ensuring suppliers comply with this standard, and helping them to do so, will be an important focus over the next three years.

What are you doing to engage with staff, and what role do Hammerson employees play in your overall CR strategy?

For the second year running, we ran an all-staff survey, this year selecting the Great Place to Work survey. We were pleased with the response rate which, at 79%, provided a comprehensive picture of staff attitudes across the business. The survey painted a largely positive picture, although we have identified areas for improvement. For example we are introducing a revised Performance and Development Review process; improving internal communication and introducing some business improvements, which will benefit employees. I think it’s vital staff understand how their work fits into the wider aims of the organisation and how they’re performing as well as how they can develop and how the Company can support them. I’m also committed to continually engaging with staff as a way to identify future business improvements.

2009 saw a reduced emphasis on property development for Hammerson: How did this affect the Company’s sustainability performance?

I think it’s important to put development in context: Even two years ago, when we had five major schemes under construction, development only constituted around 15% of our total portfolio. Efficiency in the investment portfolio has therefore been the focus for a number of years, even if our most newsworthy achievements came from new developments. One effect of the slowdown in development activity in 2009 was, however, that some of our targets relating to development were not met or became non-applicable. A return to a more benign economic climate means we can plan more effectively. We have reviewed our approach to setting targets for 2010 and I am confident that the targets we have set ourselves are fully aligned to the business strategy for the forthcoming three-year period.

What sustainability challenges does Hammerson face in the coming years and how do you plan to deal with these?

The sheer volume of environmental legislation that will come into effect in the UK and France over the next ten years poses significant challenges for any large business, particularly in the real estate sector. We began making changes to the way we approach design and construction several years ago, and are ahead of the industry: of the five major developments we have completed in the UK in the last two years, three received BREEAM Very Good ratings and two, BREEAM Excellent ratings. Our most recent design for an extension to our Italie 2 shopping centre in Paris received an Haute Qualité Environnementale rating, one of the first to do so in France. But we still have a long way to go and will need to work hard to ensure we remain at the forefront of best practice. The other challenge in the medium-term is building on the good progress we have made to date. Much of our activity has been focused on changing shop fittings from high-energy to low-energy alternatives, resulting in large reductions in energy consumption. In order to continue to improve our energy efficiency we need to influence the behaviour of our customers, our suppliers and our employees. In 2008 we began engaging with our customers through our Green Leases, and now have nearly 700 of these leases across the portfolio. In 2009 we began a programme of environmental training for all our operational staff. I am keen to continue this work and will continue to emphasise the importance of sustainability to our business through our internal and external communications programme.

David Atkins Chief Executive March 2010