Date: Thu 8th July, 2010
Venue: The Mercure St Paul's Hotel, 119 Norfolk Street, Sheffield, S1 2JE
Number of Guests Attended: 180
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Andy Topley, the director of regeneration at Creative Sheffield, was last night crowned Property Personality of the Year at the Insider South Yorkshire Property Gala Dinner 2010. The prestigious event, held at the Mercure St Paul's Hotel in Sheffield, attracted the very best in the local property community. One-hundred and eighty guests, representing more property companies than ever before at the event, saw comedian Alun Cochrane perform and heard the thoughts of keynote Paul Firth, the chief executive of Creative Sheffield. Also shortlisted were David Newton, St Paul’s Developments, Jon Bond, Bond Bryan Architects and Alex Pettifer, Sheffield Hallam University.
Accepting his award, Topley discussed Sheffield’s prospects for the future. He said: “I’m optimistic because Sheffield’s economy is structurally more resilient than in the last recession.” However, he also said what the city needs from the new coalition government is “clear decisions and quick answers”.
Guest speaker Firth also addressed the city’s future with a firm belief that it is in a solid position to progress. He said: “The UK has seen that over-reliance on financial services is undesirable and unsustainable. Sheffield can be an exemplar to government of an economy with advanced manufacturing and technology at the forefront.” He also said the city’s development priorities should be retail and office developments to attract more jobs. “If we can get the Sevenstone scheme and the business district right, we can make a compelling case for government relocations on cost, skills and quality,” he said.
Topley leads the multi-disciplinary physical regeneration team at Creative Sheffield. He was instrumental in establishing Creative Sheffield as the UK’s first economic development company. Prior to that he was chief executive of Sheffield One, a pilot urban regeneration company, which led the recent transformation of the city centre. He is a Sheffielder, an architect and a planner, with over 25 years’ experience in all forms of transformational regeneration projects. Topley has led the work on the City Centre Masterplan, the Heart of the City project, St Paul’s Place, The Millennium Galleries and Winter Garden, Sevenstone and many others.
If you would like to enquire about this event or next year's event, please contact helen.attrill@newsco.com on 0161 907 9704.
