As a department of the University, and one of its major assets, the Press has an obligation beyond its scholarly and educational mission to provide the rest of the University with a financial return. The Press transfers 30 per cent of its annual post-tax surplus to the rest of the University, with a commitment to a minimum transfer of £9 million per annum until 2002/3.
The Press has no separate legal existence from the University, which, as an educational institution, has charitable status. Tax exemption has been granted to the Press on the grounds of its being an integral part of a charity and because the Press's publishing activities are in direct pursuit of those charitable aims.
None of the Press's surplus is distributed. It is all applied in the pursuit of the educational and scholarly objectives of the University and its Press, either through reinvesting in publishing or transferring funds to the rest of the University.