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Tony Gibbon The hard-driving BH2 partner has helped his firm to win £6bn of City deals in a decade. And far from being fazed by the departure of fellow heavy hitter Tony McCurley, Gibbon is as feisty as ever. By Adam Coffer
The 15-minute cab journey from BH2's Basinghall Street City office to the Covent Garden base of architect KPF allows Tony Gibbon just enough time to check nine voice messages, read and reply to seven text messages, berate five office schemes, point out four City complexes he has pieced together and conduct five phone calls.
"Gibbo" - as he is known - is the dominant force behind leading niche City practice BH2, and a man who has something to say about everything. He is a "gomph guy", "obsessive", and "doesn't suffer fools gladly" - and these are just the thoughts of his colleagues. Rivals' more printable claims are that he is "rude", "aggressive" and "impossible to work with". And he is once again at the centre of London wine bar gossip over speculation that Jones Lang LaSalle City director Nigel Fox was considering a move to BH2. JLL said this week that Fox was staying put.
As the cab approaches its destination, Gibbon barks down the phone to Land securities' development director, Mike Hussey: "I don't know what the bloke is playing at but I'll sort it out." Sorting things out has become something of a trademark for the man who pieced together sites for such schemes as Blossoms Inn and the Swiss Re and Minerva towers.
"Biggest softie around"
But the workaholic disappears upon arrival at KPF's offices. He is replaced by a far less intimidating character, whose face lights up at the sight of his 12-year-old son Benedict, who is enjoying some work experience under KPF architect Lee Polisano. "Gibbo is the biggest softie around with his family and friends," says his close friend David Marks, Blackstone's head of UK acquisitions. "But outside work - if it's possible to imagine - he is slightly ruder, slightly more aggressive and looks even worse in jeans than he does in a pinstripe."
Since its inception in 1994, when Gibbon was brought in alongside founders Michael Baker and Simon Harris, BHi has carried...