Work  /  Pearl Yard, Bermondsey

For Greystar

Pearl Yard, Bermondsey

A 1,600-home regeneration of the former Peek Frean Biscuit Factory site in Southwark. We coordinate the full Section 106 employment and skills programme on behalf of Greystar, and we've deployed Opportunity Platform to make every commitment transparent and accountable to Bermondsey residents.

Client
Greystar
Location
Bermondsey, Southwark
Scale
1,600 homes
Storey role
S106 lead, programme delivery
A community celebration in Bermondsey: people dancing in the street, families watching, a sunlit square.
Bermondsey · A community celebration in the borough Pearl Yard sits in

In partnership with

Big Local Works.

Pearl Yard's Schedule 7 employment and skills commitments are delivered in partnership with Big Local Works, the Bermondsey delivery charity that has been the trusted bridge between local residents and major regeneration projects for years. They run the brokerage. We run the platform. Greystar carries the obligation.

Every commitment is published live, in plain English, on the borough's own scheme site at opportunitybermondsey.co.uk, organised into the six categories that map to Schedule 7:

  • Jobs
  • Apprenticeships
  • Work placements
  • Pre-employment training
  • School engagement
  • Community events

From the borough

The people the platform is for.

Bermondsey life, captured by the residents and partners we work alongside. Every commitment Pearl Yard publishes is for a real person already living here.

Community dance event in Bermondsey Bermondsey community gathering Unity in the Community music and dance event Bermondsey community life Bermondsey community life Bermondsey community life

Photography from the Bermondsey community programme. Used with the permission of Big Local Works and the resident participants.

The brief

A community in front of a regeneration. A deed behind it.

Pearl Yard is one of London's largest residential regeneration sites. The Schedule 7 obligations span construction-phase employment and training, end-use job creation across the new commercial uses, local procurement, an affordable workspace endowment running 30 years post-completion, and quarterly evidence to Southwark Council.

Bermondsey is also a community with a long memory of regeneration that didn't deliver for the people already there. The brief was to align Greystar's investor-grade ESG reporting with a programme local residents could see, trust and step into.

Greystar wanted commitments that were visible, not buried in a planning agreement. Southwark wanted live evidence, not annual narrative reports. Residents wanted real opportunities, not a brochure.

Our approach

Every commitment, published and tracked from day one.

We coordinate the full S106 employment, skills and procurement programme for Greystar, working in partnership with Big Local Works as the on-the-ground delivery charity. Big Local Works runs resident engagement, brokerage and pastoral support; we run strategy, contractor coordination, monitoring and evidence.

Every Section 106 commitment is published on Opportunity Platform at opportunitybermondsey.co.uk. Residents can see the full deed, browse current opportunities, and follow progress against each commitment. Greystar reports against the same data. Southwark reviews against the same data. There is one source of truth.

Construction-phase commitments are sequenced into Community Employment Plans agreed with each main contractor. End-use commitments are designed in alongside the leasing strategy, so commercial tenants inherit a workforce pathway from the moment they sign. The 30-year affordable workspace endowment is held as a structured obligation on the platform with quarterly milestones built in.

Live on the platform

Every commitment published, tracked and evidenced against the Schedule 7 deed.

Visit Opportunity Bermondsey to see the live deployment. Browse the deed, current vacancies and live progress against every Pearl Yard commitment.

Visit Opportunity Bermondsey

opportunitybermondsey.co.uk

Public-facing platform built and operated by Storey. Greystar's S106 programme made transparent to the community it's designed for.

Programme commitments

The Schedule 7 envelope.

The full S106 programme spans construction phase and end-use, with 30 years of affordable workspace post-completion. Every commitment is published live on Opportunity Bermondsey and reviewed quarterly with Southwark Council.

397

construction jobs

Tracked across the programme's main contractor and supply chain.

98

apprenticeships

Construction trades, engineering and built-environment professional pathways.

367

training places

Pre-employment training, sector routeways, and CSCS readiness.

158

end-use jobs

In the commercial, retail and operational uses post-completion.

480

affordable homes

Inside the 1,600-home programme.

10%

local procurement target

Spend with Southwark-based suppliers across construction and operation.

30 yrs

affordable workspace

Endowment running for three decades after practical completion.

Live

platform reporting

Every commitment published and evidenced on Opportunity Bermondsey.

Quarterly

council review

Southwark Council monitoring on the same data the public sees.

Voices

Why transparency was the design choice.

"The platform turns a planning obligation into a public commitment. That changes how the programme is run, because there is nowhere for slippage to hide."
Storey project lead  ·  on the design intent of Opportunity Bermondsey
"Investor-grade reporting and community-facing reporting have to be the same record. Anything else creates two stories about the same programme."
Programme principle  ·  Pearl Yard delivery model
"Big Local Works knows the people, the histories and the routes back into work. Storey knows the programme, the contractors and the deed. Together that's a delivery model that holds."
On the partnership  ·  with Big Local Works

Delivered with

Greystar Southwark Council Big Local Works Opportunity Platform Tier 1 contractor team Local SMEs & supply chain DWP Southwark training providers

What's next

Construction to occupation. Then 30 years more.

Pearl Yard is mid-build. As phases complete and end-use commercial space is leased, the programme shifts from construction-phase employment to occupier engagement, ringfenced jobs, the affordable workspace cohorts and the long-tail of operational commitments.

The platform stays live throughout. Every cohort, every quarter, every commitment, evidenced on the same record investor reports and council monitoring use.

See more of our work