Sold the marinas and bought this

Not sure about investing, sounds like spending other people's money [before it is realised]. 

I got the wrong end of the stick there, are the CRT selling off one set of properties which they can't manage profitably enough [?], in order to build another set of properties?
I assume they were "gifted" all these land rights initially.
It reminds me of my old Agricultural College which was gifted hundreds of hectares of good farming land for educational and research purposes plus trust fund legacies, and in my lifetime have turned that ideal in to an overspill housing estate for yuppies. I don't know what they did with the money, several re-brandings must have accounted for a few millions. I still have my bronze medallions for being a diligent clever clogs, I really do value them.  All the other bits of paper from Universities are just that, something bought and paid for by yours truly.  Sorry, rambling on a bit ................


Philanthropy is a wonderful thing, not to be wasted on the greedy.

I would not gainsay it ... however I was thinking more best return for least outlay.

We have to accept that as a trust C&RT have to generate income.

I still feel that what they do with the income is more important I.e. focussing on maintaining/improving the system.

Rog

You can't profitably generate long term income by selling off properties. As far as I can see this multi million pound asset is being managed by people with very little asset management experience, and even less financial planning. I've worked in several sectors from the Civil Service, to local Authorities, from large to small SME's, and when shove comes to push, the man at the helm needs to know what his goals are, and he needs good lieutenants to deliver.
With respect to the CRT, I get the impression the tail is wagging the dog, probably several tails, not sure how many dogs.

Who knows? I suppose time will tell. Personally I think it is a mistake to move away from core interests. The investment arm of loyds who bought the marinas obviously think they are a good investment.

Whatever, they obviously thought it was a good financial investment otherwise they wouldn't have put money in.

Well it's not a big risk if they have the security of the asset [the marinas] plus the capital of the management consortium [their houses!]

Here's my proposal to an investor
Assets value £100M
Asset costs £80M
Value of consortium [personal pledged] assets £20M

Annual income after all costs, including management fees and directors salaries and bonuses. £5M

Bankers don't take risks.