{"id":3598,"date":"2022-01-21T20:20:52","date_gmt":"2022-01-21T19:20:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/urbanbees.co.uk\/blog_1\/?p=3598"},"modified":"2022-01-24T15:36:27","modified_gmt":"2022-01-24T14:36:27","slug":"belgrave-house-and-bees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.urbanbees.co.uk\/blog_1\/?p=3598","title":{"rendered":"Interview with William Ball, Portfolio General Manager, BNP Paribas Real Estate on making Belgrave House bee-friendly"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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When William Ball, Portfolio General Manager at BNP Paribas<\/strong> Real Estate<\/strong>, was first approached by his client Grosvenor Group about installing a roof garden on its Belgrave House property in Victoria, six years ago he was concerned over the practicality of managing such a project with limited knowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe roof isn\u2019t accessible and I thought the tenants would not be able to see the benefits to the property of investing in it,\u201d he explains.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Benefits outweigh costs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Fast forward to today and William says the tenants and Grosvenor now fully support the biodiversity project on the Buckingham Palace Road office block.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cThe benefits outweigh the costs one hundred fold. And it\u2019s the right thing to do for the environment. The roof garden and the bees are one element of promoting environmental best practice. It\u2019s one of the reasons Belgrave House has retained its BREEAM excellence rating and its ISO14001 year after year.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

William has more than 35 years\u2019 experience in the property and facilities management industry. In 2018, he was awarded the national BNP Paribas CSR Award and in 2019, his team won the Professional Facilities Management Award for CSR. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introducing bee hives<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The same year, he contacted Urban Bees Ltd<\/a> to install and maintain bee hives on Belgrave House. Grosvenor, whose own staff Urban Bees had trained as beekeepers <\/a>a few years earlier, paid the initial start-up costs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He proudly hands me a jar of 2021 Belgrave House honey with a pretty label designed by the receptionists. The bees are a great way to bring together his 21-strong team of security staff, cleaners, receptionists and engineers, he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe all take great pride in the bees\u201d.<\/p>

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