Howard Group is a third generation family-owned company; our name and long-standing values run through everything we do. Initially a Bedford-based coal and coke delivery business, we have evolved through manufacturing concrete building blocks, engineering, warehousing, retail and transport into the business we are today – a leading regional property developer and investor with a portfolio of diverse and professionally managed properties. We are also a collaborative and patient investment partner, supporting the next generation of entrepreneurs developing meaningful, knowledge-intensive businesses.
Our purpose is simple. Every day we strive 'to improve and enrich lives through responsible investing in people, places and ideas'. This means that everything we do, whether it be developing a forgotten place or backing a new and exciting life science entrepreneur, has positive societal impact at its core.
As a family-owned business our values as a family - honesty, integrity, loyalty, stewardship, sacrificial service, dignity and respect have been the foundation from which we have built an enduring business, which creates, nurtures and values lasting relationships. These core values inform our six guiding principles and these principles set out how Howard Group and our people do business.
The company was originally founded as a Bedford-based coal and coke delivery business in 1935 by CAEC ‘Jimmy’ Howard. After the war, the company’s activities expanded to include the manufacture of building blocks as well as engineering, warehousing, retailing and transport. By the 1980s Howard Group was starting to emerge as a significant investor in commercial property, developing many of its own properties. These included a sizeable portfolio of office, industrial and retail premises. Over recent years we have focused on our core strengths within property investment and development, as well as our capital venture activities.
Creating social value in everything that we do, demonstrating clear benefit to society and the communities we engage with, is the first tenet of our responsibility as stewards of the Howard Group business.
Maintaining solid financial discipline and taking a longer-term view to creating a lasting legacy from our developments and investments is the second tenet of our responsibility as stewards of the Howard Group business.
Using renewable resources, re-using natural resources and giving back to the environment in everything we do is the third tenet of our responsibility as stewards of the Howard Group business.