Anthony McCourt- Looking back on 25 years of BYPY
Photo credit: Birmingham Post
This year, we are celebrating 25 years of the iconic BYPY Awards. The awards highlight the exceptional talent and skills of young professionals across Greater Birmingham, while also giving the overall winners the chance to open doors in their careers that they might not otherwise have been able to open.
As part of these celebrations, we spoke to the overall winners of the awards, dating right back to the very first winner in 2001 to last year's winner.
Meet Anthony McCourt, our 2008 overall BYPY winner.
Formerly a real estate lawyer with Wragge & Co, Anthony set up his own development company, Court Collaboration. Court Collaboration is a Birmingham based residential property developer, started in 2010 on Colmore Row, Birmingham the company has established itself as Birmingham’s premium developer and has delivered over 2,000 residential units in the city to date.
In 2022 the business started construction of Birmingham’s first sky scraper; “One Eastside” in a £200m forward fund development deal comprising 667 BTR units with Pension Insurance Corporation, One Eastside, is one of the largest institutional BTR forward funding deals in the UK. This prominent site located next to High Speed 2 will complete in Q3 2026 and offer residents high quality premium accommodation, with a view.
Anthony is also a Trainer of Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Time Line Therapy®, NLP Coaching and Hypnosis. Anthony is accredited through the American Board of NLP (ABNLP) and the American Board of Hypnotherapy (ABH).
Read below to find out how winning BYPY felt for Anthony...
What category did you win?
I won the Legal category and overall BYPY Winner in 2008.
Tell us a bit about yourself…
I was a real estate lawyer with then Wragge & Co LLP (now Gowlings LLP) until 2009 and then helped co-lead The Cube development from 2010- 2012. After that, I founded Court Collaboration which is a residential real estate development business in the City Centre and led that for 11 years until 2023 as CEO.
Court developed over 4,000 apartments across the City and region. I stepped down from my role as CEO in 2023 and I now live and work in Bali, Indonesia.
Where were you working at the time of winning your award?
I was a real estate lawyer working for Wragge & Co LLP and now I run a real estate business in Indonesia.
What does your career look like now?
Very different- development in the tropics.
What did winning BYPY do for your career?
Winning BYPY 2008 was a launchpad for me to found my own business and really begin to develop a personal brand- it was integral to that process.
Why should people apply for GBYPY?
It can catapult you onto a great stage and fast track some great networks and build a valuable and sustained support group for you and your business.
How did winning BYPY feel for you?
Waking up as the BYPY 2008 winner felt incredible - I knew it was a big deal after I started to meet and connect with some very senior business leaders and it encouraged me to take risks, push my boundaries and pursue things fearlessly. BYPY can be life-changing if you grasp it with both hands.
