黑洞社区

Curtains for Peggy

One of my colleagues got a guided tour of the newly revamped Fairfield Halls in Croydon recently. Thankfully, acres of asbestos had been removed from the Ashcroft Theatre but I was a little sad to hear that the venue鈥檚 famous safety curtain 鈥� which features a lovely portrait of the late Dame Peggy Ashcroft, a Croydon local and after whom the theatre was named 鈥� had to be dumped on account of its dangerous contents. It was labelled, rather ingloriously for an Oscar winner, 鈥榠ndustrial waste鈥�.

Dew in the garden 

Outgoing Kier finance director Bev Dew is now on gardening leave until next May after presiding over his last set of annual numbers 鈥� a 拢245m pre-tax loss, let鈥檚 not forget 鈥� last week. One analyst told me at the meeting where they picked over the numbers, that Dew had told him he鈥檇 timed his departure all wrong 鈥� a reference to the time of the year and the looming dark nights and short days. Not a bit of it. 鈥淗e told me he was more of a skier than a sunbather,鈥� my mole says.

A bridge too far

One of the problem jobs that helped send Kier diving into the red is the Mersey Gateway scheme, a 拢600m bridge it helped finish two years ago between Widnes and Runcorn. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a fantastic project,鈥� says chief executive Andrew Davies. Kier鈥檚 shareholders might not agree. The results show the firm has had to bear 拢33m of exceptional charges on the project in the past two years.

Scene on the tube

Small shops along the Crossrail route were complaining to the BBC recently that their rents have gone up as a result of the scheme but the project delays have meant they are yet to see an increased footfall which might help them pay their dues. 鈥淢y business is absolutely at risk,鈥� said one worried owner. At Transport for London鈥檚 latest board meeting last week, one member wanted to know from Crossrail chairman, Tony Meggs, whether the organisation was doing anything about it. 鈥淣ick Raynsford, the deputy chair, went out to deal with 鈥︹�� Meggs began, before the CSR training took over. 鈥淲ell, not to deal with, but to actually talk with and interact with those people on the television.鈥�

Scrambled Meggs

At least Meggs can clearly explain what is going on at Crossrail. 鈥淭he cost risks are really the same as the schedule risks,鈥� he told the TfL board. 鈥淭he primary risk comes from project elongation, if the implementation is delayed.鈥� In plain English that means if it鈥檚 late, it鈥檚 late and will cost more. 

Round and round

Speaking of rather baffling vernacular, one of my team received an email last week from a PR concerned that a press release he had sent had been missed. 鈥淗ope you鈥檙e well,鈥� it began. So far, so good. 鈥淚 wanted to circle back to ensure you saw the below news.鈥� I suppose 鈥渃ircle back鈥� is appropriate given that the email was, essentially, a search and rescue job.

Sadie鈥檚 secrets

黑洞社区 columnist Sadie Morgan was bemoaning NDAs 鈥� non-disclosure agreements to you and me 鈥� at, appropriately enough, an event about gossip, recently. Her roles at the National Infrastructure Commission and HS2 mean, she reveals, that she has now had to sign the Official Secrets Act. 鈥淪o I can be hung, drawn and quartered,鈥� she deadpans.