Land Securities Marketing Analysis

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The market is even more dangerous than some companies are specialized in certain areas while others are diversified. Consequently, the offer is wide.

Among the companies the most important in the market it is possible to find Land Securities at the 9th place of the ranking. In its sector (diversified), its main competitors are Bristish Land (2nd) and Highcroft Investments (8th).

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Source : UK-REIT survey 2012

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But if we have a look to the diagram below, it is possible to see that its mains competitors are British Land and Hammerson, each having different competitve advantage that we will study.

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- British Land’s competitive advantage :

« Creating environments is what British Land does best and where we have real competitive adavantage » according to John Gildersleeve

Their business model is named « Places People Prefer ». That business model focus on the customer orientation, the right places, the capital efficiency and the expert people.

In short, British Land is present in all the market (offices, retail, residential and leisure) and use its fame, quality, strong network, experience to build places corresponding to consumer needs.

- Hammerson’s competitive advatage :

Hammerson is a leading owner-manager and developer of retail property across Europe, so they can cover a larger area for more profits and fame.

Their business model turn around 6 axes : strong network, create reasons for consumers to visit, improve and renew centres, develop iconic destinations in the right places, and provide to customer a digital engagement.

After studying the different aspects of the market, see how Land Securities interacts in the latter.

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Land Securities Groupe PLC

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Presentation of the company

Land Securities Group PLC was created in 1944 in London (UK), place where it’s working and developing their business. Since 2007, it became a Real Estate Investement Trust (REIT) and a member of te FTSE 100. Thus, it is now the largest commercial property company in the UK.

Its mission is to own, develop and manage commercial properties (offices, shopping centers and retail parks) in the UK. So the aim is to offer to the customers the construction, renovation and management (maintenance, development) of buildings. Moreover, they have a quality customer service because they understand the changing needs of retailers and customers.

Land Securities Group wants also get involved in urbanc ommunity development with its program to change the regional urban centers and the iconics sites in London.

This company provides now high profitability and revenue, and own in 2015 2 important proprety portfolio :

- The London Portofolie worth 7,7 billion pounds (more than 7 million sq ft)

- The Retail Portfolio worth 6,2 billion pounds (more than 20 million sq ft)

Moreover, its sales densities grow year-on-year as we can see with the graphic below.

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Thus, Land Securities Group have the chance to play on a growing market with many opportunities. However, the company is located in a highly competitive and uncertain market where everything depends on the economy. Consequently, the only points that could slow the growth of Land Securities Group would be its limited geographic presence, the important fluctuation in asset values and the competitive market.

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Strategy of the company

To stay among the best companies of the market, Land Securities has a special strategy, that they’re developping in two different sectors : Central and outside London They want to manage their business and investment according to the market’s cycles, anticipate every changes to minimise the risks and provide a trustworthy and good return to all the stakehoders.

To do so, Land Securities Group binds different objectives. They want consumers trust them to make them want to invest in their business, they also want to own and develop high quality asstets and invest in their buldings to generate income and attract demand from customers. The idea is to invest in the best opportunities in terms of locations in London and returns on investments.

This strategy is implemented through monitoring of their business model that can be seen as a competitive advantage.

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Business model as a competitive adavantage : Buy, Develop, Manage, Sell

Land Securities use the shareholder and debt capital to invest money in their business, through the market’s cycle. With this money, they can buy, develop, sell and manage their properties but also manage and anticipate the risk with the help of advisers, suppliers and contractors who are there to advise them in the in the best possible way.

More precisely, they manage assts through the market’cyle, ensuring all the gestion of the buildings (voids, lease), they sell assets when it the best time and to be sure to create value, they buy assets when values are falling or low, they develop early in the cycle so they can have contruction discount. At the same time, they monitor changing conditions and aim to stop their speculative development programme before an over-supply in the market.

All this in order to provide a reliable return through the market cycle and create value to stakeholders.

It is possible to see this business model as a competitive advantage because it is hard to imitate, original, adaptable to various situations. Land Securities Groupe has been able to

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