Tom Bloxham
MBE
Chancellor of the
University of Manchester
In office
1 August 2008 – 1 August 2015
Preceded byAnna Ford and Terry Leahy
Succeeded byLemn Sissay
Personal details
Born
Thomas Paul Richard Bloxham

(1963-12-20) 20 December 1963
Fleet, Lincolnshire,[1] England
Residence(s)Manchester, England
Alma materVictoria University of Manchester
ProfessionChairman and Co-Founder, Urban Splash
Salary£150,000 plus dividends.[2]

Thomas Paul Richard Bloxham MBE (born 20 December 1963) is a British property developer, founder of award winning urban renewal property development company Urban Splash and the modern housebuilder House by Urban Splash - companies which have won 450 awards to date for architecture, design and business success.

In 1999 Bloxham was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1999 Birthday Honours for Services to Architecture and Urban Regeneration.[3]

Background

Bloxham was born in Hampshire and went to Tiffin School[4] leaving in 1983 to go to Manchester to study Politics & Modern History at the Victoria University of Manchester where he received a 2:2 degree. Before university he sold fire extinguishers to businesses and he increased sales by setting his briefcase on fire and then extinguishing it. At University he started a poster business seling posters at student unions across the north of Wngland. After university he opened a music and film poster shop in Afflecks Palace.[5]

Urban Splash

Bloxham began subletting portions of his unit at Afflecks Palace and this began his career in property. Bloxham co-founded Urban Splash with architect Jonathan Falkingham and initially converted redundant properties, mainly formerly industrial buildings, in north west England into city centre residential loft apartments.[6]

Headquartered in Castlefield, Manchester,[7] with regional bases in Liverpool, Leeds, Bristol, Sheffield, Cambridgeshire and Plymouth, the company has created more than 5,000 new homes and jobs and over two million sq ft of commercial space. The company has won over 450 awards for architecture and regeneration, including 46 RIBA awards. [8] 

He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and in 1999, he was given an MBE.[6]

In September 2012 the company reported pre-tax losses of £9.3 million and debts of £234.4 million for the previous year.[9]

In the aftermath of the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire a number of Urban Splash developments were found to have been constructed using flammable cladding and to not comply with the required Building regulations in the United Kingdom.[10][11]

Pro Bono Appointments

Bloxham was elected Chancellor of The University of Manchester in June 2008 to take office from 1 August 2008 for a period of seven years. Bloxham was installed as Chancellor at a ceremony at the University's Whitworth Hall on 3 December 2008. At the same ceremony Sir Bernard Lovell, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Edward Gregson and Eddie Davies received honorary degrees.[12][13]

He completed his term of office on 1 August 2015 and was succeeded by the poet and broadcaster Lemn Sissay.[14]

Tom has also held other pro bono positions including a Trustee of the Big Issue North, a Founding Chair of the Ancoats Urban Village Trust, a Founding Chair Centre for Cities Think Tank (2007 – 2010) [15] and Chair Arts Council (NW) (1999 – 2008).

He was a Trustee of the Tate from 2009 to 2017,[16] a Founding Trustee of the MUFC Foundation (2007 – present),[17] a Founding Trustee of the Bloxham Charitable Trust (2001 – present) and Founding Trustee of the Urban Splash Charitable Trust (2008 – present).

Other Achievements

Bloxham was Founding Chair of the Manchester International Festival which was established in 2004. [18]

In 2019 he was named North West Insider Property Personality of the Year[19] and was named in the 2016 City AM Entrepreneur list. He has won awards including The College of Estate Management Property Award (2008)[20] and The Royal Society of Arts RSA Bicentenary Medal.[21]

Bloxham has received an Honorary Fellowship, Cumbria University,[22] an Honorary Doctorate of Business, University of Plymouth,[23] an Honorary Doctorate, University of Manchester,[24] an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Design, University of West England,[25] an Honorary Doctorate of Design, Oxford Brookes University, and an Honorary Fellowship, Liverpool John Moores University.[26]

In 2022, The Manchester School of Architecture announced Bloxham as visiting professor of Urban Regeneration.[27]

References

  1. ↑ "Tom Bloxham, Esq, MBE Authorised Biography – Debrett's People of Today, Tom Bloxham, Esq, MBE Profile". Debretts.com. 20 December 1963. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
  2. ↑ Asthana, Anushka. "Business : Columnists". The Times. London.
  3. ↑ "No. 55513". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 June 1999. p. 14.
  4. ↑ "UWEawards honorary degree to Tom Bloxham MBE", University of the West of England, 22 November 2007.
  5. ↑ "Urban Splash's Tom Bloxham speaks exclusively to Pride Of Manchester about his life and the city's architecture". Pride of Manchester. Retrieved 6 October 2007.
  6. 1 2 "TOM BLOXHAM - Chairman of the Urban Splash Group". Manchester Evening News. Archived from the original on 16 August 2007. Retrieved 6 October 2007.
  7. ↑ "Get in touch". Urban Splash. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  8. ↑ "Our Awards". Urban Splash. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  9. ↑ Bartlett, David (7 May 2013). "Urban Splash debts reach £234m but company staying positive". Liverpool Echo. Liverpool.
  10. ↑ Tom Ravenscroft (8 November 2018). "Cladding of Will Alsop's Chips apartment block has "non fire retardant" written on it". Dezeen. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  11. ↑ David Rhodes & Jonny McGuigan (23 January 2018). "Grenfell Tower: Unsafe cladding 'still affects thousands'". BBC News. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  12. ↑ "Installation ceremony 2008". Retrieved 26 March 2009.
  13. ↑ UniLife; 2 Feb 2009, pp. 4-5
  14. ↑ "Installation ceremony 2015". Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  15. ↑ Greig-Smith, Heather; November 2005, Heather Greig-Smith Heather Greig-Smith25. "Urban Splash chief to chair Centre for Cities think tank". Property Week. Retrieved 9 August 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. ↑ "Tate appoints Bloxham to board of trustees". Place North West. 25 February 2009. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  17. ↑ Foundation, Manchester United. "Manchester United Foundation - The Board of Trustees". www.mufoundation.org. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
  18. ↑ Shea, Compiled by Christopher D. (2 June 2017). "A Summer of Opera, Theater and Music". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  19. ↑ Media, Insider. "Insider North West Residential Property Awards 2019". Insider Media Ltd. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  20. ↑ admin_ucem (11 October 2017). "UCEM Property Awards 2017: Past Property Award Winners". University College of Estate Management. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  21. ↑ "Past winners of the Bicentenary Medal". The RSA. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  22. ↑ "Bloxham awarded seventh university honour". Place North West. 15 July 2010. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  23. ↑ "Tom Bloxham MBE". University of Plymouth. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  24. ↑ "University honours world leaders in property, cancer and economics". University honours world leaders in property, cancer and economics. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  25. ↑ "UWEawards honorary degree to Tom Bloxham MBE - UWE Bristol: News Releases". info.uwe.ac.uk. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  26. ↑ "Honorary Fellows Index". www.ljmu.ac.uk. Retrieved 11 August 2022.
  27. ↑ "Manchester School of Architecture appoints Tom Bloxham MBE as Visiting Professor | Business Manchester". 15 December 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
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