About us

Improving the student experience lies at the heart of what we do.  We are focussed on providing world class buildings and facilities and through excellent customer service we aim to ensure the safe, secure and environmentally sound operation and maintenance of LSE assets.

The strategic activities of the Estates Division are considered, decided and monitored within the School's framework of governance.

The Finance and Estates Committee (FEC) is a standing committee of Council formed in 2018.  It is responsible for overseeing and advising upon all aspects of strategic financial development and estates issues across the School.  For full terms of reference and meeting dates see Finance and Estates Committee.

For more information contact the School Secretary Louise Nadal on L.Nadal@lse.ac.uk

Estates Management Board (EMB) is a sub-committee of the School Management Committee (delegated from Council) chaired by Andrew Young. The Group meets once a month and is responsible for School's space planning and allocation.

Full Terms of Reference and Membership list can be found on the Estates Management Board page.

For more information please contact the Committee Secretary Davinder Ratra on d.s.ratra@lse.ac.uk

The School’s environment and sustainability governance  and reporting structure, including committees, terms of reference and meeting notes can be found here in the Sustainability Governance page.

For more information please contact estates.sustainability@lse.ac.uk

Firoz Lalji Global Hub (35LIF-FLGH) Project Board is chaired by Andrew Young and governed by FEC. The Board's specific duties are to approve the project delivery strategy and ensure that the scheme is implemented within the approved expenditure and programme limits. The meetings take place monthly.

For full Terms of Reference, Membership list and more information please contact the Board Secretary, Phoebe Dunster on p.j.dunster@lse.ac.uk

The Marshall Building (MAR) Project Board is chaired by Andrew Young and governed by FEC. The Board's specific duties are to approve the project delivery strategy and ensure that the scheme is implemented within the approved expenditure and programme limits. The meetings take place monthly.

For full Terms of Reference, Membership list and more information please contact the Board Secretary, Phoebe Dunster on p.j.dunster@lse.ac.uk

Other Project Boards include:

Butlers Wharf Project Board
Capital Projects Project Board
Cheng Kin Ku Levels 3-7 Project Board
Myddleton Hall Project Board
Old Building Refurbishment Project Board
Public Realm (Portugal Street) Project Board

If you have any questions regarding any of these project boards please email estates.admin@lse.ac.uk

Click on the links to see organisational charts for each section within the Estates Division: 

• Senior Leadership Structure (PDF)
• Administration (PDF)
• Campus Services (PDF)
• Capital Development (PDF)
• Facilities Management (PDF)
• Maintenance (PDF)
• Property and Space Management (PDF)
• Reprographics (PDF)
• Room Bookings (PDF)
• Security (PDF)
• Sustainability Team (PDF)

Find details of the core activities and achievements of the Division, together with key metrics.

LSE Estates Division Annual Report 2021 - 2022 (pdf)

LSE Estates Division Annual Report 2022 - 2023 (pdf)

LSE Estates Division has established many external partnerships in order to forge relationships and share good practice. 

Julian Robinson is a member of the Association of University Directors of Estates (AUDE), a body that meet regularly in order to promote excellence in the strategic planning and management of the University Estate and Facilities.  

The Northbank BID geographically sits in the centre of London. It runs from Admiralty Arch in the West, through Trafalgar Square, along the Strand and through Aldwych to Temple Bar.  The BID considers economic growth and investment, improved social wellbeing for employees and residents and improved public realm through sustainable investment for capital projects and services, aiming to create a more appealing environment, reduce crime, market the area and provide a voice for local businesses.  Julian Robinson has been elected as a Board Director and Vice Chairman of the Northbank BID.  

Julian is a Trustee and former Chair of the University Design Forum (UDF, formally HEDQF).  LSE are a founder member of the University Design Forum. Julian contributed to the publication Future Campus - Design Quality in University Buildings.

The RIBA is a global professional membership body that serves its members and society in order to deliver better buildings and places, stronger communities and a sustainable environment.

Julian was awarded a 2017 Honorary Fellowship by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). Julian was presented with the prestigious award at a special event in early 2017 and is one of eighteen individuals from a diverse spectrum of backgrounds to be honoured, find out more here.

Ken Kinsella was awarded a 2021 Honorary Fellowship by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). Ken was one of twelve individuals to be given this prestigious award.

Honorary Fellowships are awarded by the RIBA each year to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the quality of architecture. Julian's track record runs from working with Hawkins Brown, Feilden Clegg Bradley, MJP Architects and Will Alsop at Queen Mary University to Grimshaw, O’Donnell + Tuomey, Rogers Stirk Harbour and Grafton Architects at LSE, and shows a developing dedication to raising standards in the arena of university campus architecture.

The School is a founder member of the Friends of Lincoln's Inn Fields (FLIF). The purpose of the Friends is to represent the users of the Fields and those who live or work nearby and to campaign for its continued protection and enhancement.

Julian also represents LSE at the Westminster Property Association (WPA).The WPA's principal focus is planning and economic development policy in Westminster and they maintain excellent working relationships with members and officers in the Council.  Their aim is to maximise the quality of the built environment by working together to target best practice and deliver the best real estate in the world. 

Julian is a member of the national judging panel for the Civic Trust Awards.

LSE Estates are proud to be part of the Apprenticeship Scheme and currently employ several members of staff who are working towards a qualification. 

LSE Estates have been working in partnership with Open House London since 2009.  The Open House concept is to open up London's splendid buildings to the general public who don't otherwise have access, as a way to help the wider community to become more knowledgeable, engage in dialogue and make informed judgements on architecture. Saw Swee Hock Student Centre was part of Open House between 2014-2018 and in 2019 more than 700 visitors were given guided tours of the Centre Building.  The Marshall Building was showcased to approximately 550 visitors in 2022 and more than 750 in 2023.

Our policies and procedures are the following:

• Asbestos management information and Policy
• Environmental Policy  
• Energy Policy
• Legionella Policy 
• Policy for the Control of Fire 
• Quality Policy 

What you can expect from us

As a customer of an organisation that has achieved the Putting the Customer First Standard you can expect:

• Your needs to be clearly diagnosed and your objectives understood prior to any service being delivered to you.
• To be given access to the full range of services available to you – whether delivered directly by this organisation or by another, more appropriate, service provider.
• To be clear about what you can expect from any service we deliver to you and the timescales within which that service will be provided.
• That we will continually review your needs and follow up after services have been delivered to you.
• To have open access to our customer feedback and complaints procedure and that your feedback on services will be listened to and, where appropriate, will inform the development of future services.
• Services to be clearly targeted, relevant and appropriate for your needs.
• Our people to be appropriately trained and developed to have the necessary skills to diagnose and meet your needs.Our people to deliver an impartial and objective service operating in your best interests at all times.

The LSE Estates Division achieved Customer First accreditation in June 2011 and have been successfully reassessed every two years, most recently in July 2021.

Putting The Customer First® is a national standard for customer service. It comprises  30 Statements in three categories which explore the components of excellent service provision: Customer Relationships, Market Awareness and People.

The LSE's Estates Division prepared a self-assessment document and supporting evidence that met all the standard requirements, which was submitted to the external assessor.

Following  interviews with staff representing  all teams in the Estates Division, the assessor Les Hewitson commented as follows:

"I have no hesitation in recommending Customer 1st accreditation to Estates. Your submission was superb and Estates is fully compliant."

As outlined in the assessor's report, Estates planned meticulously for the assessment and the Customer First Steering Group led by Allan Blair, Director of Facilities Management consulted, listened, learned and worked as a team with all Estates staff, as well as  members from other School service  areas to ensure they fully understood the requirements of the Standard.

Recognising the team effort, the LSE's Director of Estates, Julian Robinson summarised this achievement in the letter of thanks to staff: 

"whilst it is good to get the badge, this should not be seen as an end in itself, as being customer focussed and having robust systems of recording and evaluation are the essential bedrock of effective Estate management.The Customer First methodology will therefore continue to be employed in our forward planning and the continued development of our services."

Contact in LSE Estates: Allan Blair, 020 7955 6748, A.Blair1@lse.ac.uk

More information:
www.customerfirst.org
www.investorsinpeople.co.uk

Our service

We strive to provide an excellent service in terms of quality of work, timely delivery, professional behaviour, customer service and value for money. As a result we hope that there will be no need for complaints.

However, we recognise that where there is a human element and technology involved there is scope for error. We have therefore, set up a formal procedure to be followed in the event of a service not being delivered in line with our high standards and the customer's aspirations.

Definition of a complaint

For clarity, a distinction will be made between service requests, service queries, follow-up enquiries on jobs and service complaints.

For the purposes of this complaints procedure a complaint is defined as any serious and formal expression of dissatisfaction that requires action or redress and is referring to the service the Estates Division provides, e.g. repetitive failure to resolve or address a reported issue; serious failure of agreed service arrangement; serious breach of service agreement; serious inconvenience caused as a result of Estates action, inappropriate behaviour by a member of Estates staff. All complaints that fall into these categories will be formally logged into a Complaints Log and their progress will be reviewed by the Senior Management until satisfactory close-out.

The process

To ensure that customer enquiries and complaints are dealt with in the most efficient and effective manner customers are requested to follow the steps in this procedure. This will enable the Estates Division to investigate and address the queries and complaints as well as to allow the customer to receive prompt response and resolution. We cannot guarantee that our target response time will be met if the enquiries are not logged through the correct channels.

Our target response times are stated at each stage. In the rare event if / where delays in the response are observed an explanation will be provided to the reason for the delay.

 All queries, follow-up enquiries and complaints are treated with due concern and their resolution is prioritised on the basis of their urgency and merit and in line with current workload, emergencies and staff availability.

*Where complaints have been sent to a named member of staff who is not available to deal with your enquiry, e.g. staff on holiday etc, an out-of-office response will be posted to direct who should be contacted in their absence. Alternatively, please contact Help Desk for direction.

More informaton about our 4-step complaints procedure. 

 Customer First

The LSE Estates Division achieved Customer First accreditation in June 2011 and were reaccredited successfully in 2014, 2017, 2019, 2021 and most recently in 2023.

Putting The Customer First® is a national standard for customer service. It comprises 30 Statements in three categories which explore the components of excellent service provision: Customer Relationships, Market Awareness and People.

Investors In People

Investors in People is the standard for people management and defines what it takes to lead, support and manage people for sustained success.
The Estates Division was awarded Established Silver Accreditation in January 2022.

 ISO 14000 - Environmental management

The ISO 14000 family of standards provides practical tools for companies and organisations of all kinds looking to manage their environmental responsibilities.

 ISO 50001 - Energy management

Using energy efficiently helps organizations save money as well as helping to conserve resources and tackle climate change. ISO 50001 supports organizations in all sectors to use energy more efficiently, through the development of an energy management system (EnMS).

 ISO 9001 - Quality Management

The international standard that specifies requirements for a quality management system (QMS). Organizations use the standard to demonstrate the ability to consistently provide products and services that meet customer and regulatory requirements.

 London Living Wage

The Living Wage Foundation recognises and celebrates the leadership shown by Living Wage Employers across the UK.   We believe that work should be the surest way out of poverty.

 Sustainability awards

Highlights of LSE's sustainability progress since 2006 as well as the Annual Sustainability Reports can be found at the above link.

Estates Division Staff handbook (coming soon).