News

The Crown Estate Reports On Its Performance In Scotland

8 July 2009

The Crown Estate has announced today (Wednesday 8 July 2008), a gross surplus for its Scottish estates of £15.5 million for the year ending 31 March 2009, compared to £11.4 million in the previous year. This represents 6.4% of The Crown Estate’s total gross surplus of £243.2 million for the UK as a whole. The surplus goes towards public spending for the benefit of all UK taxpayers.

Revenue in Scotland was £17.6 million, compared to £13.9 million for the previous year. The property value of The Crown Estate in Scotland fell by 4.0% over the year to £227.5 million.

The full Scotland Report for 2008/09 can be viewed on our website at www.thecrownestate.co.uk/scotland_report_2009.pdf.

Ian Grant, Chairman and Scottish Commissioner of The Crown Estate, said: “We continue to invest in the long term development of The Crown Estate in Scotland. Last year we invested £5.4 million in our marine estate in Scotland and a further £2 million in our rural estate. This included improvements to ports and marinas, continuing support for the aquaculture industry and the development of small scale renewable energy programmes in rural areas.”

“Preparing for the development of offshore renewable energy continues to be at the heart of our work in Scotland. We have worked closely with the Scottish Government to ensure that Scotland is well placed to take advantage of the opportunities offered by offshore wind, wave and tidal power.”

The success of The Crown Estate’s work over the last year has depended on a range of partnerships. The Crown Estate Scottish Liaison Group met three times during 2008/09 providing a forum for The Crown Estate to co-operate with the 22 stakeholder organisations that are members. The Crown Estate has also strengthened its partnerships with local authorities and enterprise agencies on projects ranging from energy from waste projects to improving facilities for Scotland’s marine leisure industry.

“We continue to prioritise long term investment,” added Ian Grant. “We have a shared interest with the communities and customers we work with to ensure their future prosperity. This is true of our work on marine renewable energy, aquaculture and is reflected in our support for agriculture and forestry. We recognise too that our stewardship of often fragile marine and rural environments places a duty on us the safeguard these assets for future generations.”

ENDS

Media contacts
• Ian Coldwell (ian.coldwell@pagodapr.com)  or Emma Beeby (emmabeeby@pagodapr.com) at Pagoda PR, Tel 0131 556 0770

Notes to editors:

• The Crown Estate is an estate valued at just over £6 billion, including substantial blocks of urban property, over 108,000 hectares (267,000 acres) of agricultural land in England, Scotland and Wales, and around half the foreshore, together with the seabed out to the 12 mile territorial limit. All profits go towards public spending.

• As owners, managers and guardians of one of the World’s most important and diverse urban, rural and marine property portfolios, our work is underpinned by the three core values of commercialism, integrity and stewardship.

• The Crown Estate is part of the hereditary possessions of the Sovereign “in right of the Crown”, managed under the provisions of the Crown Estate Act 1961 by The Crown Estate who have a duty to maintain and enhance the capital value of the Estate and the income obtained from it.

• The Crown Estate in Scotland is managed from its Edinburgh Office at 6 Bells Brae Edinburgh EH4 3BJ.