In this episode of the Building Competitive Advantage in a Sustainable World podcast, David Young — BCG Henderson Institute Fellow researching Sustainable Business Model Innovation — interviews Mark Preston, Executive Trustee and Chief Executive at Grosvenor.

Grosvenor is a global privately held trustee-owned organization whose operations span urban property, food and AgTech, rural estate management, and support for philanthropic initiatives. The firm’s history dates back over 340 years and currently manages over £11 billion in assets under management across its portfolios. Beneficial ownership of the firm remains with the Grosvenor family, the Duke of Westminster being the primary beneficiary.

Mark’s three-decade-long career at Grosvenor has spanned continents, taking him from the UK to Hong Kong and San Francisco, before returning to the UK in 2006 to head up Grosvenor’s property business as Chief Executive.

David and Mark discuss how Grosvenor’s unique legacy and governance structure has facilitated managerial decision-making from a long-term perspective on not only financial returns but sustainability and stakeholders as well. In the latter half, they discuss how Grosvenor made the pivot to new lines of business beyond real estate, and where the frontier of sustainable business model innovation is today.