1980s

Lord Heseltine (1933-)

Founder of modern regeneration policy

One of the Tory Party's most colourful politicians, Lord Heseltine's most lasting legacy lies in urban regeneration - a policy he founded with pioneering work to transform the bleak 1980s landscapes of Liverpool and London's Docklands.

In 1981, following the Toxteth riots, the then-environment secretary took three weeks off and relocated to Liverpool to persuade the private sector to become involved in regeneration. He established the Merseyside Development Corporation - Britain's first urban development corporation. The MDC existed until 1998, attracting £660m of private and public sector investment.

Later in 1981, Heseltine established a similar organisation in London's Docklands, the London Docklands Development Corporation. The LDCC took over planning powers from local boroughs and used its resources to build new infrastructure across 8.5 square miles of east London, including Canary Wharf. Derelict land was subject to compulsory purchase powers awarded to the LDDC under the Local Government, Planning and Land Act, passed the previous year.

Both the MDC and the LDDC have their critics - Merseyside still has a per capita income below the national average. But the corporations made great strides in transforming previously deprived areas, and paved the way for today's development bodies.

In his own words: "What we did has now become the consensus policy - a constructive partnership between the public, voluntary and private sectors."

Three key dates:

1980 Local Government, Planning and Land Act
1981 MDC established
1999 Co-founded English Partnerships

A Yellow Submarine exhibit at the Liverpool Garden Festival in 1984. The festival was one of Lord Heseltine’s key regeneration plans for the area

Sir Frank Lampl (1926-)

The man who took Bovis into more than 30 countries

Since emigrating to the UK from Czechoslovakia in 1968, Sir Frank Lampl's name has become synonymous with Bovis' success overseas. After setting up Bovis International in 1978, parent company P&O appointed him to its board as chairman and chief executive of the entire Bovis construction business in 1985. He spent the late 1980s taking Bovis' client-based ethos into more than 30 countries including the USA, China, India and Australia. Such commitment to the industry did not go unnoticed and he received a knighthood in 1990.

Andrew Bond, director of communications at Bovis Construction and a close friend, has fond memories of working with Lampl: "A consummate ‘deal doer', Sir Frank was always at his happiest on the acquisition trail or clinching another international contract but he is also a compassionate person who was always concerned about the welfare of everyone he worked with."

Bond recalls one particular day where this concern for his staff saw Lampl fill in for Dot, the receptionist at Bovis' Sloane Street headquarters while she nipped to the ladies. "There was no one about to take over," says Bond. "But gallant to the last, Lampl promptly took her place behind the desk, greeting staff and welcoming visitors until her return - an act that is entirely typical of his nature."

In his own words: On the construction industry's lack of interest in financial engineering: "We will have to be better in finding and raising finance. The construction industry is not suitable for public ownership."

Three key dates:

1968 Emigrated from Czechoslovakia to UK
1885 Appointed Bovis chief executive
1990 Knighted

Sir Frank Lampl was responsible for expanding Bovis across the world (countries marked by the darker pink)

The Reichmann brothers

Albert (1928-) and Paul (1930-)

The property entrepreneurs who transformed London's Docklands into Canary Wharf

That Paul and Albert Reichmann will leave a huge legacy is undeniable. Born into a devout Hungarian Jewish family, Paul and Albert made their fortune in Canada, and built up a multibillion-dollar property empire that was the largest in the world during the 1980s. In 1964 they founded development company Olympia & York and proceeded to reshape the commercial landscape of Toronto, including building Canada's tallest building, First Canadian Place in 1976.

In the 1980s they had a similar impact on the commercial centres of New York and Tokyo, but they owe their place in the Hall of Fame to Canary Wharf - the cornerstone of the Thatcher government's London Docklands regeneration programme. After the Reichmanns created the first cluster of tall office towers in London, the likes of HSBC bank and law firm Clifford Chance, were among the major corporate powerhouses that fled the City for the dizzy heights of the new financial district. With offices came retail, the extension of the London Underground's Jubilee line, residential development and nightlife.

The Reichmanns were not without their problems, however. In 1992 Olympia & York went bust when it was unable to pay the huge debts associated with Canary Wharf. Paul, the better known of the two brothers, then failed to buy the Canary Wharf Group (which he founded after Olympia & York collapsed). Shareholders of the public company instead opted for Morgan Stanley.

Paul is considered to be tough but honourable and is charming in person. As the more talkative brother, he has the greater public recognition. Albert is considered the more patient and has tended to deal more with the construction side of the business, leaving investment deals to Paul. They have had their ups and downs in professional life but the risks that paid off have transformed some of the world's greatest cities.

In their words: "We don't have the personality problems, the competitiveness, the jealousies, that some people do. With administration and construction, I'm more active [than Paul]. It always works out." Albert Reichmann

Three key dates:

1964 Founded Olympia & York
1987 Started developing Canary Wharf
1997 Albert's son Philip and Paul's son-in-law Frank Hauer create O&Y Properties Inc, five years after Olympia & York collapsed

One Canada Square, London’s tallest building, presaged the birth of a new financial district in London’s Docklands, developed by Albert and Paul Reichmann

Sir Stuart Lipton (1942-)

The founder of Stanhope and first chairman of Cabe

The founder and former chief executive of developer Stanhope has, over the course of 20 years, built an enviable reputation as someone who has had a positive impact on the industry, and changed the shape of the City of London.

The success of the Broadgate office and retail complex next to London's Liverpool Street was a huge achievement for Lipton, and many of the Stanhope team that worked under him to deliver the project rose to be influential in the industry as a result.

Lipton is generally considered by the industry to be an enlightened client who understands construction. He is also passionate about architecture, which, combined with his experience, led to his appointment as the first chairman of architectural watchdog Cabe. There, he championed the importance of architecture from a national platform and always had the ear of the government.

One of his closest allies throughout his career has been Elliott Bernerd, the founder of developer Chelsfield with whom he teamed up to develop a modern British business park at Stockley Park near London's Heathrow Airport. Now that Lipton has left Stanhope the pair have reunited to form Chelsfield Partners, which has a reported war chest of £1bn.

In his own words: "Modern art and architecture are to me inseparable. I enjoy my mind being stretched by both and tend to like stronger works, strong enough to change my mood."

Three key dates:

1982-91 Broadgate development
1999 First chairman of Cabe
2000 Knighted

Sir Stuart Lipton, Peter Foggo and Peter Rogers were three of the main men behind the Broadgate development near London Liverpool street station in the 1980s

Peter Foggo (1930-1993)

The architect behind Broadgate

Peter Foggo's name will be forever linked with Broadgate. Sir Stuart Lipton says that Foggo was responsible for the groundbreaking network of public spaces that lies at the development's heart. "He designed the spaces before the building," says Lipton. "He was a unique person. He had separate skills as a pure architect, in internal space enjoyment and buildability, which is very rare."

Broadgate capped a string of successful projects for Foggo during the 1980s, of which Lipton rates No 1 Finsbury Avenue as his finest design.

With Broadgate's construction nearly complete, Foggo and his design team left Arup to set up Foggo Associates in 1989. The practice made its mark with the Gateway 1 and 2 buildings in Basingstoke, two of the first buildings in the UK to be self-ventilated.

The interest in environmentally conscious design drew on the close working relationships that Foggo had formed with the engineers at Arup. "Rather than the architect being the prima donna, the team was the key," says his former colleague Tim Hinton.

Foggo died in 1993 at the age of 63 from a brain tumour. Hinton says: "The tragedy was that Peter was just coming to the peak of his powers."

In his own words: "If you're sitting down on a Friday afternoon with 20 drawings to be completed by Monday, the best thing that you can do is spend an hour working out how to reduce that information to two drawings." Foggo believed that architects had a habit of overdrawing.

Three key dates:

1982 Masterplanned Broadgate development
1984 No 1 Finsbury Avenue
1989 Founded Foggo Associates

Peter Rogers (1946-)

Innovative developer and chairman of Strategic Forum

Famed for his innovative approach, his role in the development of Broadgate, and those red glasses, Peter Rogers is director of Stanhope and former chairman of the Strategic Forum and, like his older brother Lord Rogers, he has carved out his own place in the history of the industry.

Rogers was appointed director of Stanhope in 1985 and quickly became a champion of construction management. Repeat business with suppliers and subcontractors was a theme that Rogers established and Stanhope made its own at Broadgate.

Rogers became Strategic Forum chairman in 2002 where he was a highly effective interface between the government and the construction industry. He left that role at the end of 2005, but he has retained his position as one of the most respected clients in the industry.

In his own words: "It's large, nasty, wildly powerful, hellishly dangerous" - Rogers describes his motorbike in a 2002 Building interview.

Three key dates:

1985 Joined Stanhope
1985-91 Oversaw Broadgate development
2002 Appointed chairman of the Strategic Forum