The opening of the Hall of Fame exhibition at the Building Centre this week was a chance to hobnob with the great and the good in construction, and in some cases their parents ...

Another day, another cocktail party. Yes, it is that time of year again. Last night the event that had me putting on the LBD was the opening of Building’s own Hall of Fame, a permanent gallery of the great and good of the construction industry at London’s Building Centre.

The gathering was mainly made up of the grey-suited greats featuring in the gallery and their families, but one of our greats had sent along his parents in his place. Step forward Mr and Mrs Bloxham, parents of the phenomenally successful - and pretty cool with it - developer Tom of Urban Splash.

It was really refreshing to chat with them. Not only did it give an insight into what makes a developer (Tom, I learned, showed an early talent for squaring up to seemingly impossible challenges as a Young Socialist in affluent Surbiton). It also gave me a very different perspective on regeneration. “Tom drove me round East Manchester when he had just got the site,” said Mrs Bloxham. “I saw boarded up houses and burned out cars. I wondered why he wanted to take on other people’s troubles.”

Taking on other people’s troubles, I thought. That’s a pretty good definition of regeneration. Thanks for coming, Annabell and Paul.

  • See this Friday's Building magazine for photos of the Hall of Fame event held at London's Building Centre. The will also be televised interviews with the great and the good on BuildingTV from Friday.

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