We're not business messiahs, we just look on the bright side

THE small dalek that stands sentry in the visitor area in Python Properties' headquarters in Royal Middlehaven House, Middlesbrough, is a sign of the meeting to come.

The company's logo - a giant foot similar to that which graced screens during British televisions in the Seventies - and its strapline, "something completely different", hint at the personalities behind a company that has grown from a £200,000 turnover to £2m in five years and has ambitions to hit the £10m mark.

To learn that the owners spent money on consultants to fight the demolition of North Riding Infirmary, a building they didn't even own, to stop a discount supermarket chain building a "tin shed" smacks of individuals off the radar compared with stereotypes of the average property developer.

But a first glance at the two men behind Python brings a tinge of disappointment.

Whacky? Not a bit. Eccentric? Not in the slightest. Quirky? Not on appearances.

In fact, they are like every teenager's dad, which probably sums up where they are coming from.

Lost youth has crept into the business world.

"We are of a generation where we can quote Monty Python," explains Captain Martin Johnson with a smile.

Investigation elicits a chain of conversation that will be all too familiar to anyone who has started their own business and soul-searched for the perfect name that would catapult their venture into the annals of entrepreneurship.

A beer-assisted brain-storming session around Peter's kitchen table in 1997 brought a torrent of potential but Python Trading Inc was the stand-out candidate.

"The next day, we went to see the lawyer," says Martin.

"He said Inc was American for limited company and suggested Python Properties instead. We like to see it as homage to Python."

But both agree it has worked.

"It has been an accidental stroke of genius," says Martin. "Everybody who sees it, remembers it."

Peter said: "The first year we had one van with the logo on the side driving round Middlesbrough. Everybody thought we had a fleet of the things because it was so noticeable."

It was Peter who started with a personal portfolio of properties as a side concern to his day job as a surveyor with North-East firm Storeys Sons & Parker (now Storeys:ssp).

"I had identified a niche in the market which was treating students like human beings," Peter explains.

"It was unheard of at the time, particularly on Teesside.

"No landlords of any size were offering a standardised product and offering students a good quality place in which to live."

In the late Nineties, Martin retired from the Merchant Navy and moved back to the North-East from Hampshire.

With some of the proceeds from selling his cottage in the New Forest, he decided to invest in property.

"At the time, houses were less than £20,000," says Martin.

"I wanted Peter to run them, so we decided on a joint venture.

"I thought we'd get four or five houses at most, but this concept of offering students a bit of quality was so popular, things really took off."

In 2002, the business started in earnest and within five years, the pair built that side of the business up to 150 buildings with 550 tenants, including blocks of student flats.

Each unit is a far cry from the moth-eaten furniture and mouldy bathrooms that will get most ex-students reminiscing.

These have new kitchens, bathrooms with power showers, double beds and are kitted out with Ikea furniture.

One of the buildings even has its own bistro and a planning application lodged for a gymnasium, so it is easy to see why it is popular with students who can afford it.

The business is built on a strong service-related ethos which remained as it expanded into commercial property.

As with the student arm, Python decided to buck the trend and make its first acquisition a property that no other developer would go near.

The pair chose the derelict former Department of Social Security office on the edge of Middlesbrough's St Hilda estate.

The building was earmarked for demolition and had been bought at auction by a company before Python got its opportunity to snap it up.

Peter explains: "The chap who bought it at auction the first time around, talked to local property people who suggested it wasn't in a good area. He walked away and lost his deposit.

"Everyone thought we were mad for buying it. They thought it was a non-starter."

An approach to Les Southerton at the Middlesbrough Town Centre Company secured support for refurbishing the building and the company has since revamped the site, which is now its headquarters at Royal Middlehaven House, in Gosford Street. It was fully let within eight months of the refurbishment being completed.

And, true to form, they were not prepared to give it a facelift and leave tenants to fend for themselves. The trim surrounds are complemented by a fully-manned reception opposite an art gallery in the foyer, with a coffee shop.

Peter says: "We decided to buy landmark buildings that possibly are going to be demolished and then regenerate them showing a bit of flair."

The pair admit that some of the purchases are initially decided on because they tug the heart-strings as much as the purse strings.

That was true for the purchase of Cargo Fleet Business Centre.

The former headquarters of British Steel and subsequently Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council was once Martin's father's workplace but had slipped into a sorry state.

The once beautiful three-storey Victorian building with pitched slate roof had fallen foul of vandals and was badly fire damaged.

But, where some developers would tear it down and start afresh, Python has plans for fully refurbished offices only five minutes drive from Middlesbrough town centre.

Peter says: "It won't be easy to bring it back. It will be a challenge but we liked the building, so decided to give it a go."

If eyebrows aren't raised by some decisions already taken, the Python crusade to save the town's North Riding Infirmary will have had the more ruthless businesspeople in the industry shaking their heads.

In similar circumstances to Cargo Fleet, the infirmary had grandeur and history that was going to be lost after a supermarket chain bought the site with the intention of knocking it down and building a store. It didn't bank on the level of local opposition, which kick-started a four-year campaign to save the building that was not protected by listed status.

Peter says: "They bought it and wanted to build a tin shed. We made an offer for it which we believe exceeded their offer but for some reason this was not accepted. We wanted to save the building."

The campaign raised a 15,000-strong petition, helped in part by Python employing students to dress as doctors and nurses to pound the street gathering signatures.

They even had protest letters translated from English to send to the chain's head office abroad.

If that wasn't enough, Python paid a leading planning consultant to fight the plans. However, the campaign was unsuccessful, although plans were changed twice.

Peter says: "What we can say is we have ended up with a better building on a key development site."

He acknowledges that few developers would go to such lengths to save a building they didn't even own - a move which brought scepticism from the public in the early days.

"It was a little bit different - not something your average property developer would do," says Peter.

"People looked at it a bit cynically, saying, 'what are they wanting to do?' After a while, they realised we genuinely wanted to save the infirmary building."

The company has five major commercial property projects, including the Co-operative buildings, in Linthorpe Road. It has also branched out to Bradford and Warrington.

In addition, the firm is compiling an executive portfolio which includes exclusive lets at grade II-listed Rudby Hall, the former headquarters of MTM Chemicals, near Hutton Rudby.

The company is also giving back to the community in other ways.

Peter is chairman of North East Chamber of Commerce's (NECC) Middlesbrough committee and committed to providing business backing to developments in the town.

He says: "I have found NECC to be extremely helpful and supportive and we make use of the services it provides, such as the employment helpline.

"NECC is the vehicle which gets us in contact with the movers and shakers, and adds real value to our business."

The connection has also helped with Python's operations further afield - the company has benefited with help from the Warrington Chamber of Commerce.

Martin adds: "We see NECC as a good professional body representing business to drive forward change in the town."

Python Properties is concentrating on completing its five projects but has not ruled out taking on further sizeable buildings if the right opportunities come along.

And, in case anyone should think it was shedding the fun aspect, there is still room for something completely different. Peter said: "We have got a record company ... but we don't have a band yet!".