The Howard de Walden Estate
About Us
The Howard de Walden Estate is the freehold owner of approximately 850 buildings in a 95-acre area of Marylebone, one of London’s largest and most prestigious estates in central London. It continues to be beneficially owned by members of the Howard de Walden family, with the estate being under the family’s ownership since 1879.
Howard de Walden aligns shareholder prosperity with the wellbeing of the community, the environment, and its other key stakeholders.
Despite being located right in the heart of London, just minutes from the hustle and bustle of Oxford Street, it sits within an oasis of relative tranquillity, while still offering the dynamism of a modern urban village. The estate is highly diversified spanning five sectors: healthcare, offices, residential, retail and education.
We employ approximately 130 people in our head office on Queen Anne Street.
Our Purpose: To create the setting for Marylebone to flourish.
Our Mission: To enhance the community through our responsible stewardship, excellent service and unique offering. When you are here, we want you to feel part of something exceptional.
Our Strategic Aim: To be the preferred property partner in central London, delivering excellent service and value in well-designed spaces.
“We create the setting for Marylebone to flourish. We strive to enhance the community through our responsible stewardship, excellent service and unique offering, so that Marylebone remains a coveted place for generations to come. Whether you are here to live, work, study or visit, we want you to feel part of something exceptional.” Mark Kildea, CEO.
Working at HdWE
– We take a long-term approach in everything we do.
– We are respectful to each other, the community and our valued stakeholders.
– We support and empower each other and continue to learn while connecting people and place.
– We make decisions for the future that proves we are fair, dynamic and take pride in everything we do.
Our values are central to how we behave and interact with each other, our customers and stakeholders. As such, 50% of our performance reviews are linked to values and we operate an employee recognition scheme focussed entirely on our values.
At HdWE we have a passion to succeed and deliver excellence. We provide the opportunity to learn new skills and develop as professionals within an inclusive and supportive business environment. We promote a culture of openness and transparency ensuring the team are regularly updated with company results, future plans and projects and are enabled to ask questions in a safe and respectful space. And we regularly survey our team to get their thoughts on working for HdWE.
But it’s not all work! We like to have some fun too. Our open-plan office supports a collaborative and friendly work environment. Throughout the year, a range of sports and social activities and events take place.
Employees have the opportunity to volunteer with multiple partners including the University of Westminster and other local schools, London Zoo and The Felix Project, all initiatives which colleagues find enjoyable and rewarding and also an opportunity to spend time with colleagues from other departments.
Our work with local educational institutions in Marylebone supports our efforts to raise awareness of careers in the property industry and help increase diversity in our industry. One of our key partnerships is with the University of Westminster. We support various programmes targeted at providing guidance, support, and opportunities for students from underrepresented backgrounds. We also run an annual paid summer internship along with a scholarship grant to two students studying property-related degrees. We support local schools with careers fairs, speed networking events and CV/interview skills workshops.
We offer a market-leading benefits package, enhanced family leave policies, and employee wellbeing is high on the agenda with 10 trained Mental Health First Aiders.
We believe our team, work environment, rewards and benefits, and social activities are a winning combination.
DEI&B
The Howard de Walden Estate is fully committed to encouraging equity, diversity and inclusion and instilling a strong sense of belonging among its people. Our success is driven by attracting, developing and retaining talented people who share and deliver our values.
We believe that a diverse and inclusive organisation empowers our people to perform at their best. Diversity of background, perspective and thinking will provide us with greater understanding, leading to innovation and making a positive impact on our engagement with our community.
We welcome everyone who shares our approach and values, regardless of their sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity, religion, beliefs, or family or marital status.
We want everybody working at The Howard de Walden Estate to feel they can be themselves and feel a sense of belonging, to best serve our diverse and wide-ranging Marylebone community to our full potential. We work with our partners and stakeholders to make an impact not only in our Estate but within the broader real estate sector reflecting our long-term striving for excellence.
Our employee led DEI&B Committee was formed in 2021 and developed a five-year roadmap setting out internal objectives as well as objectives for the wider estate, such as with our supply chain and improvements that could be made to our buildings. Employees are welcome to join the committee at any time.
Please click here to see our full DEI&B Statement.
Sustainability
We strive to continually upgrade the environmental performance of our buildings and collaborate with others to improve air quality and make net gains on the area’s biodiversity. Through our continuous development programme and work with our valued stakeholders and partners within Wild West End and the Marylebone Low Emissions Neighbourhood (LEN), we aim to enhance and connect the area’s green spaces and improve the overall environment.
One of our strategic objectives is to avoid property obsolescence and plan for a net zero carbon future and our goal is to achieve net zero by 2040. Our deCarbon Strategy defines four commitments to guide our agenda and strategic response climate change:
-
Managing our buildings efficiently
-
Delivering low carbon refurbishments and redevelopments
-
Training and educating our colleagues
-
Working with customers and suppliers.
View our deCarbon Strategy here.
