Innovation

We’re on a mission to create a positive future for our business and the communities we work with.

Innovation is core to our ability to deliver exceptional places, with investment in technology bringing financial, operational and environmental efficiencies to our business. 

This curiosity and willingness to innovate has seen us drive many benefits for our business, customers and communities as well as change in the wider industry.

Our innovation activity addresses strategic business priorities and centres on two inter-connected work streams:

  • Future+, our employee-led innovation programme, empowers employees to experiment with solutions to strategic priorities.
  • Our Venture Investment programme, builds on the success of Future+ by deploying capital into innovations that help us drive positive commercial, social and environmental outcomes. 


Driving a culture of thinking differently


By empowering our people to innovate, learn and fail we're creating a culture of curiosity across our business.

Successful trials of products and services are embedded into our processes - and in some instances may highlight a potential opportunity for investment. 

Hear about some of the ideas our people have brought to life below.


Consigli - Jamie Hart, Project Manager

An AI-powered engineering tool, optimising our development activity

Laiout - Alex Clarke, Senior Development Manager

Automated floor plan generation tool, enabling more efficient initial design phases.

Orbital Witness - Rennae Du, Innovation Coordinator

Orbital Witness is an AI-powered platform that's streamlining our legal document review processes.

Realyse - Oliver Ayling, Debt Portfolio Director

Realyse is a residential data platform, giving us the tools to make better informed, strategic decisions for our places and investments.

Sociability - Elizabeth Randall, Head of Public Spaces

Sociability's app helps people find accessible toilets and step-free venues, rolled-out in 150+ venues across our London portfolio.


Venture Investment

Pursuing investment opportunities that benefit our portfolio and accelerate progress towards our ambitious sustainability and commercial goals.

Since 2022, we've been investing in high potential businesses scaling innovative products and solutions that help us deliver against our goals, and can support the future of a successful, sustainable and digitised real estate industry.


Venture Investment portfolio

We invest in early-stage companies that support the delivery of our ambitious commerical and sustainability goals which have the opportunity to scale across the industry. 

As an investor in, and client to, high potential young businesses we can accelerate the commercial development of solutions critical to decarbonising the built environment’s impact whilst improving the range and quality of services we offer to our customers.

We primarily invest in businesses that are already (or soon to be) operational in the UK and raising capital at Late Seed to Series A stages.

Venture Capital funds provide us both with opportunities to diversify our income and enhance our innovation and direct investment activity.

By maximising market coverage, we secure exposure to a greater range of solutions and companies that can help us meet our goals.

At present, we partner with two funds, noa and Taronga Ventures.


Our investments

Commonplace

A citizen engagement platform that uses rich data gathering to inspire thriving places and facilitate planning success.

Demand Logic

A software platform enabling building owners and occupies to enhance sustainable building management.

noa

Europe’s largest venture capital firm focused on the built world, aiming to transform the industry into a more digital, efficient, and accessible asset class.

Pupil

A spatial data company that has created an ecosystem to digitally map the built world.

QFlow

A construction waste and materials tracking platform, enabling better waste management across development projects.

Targona Ventures

A leading real estate innovation and technology investment platform in Asia.


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