When Scientology officially opened its spectacular new British church in the Square Mile, the movement was given an unusually warm embrace by the Establishment. Ian Luder, an Alderman of the Corporation of London and a magistrate, lauded the organisation’s anti-drugs efforts. “The work which you do in this area is greatly to be welcomed,” he said, “and I wish you growing success.”

It was a satisfying moment for a group that yearns for respectability and is striving to transform its image from that of a shadowy cult to a mainstream religion.

The new building, opened last November in Queen Victoria Street near St Paul’s Cathedral, is part of a global expansion, with fresh sites in New York, Johannesburg, Madrid and Berlin. In Britain, Scientology has built up a small fortune in property, while its influence grows through businesses, charities and educational offshoots promoting its philosophies.

Its wealth in the UK has been estimated at £18 million, based on the Companies House records for its main corporate body – but it now values its property portfolio as nearly twice that alone.

Scientology draws a distinction between its churches and what it calls secular bodies promoting the beliefs of the movement’s founder, the late science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard.

However, when all is added together, The Times calculates that the value of the pro-Hubbard empire in Britain today is £57 million, with an annual turnover and income of £17 million. Not bad for an organisation that had only 1,781 adherents in England and Wales in the last census. How did this happen?

Scientology has old roots in Britain. From 1959 to 1967, Hubbard lived at Saint Hill Manor, an 18th-century pile set amid gardens, woods and lakes at East Grinstead. It developed an unusual set of practices, which leave it open to accusations that it exists as a money-making enterprise, targeting a combination of vulnerable addicts and the rich and famous.

Scientology is probably unique in that it keeps its sacred texts secret until, typically, devotees have paid enough money to learn what they say. “The goal is to make your way up the Bridge of Total Freedom,” Monique Yingling, an American tax lawyer who advises Scientology, told The Times.

The Bridge can be reached either through “auditing”, a practice reminiscent of one-to-one counselling, or by coursework, where several individuals may study under a supervisor at once. Auditing is the more expensive route.

Some anti-Scientology campaigners claim that the cost of completing all the courses can set an individual back $380,000 (£190,000). When The Times put this figure to Bob Keenan, director of the umbrella L Ron Hubbard Foundation, he adopted an ironic tone and said: “I wish.” He accepted, though, that the price of the “Premier Auditor Training Saint Hill Special Briefing Course Package” could be $33,932. “That’s the largest course that can be done,” Mr Keenan said.

Scientology has a singular structure. The Religious Technology Centre, chaired in America by David Miscavige, the de facto leader of the movement, claims ownership of the trademarks of scientology. Trademark law is used to enforce hierarchical power. Any church falling out of line with the centre can be stripped, through the courts, of permission to practise. Heretical offshoots or imitators may be stopped in their tracks. All Scientology’s texts are said to have been written by Hubbard. Since the full knowledge of the faith is reserved for those who complete the course, there can be no official confirmation to outsiders of what they ultimately believe. According to popular culture, Scientology teaches that 75 million years ago the intergalactic tyrant Xenu brought millions of space aliens to earth.

Hubbard’s writings are controlled by the California-based Church of Spiritual Technology. This uses copyright law to police access to the holy books, charging royalty fees to organisations, even churches. New technologies are used to ensure that the writings are kept “in forms that can withstand natural catastrophes”.

If this all looks rather businesslike, the World Institute of Scientology Enterprises formally promotes the application of Hubbard’s teachings to the workplace. It licenses the application of Hubbard’s methods in business.

Saint Hill remains at the heart of British scientology. It is the country’s highest-ranked church, while East Grinstead is home to a hub of ventures related to Scientology. Land Registry documents still show a conveyance bearing the name of “Lafayette Ron Hubbard” dated August 1959. The present owner of Saint Hill is the Church of Scientology Religious Education College Incorporated (Cosreci). Although this is Britain’s principal Scientology entity, it is based in Adelaide because South Australia, unlike Britain, recognises the movement as a religion for charity law.

Scientology says its most recent valuations show that its British religious properties are worth a total of £32 million. This may be pessimistic. The Times has been told by a property expert that its new church in the City of London has increased by a further £6 million to £18 million since that last valuation was done.

A copy of the latest Cosreci accounts filed at Companies House shows an annual income of £10 million and nonproperty assets of £10.8 million including £6.7 million cash. The main Hubbard-influenced charity is Narconon, which claims to provide therapy and education against drug abuse. It has an annual income of £520,000. The Greenfields School, which promotes Hubbard’s teachings for pupils aged 1 to 19, has £2.4 million assets and an annual turnover of £1 million.

A string of businesses can be linked to Hubbardism through prominent Scientology-related directors, solicitors and accountants, while another novel institution in scientology is the “celebrity centre”. While the likes of Tom Cruise and John Travolta may be expected to pop into the Hollywood centre, British scientology has attracted a more modest calibre of celebrity. Trustees of Narconon include the Polish cellist Baroness Soujata de Varis and Michael “Woody” Woodmansey, who played drums in David Bowie’s 1970s concept band, the Spiders from Mars.

Hubbard’s empire

Scientology

Religion

— Church of Scientology Religious Education College nonproperty assets £10.8m; income £10.3m
— Nesta Investments assets £1m
— Church of Scientology Mission of Bournemouth assets £125,000
— SOR Services (UK) Assets £54,000; turnover £25,000
— New Era Publications UK assets £40,000; turnover £79,000
— Total religion: assets £11.9m; income/turnover £10.4m

Charities

— Narconon Trust assets £29,000; income £519,000
— Citizens’ Commission on Human Rights: assets £4,000; turnover £43,000
— Criminon United Kingdom assets £3,000; income £14,000
— Total charity: assets £36,000; turnover/income £537,000

Businesses

— G & G Food Supplies: assets £2m; turnover £4.6m
— Centrepoint Ltd: assets £2m
— Weald Property Investments assets £1.8m
— G&G Nutrition: assets £44,000
— Naturecheer: turnover £40,000
— Wellmore Int’l: assets £8,000
— Human Detoxification Services International: assets £5,000
— Organic Nutrition: assets £3,000
— Total business: assets £5.8m; turnover £4.6m

Property

— Saint Hill Manor and Castle, East Grinstead, £7.5m
— Bullards, East Grinstead, £1m
— Walsh Manor, Crowborough, £1.5m
— Queen Victoria St, London, £18m
— Tottenham Court Road £2.5m
— Two Manchester properties £5m
— Tyne & Wear £1.5m
— Plymouth £1m
— Edinburgh £360,000
— Total property: £38m

Education

— Greenfields Educational Trust assets £2m; turnover £1.4m
— Hubbard College of Administr’n assets £2,000; turnover £19,000
—Total education: assets £2m; turnover £1.4m