Workspace Group plc is a

real estate investment trust A real estate investment trust (REIT, pronounced "reet") is a company that owns, and in most cases operates, income-producing real estate. REITs own many types of real estate, including office and apartment buildings, studios, warehouses, hos ...

based in London, England. Founded in 1987 by the

privatisation Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

property Property is a system of rights that gives people legal control of valuable things, and also refers to the valuable things themselves. Depending on the nature of the property, an owner of property may have the right to consume, alter, share, re ...

assets of the former

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

, the company

lets A local exchange trading system (also local employment and trading system or local energy transfer system; abbreviated LETS) is a locally initiated, democratically organised, not-for-profit community enterprise that provides a community infor ...

office, industrial and

workshop Beginning with the Industrial Revolution era, a workshop may be a room, rooms or building which provides both the area and tools (or machinery) that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods. Workshops were the only ...

space to

small and medium-sized enterprises Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by many national agencies and international organiza ...

. It is listed on the

London Stock Exchange The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange based in London, England. the total market value of all companies trading on the LSE stood at US$3.42 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St Paul's Cath ...

and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

History

The company was founded under the name London Industrial in 1987 as a vehicle for the disposal of the

commercial property Commercial property, also called commercial real estate, investment property or income property, is real estate (buildings or land) intended to generate a Profit (economics), profit, either from capital gains or Renting, rental income. Commercial ...

assets of the defunct

. Financed by a group of twelve investors, the company acquired 18 properties from the London Residuary Body, which was charged with disposing the GLC's assets. The firm listed on the

in 1993 with a market cap of around £813 million, and subsequently expanded geographically with the purchase of

industrial estate An industrial park, also known as industrial estate or trading estate, is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more heavyweight version of a business park or office par ...

s in the West Midlands. The company changed its name to Workspace Group PLC in 1997. The £80 million purchase of 23 London properties from Tonex in 1999 increased the Workspace portfolio by 40%, while the Midlands investments were sold off two years later as the group chose to concentrate on the capital region. Along with eight other major British property companies, Workspace converted to

status upon their introduction to the UK in January 2007.

Portfolio

The portfolio, which comprises a (largely freehold) mix of

office buildings An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform administrative work in order to support and realize the various goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific dut ...

, industrial estates,

serviced office A serviced office is an office or office building that is fully equipped and managed by a facility management company, also known as an office provider, which then rents individual offices or floors to other companies. Serviced offices, also referr ...

s and

warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the rural–urban fringe, out ...

s primarily for let to

, was valued at £2.4 billion as at 31 March 2024.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Companies based in the London Borough of Lambeth Financial services companies established in 1987 Real estate companies established in 1987 Real estate investment trusts of the United Kingdom Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange Companies in the FTSE 250 Index