Tom Bloxham MBE

Group Chairman
Urban Splash

The company is responsible for development projects across the country, including Manchester, Liverpool, Cambridge, Milton Keynes, Birmingham, Leeds, Bradford Sheffield, Bristol, Plymouth, North Shields and Morecambe. In 1999 Tom was awarded an MBE for Services to Architecture and Urban Regeneration.

Tom also upholds a number of other positions including;Chairman of Manchester International Festival, and trustee of Tate, the Manchester United Foundation and The Bloxham Charitable Trust.

In 2016, Tom and Urban Splash co-founder Jonathan launched House by Urban Splash – their modular housing concept which is being rolled out across the country. House is created using modern methods of construction allowing for customer specification. The first homes are completed, fully sold and occupied at sites in Manchester, Salford and North Shields, with other modular homes on sale in Manchester, Birmingham and soon to launch in Cambridge, Walsall, the Wirral and Milton Keynes.

Simon Preece

Commercial Director
Bristol Airport

An experienced retailer with over 25 years experience in operational and commercial roles on the UK High Street, including a number of positions within the WH Smith Group.

Since joining Bristol Airport in 2005, Simon has been responsible for a number of major retail developments and has introduced a range of new national and international brands. He is also responsible for the commercial aspects of the airport’s car park business, property, advertising and ground transportation, including; car rental, bus and coach services and taxi provision. 

Simon heads a commercial team with experience of high street and airport retailing, airport terminal and car park operations, property and public transport. He is responsible for commercial strategy and development, negotiations with business partners and the day-to-day performance of Bristol

Airport’s commercial operations.

Mayor Marvin Rees

Mayor of Bristol
Bristol City Council

Marvin Rees was elected mayor in May 2016. On that day Bristol became the first major European city to have elected a mayor of black African heritage. He describes becoming mayor as another expression of a deeper commitment to building a fairer, more inclusive world. He is a Yale World Fellow and graduate of Operation Black Vote who has worked and studied in the UK and the US. He is a former BBC journalist, Public Health Worker, voluntary sector manager, co-founder of the City Leadership Programme and has developed the One City Plan for Bristol.

Tony Pidgley CBE

Chairman
The Berkeley Group

Tony Pidgley CBE is Chairman of the Berkeley Group. He left school at 15 to form his own company in haulage and plant hire. At 19, he sold his business to Crest Homes and became a Building Director, before leaving to form Berkeley in 1976. Under his leadership the business has grown to become a FTSE 100 company and builds more than 4,000 homes a year. At Berkeley, Tony has led some of the country’s most challenging and celebrated regeneration programmes, including the reinvention of the Royal Arsenal munitions site in Woolwich, and the revival of Hackney’s Woodberry Down estate. He has pioneered a holistic approach to placemaking and is passionate about working in partnership with local people to create welcoming communities that inspire civic pride and enhance wellbeing. Tony has advised successive Governments on regeneration, housing and developing public land. He was a member of Lord Heseltine's Estate Regeneration Advisory Panel, the Thames Estuary 2050 Growth Commission and the Mayor’s Outer London Commission. He was the longest serving President in the history of the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry and was awarded a CBE in 2013 for “services to the housing sector and the community.

Jo Davis

National Head of Planning Development & Regeneration
Avison Young

Jo Davis is National Head of Planning Development & Regeneration in the Bristol office of property adviser, GVA. Heading up the Planning, Development and Regeneration team across the South West and Wales, her twenty years’ experience in the industry has seen her involved in the planning of many of the region’s most prominent regeneration projects, residential housing developments, and complex brownfield site developments, working alongside companies and organisations such as HCA, St Modwen, Change Real Estate, Skanska, Goodmans, Royal London, Linden Homes, and Barratt Homes.

Jo is a firm believer in taking the holistic view to achieving commercially deliverable and sustainable development. Aware of both the opportunities and obstacles to effective delivery, she has an extensive understanding of what is achievable in this emerging market.

Paul Isaacs

Managing Director
Generator South West

Having initially spent 16 years in banking, Paul has over 20 years experience in residential and mixed-use development, especially in the assessment of planning risk, and has a reputation for being a trouble shooter and problem solver.  Combining the unique experience of both banking and property development, Paul also takes on Law of Property Act/Fixed Charge Receivership appointments.

Paul is

founder and Managing Director of Generator, comprising specialist developer, funding partner and advisor.  Paul founded the Group in January 2006 and is responsible for its overall direction and business development. Prior to this, in 2002 Paul was appointed as Managing Director of Cathedral Group Plc.  His first task was to deconsolidate Cathedral from its then parent company Mount Anvil. Alongside a hand-picked first class team, and after 3 years at the helm,Paul secured a highly profitable pipeline of projects with a GDV in excess of £275m.  One of which was the funding and delivery of the highly acclaimed pilot PPP project Canary South with the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA). 

This complicated mixed-use project included the delivery of a new state of the art Fire Station, 175 apartments and ancillary retail with a GDV in excess of £50m. In 1997 Paul was headhunted to join Frogmore responsible for Residential Joint Venture activity.   As Director, Paul was involved with several large, London based trophy residential developments: Paddington Basin (GDV £100m+); County Hall (GDV £132m) and Butlers Wharf (GDV £165m).

Cllr Paul Smith

Cabinet Member for Homes and Communities
Bristol City Council

Paul Smith is the Cabinet member for Homes and Communities for Bristol City Council. Paul was re-elected to the council in May 2016 following a 17 year break. Paul has worked in the housing association sector for almost 30 years and has also been the Chief Executive of two national charities. Paul’s housing experience has included working at director level within a midlands based housing association, more recently as Head of Intelligence and Insight for Aster Group which manages 28,000 homes across the south of England and two spells with the National Housing Federation.

Paul is a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Arts, Manufacture and Commerce and the Institute of Consulting and runs his own market intelligence and governance company.