This was achieved despite difficult conditions in the markets in which we operate and translated into total EBITDA for the Group of £31.1m, up from last year’s £26.8m, and a pre-tax loss of £9.9m against a loss of £13.8m last year.

Each of our three operating businesses, Malmaison and Hotel du Vin, MWB Business Exchange and Liberty, encountered difficult market conditions over the year, with the economic environment being particularly tough in the second half of 2008. The harder economic conditions were not unexpected, however, and each of the company’s senior management teams had already taken steps to reduce costs and mitigate, as much as possible, the impact of any downturn in the market. The full effects of these actions will continue to be felt during the course of 2009 and are expected to position the Group well for the economic improvement when it occurs.

Against this background total revenue for the three businesses rose by 10.2% to a record £278m for the year to December 2008, as each demonstrated a high degree of resilience despite market conditions.

I am also pleased to report that on 27 April 2009 we extended £348m of the Group’s banking facilities provided by Bank of Scotland and Royal Bank of Scotland. The terms of these facilities, comprising three separate loans to Malmaison and Hotel du Vin, MWB Business Exchange and MWB itself, previously ran to the end of 2009 but have now been extended to 31 December 2011. As a result, none of the Group’s funding facilities are due to expire in the current financial year to December 2009 and the shortest expiry date is the facility provided to Liberty, whose term runs to 30 September 2010. We are very pleased with this outcome, which improves the financial position of the Group in these ever more challenging times.

Our boutique hotel business, Malmaison and Hotel du Vin, continued to grow with a 13% uplift in sales, passing the £100m mark for the first time at £107.6m. Operating EBITDA increased by 11% to a record £26m, largely achieved as a result of our continued hotel openings during 2007 and 2008. During the year to 31 December 2008 a further four hotels were opened while two existing properties – Brighton and Harrogate – were extended. All the new hotels only opened in the second half of the year and yet have performed strongly.

Bearing present market conditions in mind there will be no new Malmaison or Hotel du Vin hotels opening during 2009. As a result no major capital expenditure is being committed by the group in these current markets, though there could be opportunities to lease and convert additional hotels under the Malmaison and Hotel du Vin format. Instead, resource is being concentrated on ensuring newly opened hotels become firmly established and building on the excellent reputation of our existing properties. We have acquired a site at a former tannery at Canterbury and this will be developed when market conditions improve. Our hotel in St. Andrews continues to operate profitably as the Golf Hotel meantime, and will be converted to a Hotel du Vin in due course.

As part of its strategy to face the challenges presented by the new business environment, our hotels group embarked upon a major cost savings programme half-way through 2008 aimed at reducing overheads combined with securing better cost levels and higher discounts on everything from utilities to consumables. At the same time, new food and beverage led promotions have expanded the group’s potential customer base.

MWB Business Exchange, our AIM quoted serviced offices provider, made further progress in consolidating its position as the UK’s second largest sector specialist as it produced a 6.5% uplift in EBITDA to £18.1m. This is an extremely commendable performance in an increasingly difficult business environment and reflects the soundness of both Business Exchange’s offer and its strategy.

Business Exchange, as the serviced office operator offering one of the most competitive products available in terms of quality and value, has continued to focus on establishing its network of centres within Central London and in key UK business locations. Again, the senior management team had already implemented a strategy aimed at combating the worst effects of the downturn. One of the key elements of that strategy was to focus on only opening new centres using Business Exchange’s successful Operating and Management Agreements. This ensures a greatly reduced capital expenditure programme whilst allowing us to continue to expand cash and profit generation from new centres, without the liability of entering into leases.

It is also worth noting that Business Exchange’s increasingly successful Meeting and Conference Room offer produced a 7% uplift in revenue to £11.3m. This division continues to benefit from the shift from residential-based conference and meeting room facilities as clients have sought to reduce costs.

Liberty continues to make progress. Sales across the business grew by 9% during 2008 to £50.9m and became one of the few beacons in the industry to produce sales growth as the foundations laid over the past 18 months by the new management team began to bear fruit. At the operating EBITDA level, Liberty’s performance slipped from £2.7m last year to £1.8m this year, reflecting tighter margins.

Despite the worst fears of commentators on the sector as a whole, Liberty only really felt the impact of the economic downturn for the month of November while Christmas 2008 virtually matched its record sales of the previous year and far exceeded forecasts. Contributing factors included excellent customer promotions and a determination to clear stocks in preparation for the “Renaissance of Liberty” renovation programme within the flagship store. This programme involves a new layout and product offer over three new fashion floors, with a large number of exclusive brands.

This renaissance has now been completed and has been extremely well received by both the media and customers alike. The opening ceremony was performed by award winning actress Freida Pinto in February 2009 and generated extensive media interest both here and around the globe.

The impact of this renaissance should not be underestimated. Not only is it an important step in re-establishing Liberty’s credentials as London’s leading retail destination for innovative and avant garde design and fashion but it also helps achieve global brand awareness for the business and the Liberty of London operation.

As I mentioned earlier, we have extended £348m of our banking facilities to the end of 2011. This significant extension has however not been achieved without cost; the increased margins and fees now charged by banks generally have been the subject of much commentary in the press. Despite the increased cost, we strongly believe it is in the Group’s long term interests to extend these facilities and given the current level of illiquidity in the financial markets, are very pleased to have achieved this.

MWB Group produced divisional Operating EBITDA of £46.4m, up from last year’s £43.6m and pre-tax losses this year of £9.9m compared to pre-tax losses of £13.8m last year. This year’s results reflect the absorption of £2.5m of costs associated with our successful corporate restructuring in April 2008, while 2007’s results included profits on property sales of some £7.6m. On-going overheads continue to be closely controlled and the ServCo management fee has been reduced by £1.1m to £2.4m with effect from January 2009.

The key statistic for shareholders continues to be our property valuations. As has been well documented, general property values have fallen significantly as a result of continued uncertainty in the financial markets and the general move into recessionary times in the UK. The wider economic uncertainties affect our business like all others and we are not immune to the increased problems that this brings. Nonetheless, I am very pleased to report that our property values have proved to be far more robust than has been the case generally in the market.

For the year ended December 2008, we recorded a reduction in property values of £79.2m, with this occurring approximately equally in both halves. This represents a 14% reduction for the year which is well below general market reductions. It also reflects the quality and inherent value of our properties and their strong operational performance. This resulted in a reduction in equity attributable to MWB shareholders of £64.9m after taking account of minority interests. Notwithstanding these property writedowns, our property gearing was 63% at the year end, again reflecting our strategy of maintaining this at relatively low levels to ensure protection of stakeholders’ interests.

Principally as a result of the decrease in property values, the retained loss and the share buy-backs by the Company, equity attributable to MWB Shareholders reduced to £125.9m from £204.4m at December 2007, of which £10.0m was due to the share buy-backs. This represents a reduction of 80p per share for the year, from 254p at December 2007 to 174p at December 2008. Equity attributable to MWB Shareholders of 174p per share contrasts with our current share price of only 42p per share, a level of discount that disappoints us and which we consider to be unwarranted.

The Company’s Articles of Association stipulate the maximum permitted multiple of equity attributable to shareholders that the Company may borrow. With these recent reductions in value, despite the businesses themselves producing record results, the Board considers that the current permitted multiple of four times shareholders’ equity could restrict the Group in the years ahead. The Board is therefore proposing an increase from four to five times shareholders’ equity for the permitted level of Group borrowings and this will be considered at the 2009 AGM. I would add that this is not designed to increase the actual level of borrowings but merely to amend the permitted multiple of equity attributable to shareholders that the Group borrowing represents.

The covenants included in all our financing facilities at 31 December 2008 were fully complied with and are forecast to be fully complied with during the period covered by our projections. We are nevertheless aware that, although we consider this to be unlikely, the gearing covenant in respect only of the Group’s £30m Unsecured Loan Stock, could be affected if there are continued material reductions in property values. The Board recognises that in the current adverse market conditions it is difficult to predict future property values with previous levels of accuracy, and we have therefore commented on this in note 1 to our financial statements. The Board is also exploring various options open to the Company with the aim of strengthening the Group’s financial structure and will update shareholders at the appropriate time.

There is little doubt that the current economic environment will have an impact on all our businesses over the coming year. Pricing, whether it is for a hotel room, a workstation or a Liberty product will be under severe pressure. However our three operating companies have robust business models that enable each to continue to attract customers who seek real value for money. While the current uncertain economic environment makes it difficult to make meaningful forecasts for the year ahead, I do believe we have the management, products and service to continue to make progress for the benefit of stakeholders and the communities in which we operate.