St Albans builders · run by Tom & Rob
Two founders, one phone number, and a project manager who is actually on site.
Inspiring Developments Ltd is a building company based at The Enterprise Centre on Porters Wood in St Albans, founded in November 2021 by Tom Corrigan and Rob Newman. We take on extensions, kitchen extensions, loft conversions, full renovations and new builds across Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire — and between us we've spent our working lives on building sites.
Tom and Rob
Thomas Corrigan and Robert Newman founded the company together in November 2021 and are its only two directors. Experts in their respective fields, they split the work between them rather than handing it to someone you've never met — which is why every review on our Google profile mentions one or both of them by name. As Jenny Hills puts it: "From the start, Tom and Rob made the whole process easy."
A home should be inspiring
A person's home should be inspiring. It should be a sanctuary. That's the sentence the company was started on, and it's why we're set up as a one-stop shop for domestic building: home improvements, renovations, extensions, loft conversions, external landscaping, and full knock-down-and-rebuild. We also work with developers on conversions and new builds, and with businesses on workspace maintenance and expansion.
Five things we hold ourselves to
Open and honest. Solution focused. Clear on the costs. Programme driven. Quality assured. They're on our wall and they're the shorthand for how a job should go — which is why Sarah Cowper's review singles out the "'can do' problem-solving approach" on a renovation that threw up a number of difficult challenges.
The team
Tom Corrigan
Co-founder & director · since Nov 2021
Thomas Corrigan co-founded Inspiring Developments with Rob in November 2021 and is one of its two directors. He's the first call for most clients — the feasibility conversation, the advice, the pricing — and stays involved from that first phone call through to handover.
Rob Newman
Co-founder & director · since Nov 2021
Robert Newman is the company's other co-founder and director, appointed the same day as Tom. Experts in their respective fields is how the two of them are described — and between them they cover the whole job rather than handing it on.
Your project manager
Assigned to every project
A dedicated project manager is assigned to each project and runs the site day to day — the programme, the trade sequence and your questions. They're in the project WhatsApp group too, which is why issues get resolved the same day rather than at the next site meeting.
How we work with you
You get Tom and Rob
Both directors are hands-on. Every single review on our Google profile names one or both of us personally — that is not an accident, it is how we run the company.
A WhatsApp group per build
We set up a dedicated group for your project so questions, decisions and snags get raised and dealt with the same day instead of waiting for a site meeting.
Clear on the costs
Ballpark figures at feasibility stage, a detailed priced programme before we start, and no invented extras once the scaffold is up.
You can stay in the house
Where it's realistic we phase the work and keep you living there — temporary kitchens, temporary plumbing, safe routes through. We plan that in, not around.
We work alongside architects, structural engineers, kitchen and glazing suppliers across Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire — or with your own chosen designers and specifiers where a project already has them. We're happy to give early budget advice to architects' clients before drawings are commissioned.
What we stand by
How an Inspiring Developments project runs.
Open and honest
If a scheme doesn't stack up, we say so at feasibility stage rather than after you've paid for drawings. And if something goes wrong mid-build, you'll hear it from us first.
Clear on the costs
A ballpark before design, a detailed priced programme before construction, and a written explanation for any change. "They gave us a competitive but realistic quote" is the review we're proudest of.
Programme driven
A programme of works you can hold us to, and a project manager whose job is to keep it moving. "Delivered on schedule and within budget," as Ian Richardson's review has it.
In a client's words
“IDL completed our single storey rear extension, windows and doors upgrade and full insulation and render job earlier this year. From the start, Tom and Rob made the whole process easy. They gave us a competitive but realistic quote. The dedicated WhatsApp group set up for the build meant any issues were flagged and resolved quickly.”
★★★★★ — Jenny Hills, via Google