Five ways to make a splash

Tom Bloxham

Tom Bloxham, 43, proudly says he is the most under-qualified member of the Urban Splash team. He got into property via a rather circuitous route – when he was studying politics and history at Manchester University and started selling records and posters in the student union to make some cash. He upscaled to a unit in Affleck’s Arcade, but ended up subletting part of it because it was too big. This was when the penny dropped: “I ended up making more money from sub-letting the space than selling the posters and thought ‘I must get into property!’”

He set up Urban Splash with Jonathan Falkingham (opposite) in 1993, after an impassioned discussion about the benefits of city centre living, quality design and regeneration, and they decided to take a chance redeveloping the Victorian mill buildings dotted round northern England. [Their first project was converting semi-derelict properties in central Manchester to make the North-west’s first loft-style apartments.]

“At the time people thought we were lunatics. We were talking about things like mixed-use and city centre living and people couldn’t get their heads round it, they were asking, ‘Who would want to live in the middle of a city?’. Banks wouldn’t fund us. Now these people have joined the asylum.”

His advice: “You need dogged determination rather than qualifications. You have to think about the bigger picture - if you don’t know where your destination is you’ll never get there.”

Jonathan Falkingham

Group chief executive and co-founder

When Jonathan Falkingham, 44, finished his masters degree in architecture at Liverpool University, most of his peers went for glamorous jobs in New York, Berlin or Australia. He didn’t. “I took the view that this was an opportunity to set up my own practice. In Liverpool at the time there was nothing for the design-orientated.” He admits it was a bold decision, “but to get through an architecture course you have to have oodles of self-confidence and a naïvety that everything will be OK.”

In 1989, Falkingham set up the practice Shed with his brother Miles. “We were designing everything from graphics and exhibitions to furniture and buildings. We had very cheap accommodation in Liverpool so we didn’t need extra funding as our overheads were very low.”

He found he had to teach two days a week on top of his practice work, but was cheered to find out that Ian Simpson, now Manchester’s most celebrated architect, was also doing more than one job to make ends meet. “I was reassured that there are many ways of making something work. You just have to work bloody hard and be adaptable.”

By 1991, Falkingham was getting fed up that the bars and restaurants that he was designing were closing within weeks. “We approached Tom Bloxham to design a bar for him in Liverpool. He had a tenant in mind but when they went bust me and Miles thought the only thing we hadn’t done was sell beer so we took on the lease and Tom became our partner.” The result was Liverpool’s Baa Bar, still going today, and Urban Splash was born two years later.

His advice: “Youth is a useful ingredient to success -you’ll try anything, you’ve not got a lot to lose and you can afford to make mistakes.”

Andrew Waugh

Group legal director

When Andrew Waugh began his construction management degree, graduates were getting nine job offers each. But then the recession struck. “Suddenly there were no jobs and the sandwich year in industry had to be dropped. I was looking round thinking ‘what will I do at the end of this?’”

After much perseverance, Waugh managed to get a graduate job at retailer Aldi as a property manager, but the property market slump had made him consider his long-term prospects: “I realised if I could do a law conversion degree I could roll with the punches in an industry hit by recession.”

Going back to school was one of the hardest decisions he’s had to make. “My friends thought I was crazy to go back to being a student with no job prospects at the end of it. But there are some decisions you have to take on your own and that was one of them. I have always believed that if you put in the work it will pay off in the long run.”

Waugh requalified as a solicitor, specialised in construction law and worked at developer Pochin for five years. Two years ago he joined Urban Splash and admits he enjoys the really “gnarly bits” in contract negotiation on mixed-use schemes.

His advice: “Whatever setbacks you experience, remember to SUMO - ‘shut up and move on’.”

Who are Urban Splash?

Urban Splash was founded by Tom Bloxham and Jonathan Falkingham in 1993, and quickly became one of the more sought-after names in property development. It made its name by taking derelict industrial sites in the centre of Manchester and Liverpool and transforming them into desirable loft-style apartments in regenerated office or retail schemes. Now every architect wants to work with it, and every council wants an Urban Splash scheme to grace their town. The company has developed £100m worth of property, and created more than 1 million ft2 of space. Its many celebrated schemes include the redevelopment of the landmark Rotunda building in Birmingham – where the flats sold out within 20 minutes of going on sale – and this rather unusual social housing scheme in Islington Square, Manchester, designed by FAT Architects.

Simon Gawthorpe

Managing director, Urban Splash Yorkshire

Simon Gawthorpe, 35, credits pester power with launching his career. He studied surveying at Newcastle Polytechnic and did a stint at Persimmon Homes, but his big break came after he constantly phoned a director at property company Richard Ellis until he relented and gave him a graduate position. “Persistence is one thing you really need to have in this industry,” he says.

But his bravest move was making the leap, five years later, to a company consisting of “one guy and his secretary” – niche developer Crown Dilmun. “It was a conscious move from being a development consultant to being a developer, but it was also a move from the safety net of a big company.

Three years ago, he got the job of setting up Urban Splash Yorkshire through a mutual contact. “It was quite a change to go from a small bank-owned company to one where there is a different idea of what value is, like doing community work with our projects.”

His advice: “You’re never totally ready for something, but you’ve got to learn to have the confidence to do it.”

Guy Jackson

Managing director urban splash build south

Guy Jackson, 43, has always been thrown in at the deep end. After his construction management degree at Manchester University he joined Taylor Woodrow as a site engineer and spent two years working on one of the country’s first design-and-build jobs. Then he was put in charge of the refurbishment of 35 London Underground Northern line stations, to be done late at night and to a tight deadline: “A tough job - it taught me a lot about planning and organisation.”

It was while working as a facilities manager for the RAF that Jackson learned the careers advice he would always stick to: ‘If you’ve got a decision to make, make up your mind and make it work. You will have to make many decisions and I use that advice all the time.”

Jackson stayed at Taylor Woodrow for 20 years, graduating to such mega projects as environmental theme park the Earth Centre in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, and the Festival Walk shopping centre in Hong Kong, before joining Urban Splash just over three years ago.

His advice: “Becoming an expert in something not many people are expert in is a good way to get ahead. That and trusting people - but trusting the right people.”