Former John Lewis chairman Sir Stuart Hampson has been appointed chairman of The Crown Estate.
Sir Stuart replaces Ian Grant who will retire as chairman on 31 December 2009.
His appointment will take effect from 1 January 2010 for a term of four years.
Sir Stuart spent 12 years as a Civil Servant before joining the John Lewis Partnership.
He was a founding member of the Oxford Retail Group and of London First, the private/public sector partnership aimed at maintaining
Sir Stuart also chaired the team tackling Economic Renewal in deprived communities and he is one of the Prince of Wales’s Ambassadors in this area.
He was knighted in 1998 for services to retailing.
Grant said: “I am delighted that Sir Stuart is to be my successor to lead this diverse and highly successful organisation.
“As former chairman of John Lewis he had a huge impact, both as a moderniser and in developing its reputation as an outstanding business operating to the highest standards and values.
“I believe Sir Stuart will sustain the key principles of commercialism, integrity and stewardship embodied by The Crown Estate and lead the organisation to further success when he takes the helm at the beginning of next year.”
In July the Crown revealed that close to one fifth had been wiped off the value of its portfolio, pushing it down by £1.3bn to £6bn in the 12 months ended 31 March.
