Student accommodation is our business. We created student accommodation, and then we transformed it into the global sector it is today.
But we know that there is still more to do.
Inspired by the business model of the global hotel industry giants, we want to expand and improve the scale, reach, and quality of student accommodation around the world.
Our vision is to be the global leader in student accommodation with over 250,000 beds under management by 2025.
Global university student numbers are growing – and so too is the need for quality student accommodation. We have a clear vision of making things better for university students and expanding branded student accommodation around the world.
Our strengths lie in our ability to research the best locations, attract the highest quality financial partners and understand the cultural needs of our customers. Our strategy is to become leaders the market in which we operate. We are absolutely focused on student accommodation, in three core areas:
Overarching this strategy is our core belief in meeting the expectations of our increasingly sophisticated young customers.
Our values are an essential part of who we are. They inform the way we look at our world, our sector and our students. From how we work as a team to how we serve our customers, we aim to ensure that everything we do fulfills these values.
To ensure a consistent culture for our people, no matter where they work we have three core values, which are integrity, commitment and energy. Our purpose is to make a real difference to the lives of our customers.
Learning activities and refresher toolkits have been developed to instill our values as behaviours in our day to day work environment. Looking forward, we will continue to create and deliver initiatives to keep our culture alive and to create a consistent employee experience wherever we operate.
Every university student is different. Each has their own ambitions for their time at university. And each expects something different from their accommodation. By providing safe and secure communities, close to university centres and transport links, with all-inclusive rents and amenities, our brand portfolio enables our students to get the most out of their time at university.
Under the GSA umbrella, we have two closely aligned student brands, which help students know what to expect, dictate our standards and enable us to be clear and consistent.
GSA is not simply in the student accommodation sector, we created it.
Our reasons for so doing remain true today. What we learn as students and take away with us for the rest of our lives is much more than the course we are studying.
It is an inter-meshed set of experiences, of which accommodation is an integral part. Probably our first home away from home, how we experience and react to that accommodation will be the cornerstone of the story of our student life. Therefore that accommodation needs to genuinely provide. It needs to be so much more than a checklist of requirements to be ticked off. Every aspect needs to be seriously considered, researched and implemented.
That we are the oldest player in the sector proves our commitment to the long term; to achieve that requires a quality product that exceeds expectation and is valued by students and parents and is referred on.
The combination of technology advances and low-cost airlines has led to a world that is ever shrinking, more joined up and more accessible.
Now students have the desire and ability to travel much further afield to study, often taking them thousands of miles away from everything that is familiar and comfortable. This further increases the importance of where and how they will be living.
GSA operates in all the major university learning areas in the world. We respect that while all students share some common needs, different markets and cultures lead to differing requirements too.
We use local teams who have the knowledge to identify and fulfil these specifics.
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In 1991, our management team started with just over 100 beds in the UK. Now, we operate in 8 countries, 30 cities and across two regions, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) and APAC (Asia Pacific).
With a vision to be global leader in student accommodation, we want to expand and improve the scale, reach and quality of student accommodation across the world. We aim to make a real difference to students’ lives by using our expertise, track record and knowledge to deliver the best culturally-led student living experience.
In the past 25 years, the world has grown smaller and better connected than we could ever have imagined.
But we know that some things never change. Like the need for students to live in safe and vibrant communities. Or that quality accommodation helps students get the most out of university.
We have grown because we have listened and responded to the needs of university students across the world.
In 1991, we started with just over 100 beds in the UK. Now, we operate in 8 countries across the world. With each step of our growth, we’ve made sure we continue to deliver the quality of service that our students have come to expect.
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