Our people

Overview The Board Management Expenditure: Board members are appointed by the Monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister. The Board currently comprises eight members: a chairman (who is non-executive), chief executive, six Board members (non-executive) plus two Board counsellors (non-executive). The composition of the Board is defined by the Crown Estate Act 1961. Board members are appointed in accordance with the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA) Code of Practice.

Sir Stuart HampsonChairman and First Commissioner

Sir Stuart took up the post of chairman of The Crown Estate on 1 January 2010.

Sir Stuart joined The Crown Estate on 1 January 2010. He was born in 1947 and educated at St John's College Oxford. He spent 12 years as a civil servant before joining the John Lewis Partnership where he was Chairman for 14 years. He was a founding member of the Oxford Retail Group on planning law and of London First, the private/public sector partnership aimed at maintaining London's standing as a world class capital. Sir Stuart chaired the Business in the Community team tackling economic renewal in deprived communities, and he is one of the Prince of Wales's Ambassadors in this area. Sir Stuart was President of the Royal Agricultural Society of England in 2005/2006. He was knighted in 1998 for services to retailing.

Aged 64.

Alison Nimmo CBEChief executive and Second Commissioner

Alison took up the post of chief executive of The Crown Estate on 1 January 2012. Prior to this, she spent five years with the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) where, as Director of Design and Regeneration, she held the responsibility for delivering the overall design and early delivery of most of the venues, Olympic Park and long-term legacy for the London 2012 games.

Alison is a chartered surveyor and town planner who specialises in regeneration and was awarded a CBE for services to urban regeneration in 2004. Her previous roles have included: a central role in the London 2012 bid team and interim Director leading the establishment of the Olympic Delivery Authority; Chief Executive of Sheffield One, a seminal city centre regeneration programme for Sheffield; and Project Director of Manchester Millennium Ltd responsible for the regeneration of Manchester city centre following the terrorist bombing in 1996. She is also a non-executive director of Berkeley Group and a visiting Professor at Sheffield Hallam University.

Aged 47.

Gareth Baird DL, FRAgSNon-executive Board member and Scottish Commissioner

Appointed to the Board on 1 October 2009.

Gareth is a third generation tenant farmer involved in arable and beef production near Kelso in the Borders and is a leading figure in Scotland's agricultural and food and drink sectors. He is Chairman of Scott Country Potato Growers Ltd, Vice Chairman of Grainco Ltd, and a Director of Scotland Food and Drink and of the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland. He has been involved with farming co-operatives for many years, and it was this commitment to co-operation that led to his chairmanship of the Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society (SAOS) for two separate three-year terms.

He also chairs the South of Scotland regional advisory board of Scottish Enterprise. He is a fellow of the Royal Agricultural Society and Deputy Lord Lieutenant for Roxburgh, Ettrick and Lauderdale.

Aged 53.

Ian Marcus MA, FRICSNon-executive Board member

Appointed to the Board in January 2012.

Ian is currently Chairman of European Real Estate Investment Banking at Credit Suisse where he is responsible for leading the bank's property related activities across its asset management, private banking and investment banking businesses. He is also Chairman of the Bank of England Commercial Property Forum and Chairman of The Prince's Regeneration Trust.

Ian's previous roles have included the Presidency of the British Property Federation and Chairmanship of the Investment Property Forum. He is a member of the Real Estate Advisory Board of the Department of Land Economy at the University of Cambridge, an Eminent Fellow of the RICS and a Member of the Chartered Surveyors Company.

Chris Bartram MA, FRICSNon-executive Board member

Appointed to the Board on 1 January 2007.

Chris is currently Chairman of Orchard Street Investment Management and was Managing Director of Haslemere NV which was floated on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange in 1999. He was previously Managing Partner of Jones Lang Wootton. He is a non-executive Director at Land Securities Group plc and is Chairman of Estate Management Development Fund at Cambridge University. He is also a Wilkins Fellow of Downing College, Cambridge. Past appointments include: President of the British Property Federation and Chairman of the Bank of England Property Forum.

Aged 61.

David Fursdon FRICS, FAAVNon-executive Board member

Appointed to the Board in January 2008.

David is a qualified rural chartered surveyor and agricultural valuer. He was educated at St John's College Oxford and at the RAC Cirencester. He owns and manages an 800 acre family estate in Devon.

He was formerly President of the Country Land & Business Association (CLA). He is now an English Heritage Commissioner, Chairman of SW Chamber of Rural Enterprise, Chairman of the SW Board for the 2012 Games and SWRDA Board member. He is also the chairman of Governors for Blundell's School, Parish Chairman, Deputy Lieutenant for Devon and a former member of the Government's Affordable Housing Commission. Previously he has been a civil servant, a teacher and an equity partner of a firm of Auctioneers and Chartered Surveyors.

Aged 57.

Dipesh Shah OBE, MSc, FRSANon-executive Board member

Appointed to the Board on 1 January 2011.

Dipesh has an extensive background in business, including renewable energy, utilities and infrastructure. Since 2009 he has been a non-executive member of The Crown Estate's offshore energy supervisory committee, and currently holds a number of non-executive appointments with Thames Water, JKX Oil & Gas Plc and the 2020 European Fund for Energy, Climate Change and Infrastructure (Marguerite Fund). He is a Trustee of the British Youth Opera and a Governor of Merchant Taylor's School.

Dipesh studied economics at Warwick University, gained an MSc with Distinction at London University and later attended the programme for management development at Harvard Business School, and executive education at Templeton College, Oxford. Recent appointments include: Chief Executive of the UK Atomic Energy Authority, Chairman of Viridian Group Plc and of HgCapital Renewable Power Partners LLP, and a Non-executive Director of Lloyds of London and Babcock International Group Plc. Earlier Dipesh was Chief Executive of several businesses in the BP Group, chairman on four occasions of the European Photovoltaics (solar) Industry Association and a member of the Government's Renewable Energy Advisory Committee.

Aged 57.

Dr Anthony White MBENon-executive Board member

Appointed to the Board on 1 January 2011.

Tony has worked in the utility and finance sectors since leaving Oxford University with a Doctorate in Physics in 1977. His professional interests include the valuation of generating assets in liberalised power markets, the evolution of energy markets in a carbon constrained world and the development of network regulation. He left Climate Change Capital, a bank he and four others established in 2003, but continues to provide advice to them, and others, through his company BW Energy Limited.

He is a non-executive director of the National Renewable Energy Centre at Blyth and Green Energy Options. He is a member of the British Government's Nuclear Liabilities Financing Assurance Board and its High Level Strategy Group for the Built Environment. He also sits on the Advisory Boards of Jacob & Co., CCC's clean technology fund and Sussex University's Energy Group. He was awarded an MBE in 2004 for services to UK energy policy.

Aged 58.

Jenefer Greenwood BSc, FRICSBoard counsellor

Appointed as Board counsellor 1 January 2012.

Jenefer joined Grosvenor in May 2003 as Retail Strategist to give advice on retail positioning across the portfolio. She previously worked for CB Hillier Parker for 25 years, where she was Head of Retail. One notable project during this time included the retail plan and branding of Regent Street.

Within Grosvenor she has recently been appointed Director - Sales & Lettings for Great Britain and Ireland across all retail, commercial and residential estates. Jenefer is Chairman of the Advisory Board of the National Skills Academy for Retail. She is a past President of the British Council of Shopping Centres (BCSC) and member of the ICSC European Advisory Board. She is also a Governor of Westonbirt School.

Jenefer was a non-executive Board member February 2004 - December 2011.

Aged 53.

Dinah Nichols CBBoard counsellor

Appointed as Board counsellor 1 January 2011.

Dinah read history at Bedford College, University of London. She is a non-executive Director of Pennon Group plc (the parent company of South West Water and Viridor Waste) and of Shires Smaller Companies Investment Trust. In 2005 she became Chair of the National Forest Company, a project to regenerate a large area of central England through multi-purpose forestry and major landscape change. Until 2002 she was Director-General Environment in DEFRA, where her responsibilities covered policy for sustainable development, climate change, air and water quality, waste, chemicals and the environmental aspects of farming. In her previous posts in the civil service she dealt with housing, construction, property, regeneration and transport. She is also a Trustee of The Land Trust and Keep Britain Tidy and a member of CPRE's Policy Committee.

Dinah was a non-executive Board member January 2003 - December 2010.

Aged 67.