Place 100, 2009: 16 to 30

In association with Halliwells and Roland Dransfield PR

Contents

►Place 100, 2009: 1 to 15

►Place 100, 2009: 31 to 100 A-E

►Place 100, 2009: 31 to 100 F-L

►Place 100, 2009: 31 to 100 M-Z

16. John Cosgrave / Managing Director / Arley Homes / House-building / Warrington. Former Alfred McAlpine MD, Cosgrave founded his own firm in 2002 following a management buy-out of Linden Homes where he was a sales manager. Has been a welcome land buyer and builder in the region's housing market in the past year. Arley launched two new sites in Bolton and Atherton and sold the remaining properties on three developments in Rainford, Hale and Northern Moor. Arley's land team bought a site in Chorley in September and is negotiating on several more plots. Arley is backed by Yorkshire Bank, part of the National Australia Group, which has suffered less than others in the recession.

Cosgrave on 2010: "Although we have built our reputation on small, high quality projects, we believe the time is right to scale up and develop larger schemes, bringing even more choice to buyers across the region. We are also looking to expand out from Greater Manchester into new geographical areas, hence our latest planning application is for a site in Lancashire."

17. Steve Swainson / Director / Pugh & Co / Auctioneer / Preston. Auctions suit recessions. The flexibility of the auction room in finding a price, allied with the no-nonsense immediacy of forming a contract when the gavel goes down, makes them irresistible to buyer and seller alike. The biggest auction house in the North holds 14 big sales in Leeds and Manchester each year, with an average of between 150 and 200 lots a time. Pugh & Co raised in excess of £75m for clients in 2009. The strength of the business is long-term agreements with corporate clients such as Lloyds Banking Group, Network Rail, British Waterways and 25 local authorities, handling disposals of surplus stock.

Founder Roy Pugh retired a couple of years ago. Swainson joined the firm in 1995, four years after it was established, leaving Liverpool-based Mason Owen (qv) to do so and now runs Pugh & Co with fellow director Paul Thompson. The company employs 15 staff.

18. Mike Gaskell / Managing Director / Morris Homes / House-building / Wilmslow. Publicity-shy former accountant turned exceptionally successful builder. Left the profession to join Morris Homes as financial controller and steadily rose to become the boss. Led a £175m management buyout in 2004 but has since bought the VCs out. One of the few house-builders, along with fellow NW independent Arley (qv), that has stayed on course through the recession, helped in part by the company's social and affordable housing division. Morris, with circa £250m in sales, is one of the country's largest privately owned house builders.

19. David Russell / Chairman / Property Alliance Group / Development / Trafford. Former carpenter and kitchen salesman made his fortune selling Farouche Kitchens at 29 for £12m and became a tax exile in the Channel Isles before realising he missed Manchester and his native Rochdale. Although still domiciled offshore, Manchester is the HQ of his growing and successful property empire. Has built up a small loyal team, which has developed a reputation as an exceptional off-market dealmaker. Works from the outset of a requirement with big occupiers, especially industrial, to buy land, get planning permission and install them, time after time. Turnover this year came in at £11.8m with several big deals under the belt: chief among them the completion of the £15m MAN Truck & Bus facility at the former Trafford Park Bakery and sale of a site in Accrington to Tesco to build a £35m store. The Axis office tower in Manchester city centre is eagerly awaited, if for no other reason than to see how it fits on the tiny canal-side site off Deansgate. Funding is in place from Santander for Axis.

20. Phillip Morris / Managing Director / Liberty Properties / Development / Chester. Liberty was heaped with praise by judges for the one of the schemes of the year: the eye-catching circular HQ Chester mixed-use development on the site of the former Cheshire police headquarters. HQ will contain a hotel, apartments, restaurant and is now fully let or sold thanks to the disposal of 82,000 sq ft of office space recently to Cheshire West & Chester Council. The HQ site was sold to RREEFF in 2006.

21. Andrew Tinkler / Chief Executive Officer / Stobart / Logistics / Warrington, Carlisle, Widnes...Tinkler's inclusion in Place 100 was as hotly debated by judges as any entry on the list. No occupiers should be included, or else Tesco and a host of others must follow, came one side of the argument. The other side said Stobart's work at the Mersey Multimodal Gateway (3MG) in Widnes and the expansion plans for Carlisle Airport meant it was not a normal occupier. A vote decided the latter to be the case. Widnes already handles around 100,000 shipping containers a year and nearly 1,000 vehicle movements every day but Stobart has only just started with the site. Stobart borrowed £29m this year in the form of an asset-backed loan to finish a 528,000 sq ft chilled distribution facility for servicing a range of customers, which was completed in July. The remaining development land around the site is now cleared, surplus buildings having been demolished. There is planning consent for 1.2m sq ft of additional space but Stobart wants to double this with a new application. Stobart said nearby Port of Weston's redevelopment would wait for the medium term while the container market was flat.

After eventually getting planning permission for the Carlisle Airport expansion, to be anchored by Stobart freight but with passenger traffic anticipated, the project is being costed before a start on site.

22. Ken Knott / Chief Executive / Ask Developments / Manchester. Liquidity issues made for a challenging year for this influential figure. Led an MBO in July backed by the Co-operative Bank (qv), which saw the exit of 25% shareholder Morgan Stanley. What level of equity he now owns is unclear. Knott has been behind several of the region's most ambitious schemes in recent years and, just to remind the market, two of the year's biggest deals - Manchester City Council at First Street and Greater Manchester Police's new 250,000 sq ft headquarters at Central Park - were secured. Ended the year in advanced talks with a hotel operator at First Street and raising £12m from a sale to Bury Council to keep going with Knowsley Place.

Knott on 2009: "I remember 2009 as being an annus horribilis where in the wake of the global financial crisis the market went into freefall; with us all left wondering if the parachutes would work! The turning point was when, with much relief, the parachutes did indeed work and we concluded our refinancing."

23. Peter Jones / Chairman / Emerson Developments (Holdings) / Alderley Edge. According to one national rich list ranking, it's been a tough year for Jones with his net worth dropping by £139m...to a mere £556m. In context however, the group remains one of the UK's most successful privately-owned property companies and has emerged from the recession in robust shape with a declared appetite to acquire, primarily residential house builders. The former joiner has also announced a shift from his hitherto Portuguese investment focus to Benelux and Germany. Orbit is known for its aggressive marketing of secondary office locations especially in South Manchester and Bolton, where the massive Middlebrook dominates the market. Made a slight loss this year due to currency fluctuations affecting investments but continues to produce lettings in the 200-plus buildings in its mixed-use portfolio.

24. Trevor Hemmings / Chairman / Northern Trust Group / Development and Investment / Chorley. With his net worth believed to be anywhere between £300m and £1bn, Hemmings at 74 remains a leading player. The former brickie's apprentice made his early fortunes in house-building and then with Pontin's. Believed to have taken a big hit from the fall in bank shares this year, having bought in the boom. Nevertheless, on the back of an increase in pre-tax profit announced earlier this year, Northern Trust recruited Mike Riding from Steve Morgan's (qv) Harrow Estates to lead a land buying charge and expand the company's 8m sq ft portfolio.

His Leisure Parcs investment in Blackpool's finest assets may however be drawing to a close as the council seeks to acquire them and invest some long-over due TLC.

25. Alan Murphy / Owner / Nikal Investments / Development / Manchester. Nikal, co-owned with managing director Nick Payne, claims a current development portfolio of around £600m spread across the UK. The company has also been developing pension qualifying commercial property investments through its brand MyBuro. Teamed up with the US private equity firm, The Carlyle Group, to redevelop an 8.42 acre site in Salford Quays. In the final three bidders for the new Altrincham General hospital, which would underwite the Altair scheme. Murphy, whose net worth is believed to be around £180m, made his first fortune selling AM Paper, a pioneer in own-label toilet tissue manufacture for supermarkets, based in Skelmersdale.

26. Ian Butler / Partner and Head of Office / Sheppard Robson / Architecture / Manchester. After a period working in Hong Kong, Butler joined Sheppard Robson in 2005 and now leads the firm's Manchester office. The practice has completed impressive large-scale buildings for Liverpool University and Manchester University in the past couple of years. It also worked on Spinningfields with Allied London (qv), where it designed 3 Hardman Street and The Avenue. Ongoing work includes designing residential elements of Wirral Waters with Peel. Butler says after a difficult period across the commercial property sector Sheppard Robson is returning to staff recruitment.

27. David and Karen Gladman / Partners / Gladman Group / Development / Congleton. Consistent and sensible were words the Place 100 judges used when describing the Cheshire developers. The couple display a lower profile than many self-made developers who have nothing like their £47m net wealth, according to EG Rich List 2009. Sold 4m sq ft of vacant warehouses and undeveloped sites to Rockpoint for £180m before the recession. In November this year let a 360,000 sq ft warehouse in Runcorn to Stobart and quickly sold it on to Scottish Widows Investment Partnership for a reputed £20m.

Have become increasingly active in Scotland and the North East in recent years, as well as launching into new markets such as the retirement homes division Adlington. The mainstay is industrial sheds and out-of-town office complexes.

28. Ian Simpson / Partner and Co-Director / Ian Simpson Architects / Manchester. Often labelled Manchester's favourite architect in the past decade, for good reason, thanks to a series of elegant glass landmarks at 1 Deansgate, Urbis, Beetham Hilton. Has diversified impressively in the past year or two to land hotly contested competitions for the National Wildflower Centre in Knowsley - the firm's first project in the Liverpool area - and the Manchester Town Hall Extension refurbishment. The company was set up in 1987 and employs 60 people in Manchester and London.

Simpson on 2009: "Whilst it's been a very difficult year with many projects on hold, the practice has been successful in maintaining its core team in both London and Manchester and is well placed to respond to any upturn. There is also our first international project - the result of an architectural competition - which will hopefully be announced in our favour before the end of the year."

29. Steve Byrne / Regional Director / BAM Construction / Salford. One of the best-performing contractors in the region in 2009 with a hatful of big wins to its credit. The company is part of the €8bn turnover Royal BAM Group, which will help it meet the exceptional demands set by the Co-Operative Group for the new 325,000 sq ft head office which starts on site next year. As well as landing the Co-op build, BAM is developing a suite of large offices at BAe Systems' Salmesbury site in Lancashire.

BAM has a strong hand in the region's education market, currently on site at Culcheth High School, South and West Cheshire Colleges, Bolton's Community and Sixth Form Colleges, Skelmersdale and Ormskirk College, the University of Central Lancashire and Liverpool Community College.

In Liverpool, the BAM team is at work on the £135m Mann Island development for Neptune (qv) and Countryside (qv). BAM's property development business has also developed St Peter's Square in Stockport and The Metro Building in Manchester.

30. John Morphet / Owner / Pure Leisure Group / Holiday Parks / Carnforth. Sold his South Lakeland Caravans business for £100m in 2006 to private equity firm Legal & General Ventures, and told newspaper reporters he regularly had a chuckle on his way to sleep as a result of his luck. A sheep farmer turned leisure industry tycoon, Morphet has assets in the UK and abroad totalling £190m (£80m in Britain, £110m in Barbados) and is taking advantage of the weak market to start buying again. His company Pure Leisure Group now includes nine holiday and caravan parks, two golfing estates and the 750-acre Royal Westmoreland estate in Barbados, where celebrities including Wayne Rooney, Andrew Flintoff and Gary Lineker have homes. Acquired three new Lincolnshire caravan parks in October 2009 for £10m from Knowles Leisure and is eyeing deals closer to home. In August, unveiled a £3.5m facility at Fell End Caravan Park on the Cumbria/Lancashire border. Current turnover is approximately £20m in the UK, and £20m from Royal Westmoreland.