Western Australian magnate Len Buckeridge died of a heart attack at his home on March 11 2014 at the age of 77.
The founder of BGC, the nation’s biggest home builder according to the Housing Industry Association's 2012-13 financial year rankings, had battled health issues for many years but remained at the helm of the business.
He left a staggering empire which has more than 4,000 WA employees, building nearly 3,500 residential dwellings a year and earning annual revenue of $2.53 billion from housing, major construction, cement and other inputs, and mining contracting.
One of his last high profile projects was the Perth Arena, the indoor stadium and entertainment venue in the CBD.
His son Sam Buckeridge and step-son Julian Ambrose inherited the operational helm of business, which is split into manufacturing and construction arms run respectively by each of the men.
Mr Buckeridge got his start in business after studying architecture and becoming an expert in the design of affordable housing. Like many additions to his building empire, he decided that he was better off building for himself and Perth is dotted with many blocks of flats that he constructed to house immigrants that came to WA in the 1950s and 1960s.
