ANALYSIS: Liverpudlian left sect on mission to leave his mark on the world

BORN INTO the Plymouth Brethren, a sect that believes the world is a wicked place and one that ostracises those who leaves its ranks, Stephen Beetham lost no time in seeking to put his stamp on the world after he quit its ranks as a teenager.

He was just seven when his father, Hugh Frost, left the brethren to found a company in Liverpool doing up flats.

However, the company’s fortunes were transformed by the arrival nine years later of his son – who had by then changed his surname for that of one of his ancestors, who had invented an early sort of washing machine.

An old library was converted into luxury apartments; while a much-loathed 1960s office-block was transformed into one of Liverpool’s most desirable addresses – though only after 85 banks had refused to put up loans.

By 2003, Beetham, described as “a visionary” by his father, announced plans for a 47-storey, £150 million skyscraper in Manchester – one successfully completed and deemed by some to be a landmark of the city centre’s transformation since the IRA’s 1994 bombing.

Similar buildings followed in Liverpool and Birmingham, though his drive for the heavens was stymied somewhat in Birmingham when the Civil Aviation Authority blocked his attempt to go higher because it would interfere with aircraft.

His ambition was directly linked to his religious background and his decision to leave it behind: “Once you leave, you are cut off and told you will be a failure. People have told me that’s the reason I’m so successful. Maybe that is why I have strived for such high buildings.”

His plans for a tower in Blackfriars in London – which is now also in administration – had to overcome major objections, with plans scaled back from l 68 storeys to 51. During the planning, he sold a 50 per cent stake in the venture to Russian investors.

Like other property developers, he was drawn to the open coffers of Anglo Irish. By then, however, the property world had begun to turn, leaving both him and the troubled bank with losses to nurse and problems to solve.