Led by Executive Trustee and Chief Executive Mark Preston, Grosvenor will continue to focus on diversified international urban property, a growing international investment portfolio in food and agriculture, on the careful management of environmentally sensitive habitats across rural estates, and on supporting the charitable initiatives of The Duke of Westminster’s Westminster Foundation, as well as those directly initiated by Grosvenor businesses throughout the world.

Grosvenor’s new management structure and appointments include:

Chaired by Michael McLintock, an Investment Committee comprising Grosvenor’s Trustees, the newly created role of Chief Investment Officer (CIO), The Grosvenor Estate Chief Financial Officer and two independent advisors will be responsible for capital allocation as well as for matters of strategy and performance relating to the Estate’s commercial activities in international urban property, food and agriculture and in financial investments.

• Jonathon Bond, currently Chairman of Grosvenor Britain & Ireland (GBI) will take up the newly created role of Chief Investment Officer (CIO), Grosvenor Estate, from 10^th May 2021, reporting to Mark Preston. As part of this role, he will assume most of Group Executive Director Peter Vernon’s responsibilities, who, as previously announced, retires from Grosvenor on September 30^th this year.
• Rob Davis, currently Group Finance Director of Grosvenor Group will become Chief Financial Officer of The Grosvenor Estate, reporting to Mark Preston. He succeeds Nick Scarles who will retire from his executive role on 31^st December 2021, after 17 successful years with the organisation.
• Grosvenor’s international property activities spanning development, asset management and investment will continue to be led by the Chief Executives of our regional operating companies (James Raynor, CEO of Grosvenor Britain & Ireland; Steve O’Connell, CEO of Grosvenor Americas; Benjamin Cha, CEO of Grosvenor Asia Pacific and Sara Lucas, CEO of Grosvenor Europe) and our Indirect Investment business which invests in third-party managed joint ventures (led by Managing Director Chris Taite).
• Wheatsheaf will continue to be led by Graham Ramsbottom as its CEO, supported by an expanded Executive team. Following its creation in 2012, Wheatsheaf Group is now one of the longest established investment teams in the food and agriculture sector. Its aim is to rethink and help reshape a better food system through its investments in all parts of the food chain – how food is grown, produced, distributed, and consumed, doing so in ways that improve human health, the environment and that enable producers to thrive.
• Ian Prideaux will continue as Chief Investment Officer, Financial Investments, and Graham Salmon as Chief Executive of Realty, the property insurance broker.

The Grosvenor Family Office is responsible for the management and enhancement of environmentally sensitive habitats within the Grosvenor family’s rural estates and for supporting their philanthropic activities through the Westminster Foundation.

• To further these activities, Nicholas Dobbs, Rural Estates’ Director, is promoted to the role of Head of the Family Office effective 1^st April 2021, reporting to Mark Preston.
• As its Philanthropy Director, Kate Brown will continue to lead the Westminster Foundation, working closely with The Duke of Westminster and other Trustees to provide long term sustainable opportunities for young people (0-25) and their families to have the resilience, skills, and capacity to lead happy and healthy lives. Through creating these opportunities, the Foundation’s aim is to tackle the causes and impact of inter-generational inequality.

Commenting on the announcement, The Duke of Westminster said:

“These changes will help us shape our long-term success, building on our international growth of the past 50 years and meeting the many and varied challenges of the next 50. I am confident we will continue to adapt and change, as we have many times in the past, to make a sustainable and meaningful impact on the communities we support and work alongside.”

Mark Preston, Executive Trustee and Chief Executive of The Grosvenor Estate, said:

“As Grosvenor has done many times before in its long history, we are making these changes to help the organisation better manage the challenges facing a new generation. We wish to build on our track record of balancing the pursuit of strong commercial results with the delivery of lasting social and environmental benefit.

“Whether by tackling the environmental impact of the built environment, improving biodiversity across the places we manage, providing new homes or commercial spaces across several of the world’s leading cities, contributing to a food supply chain that is better for human health, our ecosystems and producers or helping vulnerable young people by supporting the charitable initiatives of the Westminster Foundation, we want to make a tangible and positive difference to society.

“These structural changes, new appointments and governance simplifications will better equip each part of The Grosvenor Estate to adapt to economic, social, political, environmental and technological change and disruption. They will help foster more pace, innovation, diversity of thinking and entrepreneurialism, ultimately to better enable the organisation and the communities in which we are active to thrive through the 2020s and beyond.”