Crown Estate counts of costs of CVAs

The Crown Estate is counting the costs of a series of company insolvencies and CVAs that have affected its estate.

The group was a creditor to Pizza Hut Restaurants, PizzaExpress, Casual Dining Group as well as New Look, according to documents filed at Companies House.

The Crown Estate, which manages the monarchy’s £13.4bn commercial property portfolio, was owed £1.2m from Pizza Hut Restaurants; £234,861 from PizzaExpress; and £219,150 from Casual Dining Group, owner of Bella Italia, Las Iguanas and Café Rouge, according to the documents.

In its most recent annual results, the Crown Estate set aside £12.9m in provisions for bad debts expected to arise in 2020/21 from its tenants falling into administration.

The Crown Estate said: “There’s no doubt this is a difficult time for the retail and food and beverage sectors, and we’re particularly conscious of the impact it’s having in many cases on people’s jobs and livelihoods. We are working with our customers to offer them support where we can through this challenging period.”

The Crown Estate returns its profits to the Treasury, which then allocates a portion of profits as “sovereign grant” to the Queen to cover the maintenance of a number of palaces. In the 12 months to March 31, it posted record pre-tax profits of £345m, but has since been caught up in the crisis hitting the high street.

Announcing annual results in September, Crown Estate chief executive Dan Labbad warned that performance this financial year would be significantly affected by coronavirus, which he said would bring about “permanent structural shifts” in sectors in which the estate has substantial property holdings, such as retail and offices.