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Chairman's Statement

"This year has been an excellent year for The Crown Estate and I am delighted to report that we achieved £200.1 million surplus for the year ending 31 March 2007, up 4.9% on the previous year. There was also a significant rise in capital value to £7,091 million, up 19.4% compared to the previous year."

New openings have been a prevalent theme of the year. We were honoured by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales who officially opened our own headquarters at New Burlington Place in June. As we complete our first year in these offices at the heart of our urban portfolio, we have sent out a clear signal that The Crown Estate is a modern organisation, which has at the heart of its business best working practice; that we support and value our staff by providing a good working environment; and are committed to the revitalisation of Regent Street, one of our key assets.

A second major opening, was that of an iconic, new visitor facility, The Savill Building. Opened during the year by His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, it provides a gateway to the newly defined Royal Landscape, which encompasses The Savill and Valley Gardens and Virginia Water within Windsor Great Park. This is an unequivocal demonstration of the seriousness with which we undertake our stewardship role and an important symbol of our commitment to enhancing the visitor experience at this popular amenity.

I am pleased that our success this year is reflected not only in the financial results, but also in external recognition by way of awards. Our commitment to green tourism and protecting Scotland's natural environment was rewarded with the Glenlivet estate winning a Gold Award at this year's Northern Lights Tourism Awards for best practice in Tourism and Sustainability.

The newly opened Savill Building has won a host of awards, including Best Environmental Scheme and Best Overall Scheme in the Civic Trust Design Awards 2007 and the Gold award at the annual Wood Awards. We were also pleased to receive the coveted 'Property Company of the Year – London' award at the annual Estates Gazette Property Awards in September.

I would like to end by thanking everyone who has contributed to this impressive year. I must also pay tribute to the work of the Board, and particularly to Ronald Spinney who retired from the Board in December after more than seven years' service. His business knowledge and in-depth understanding of the property industry has been invaluable. I am delighted to welcome Chris Bartram to the Board who brings with him a wealth of experience in the property sector.

Finally, I would like to pass on the Board's sincere thanks, along with my own, to all our staff. Without our dedicated, skilful and knowledgeable team, The Crown Estate could never hope to perform as successfully as we have.

Ian Grant
Chairman and First Commissioner