黑洞社区

Blanking Brexit

It鈥檚 vexing to the UK鈥檚 political establishment (and the Daily Mail), but not everyone is in a tizzy about Brexit. Take Andrew Wyllie, chief executive over at Costain, who doesn鈥檛 seem particularly bothered by the whole 鈥渓eaving the European Union鈥� thing. Regulatory demands were driving spending, Wyllie told one of my hacks last week as the contractor announced its first-half results, and there鈥檚 its shift in focus towards exploiting the growth of technology in infrastructure, water and energy markets. OK, so Brexit: a good or bad thing, my colleague asked Wyllie. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 spend a lot of time thinking about it,鈥� he replied. 鈥淚f only 鈥︹��, sighs the rest of the country, collectively.

A bit of 鈥榤e time鈥�

Lendlease鈥檚 chief financial officer for Europe, Tom Mackellar, was running through the firm鈥檚 2018 figures last week. Normally this is a job for Neil Martin, managing director of the firm鈥檚 construction business in Europe. But he鈥檚 on sabbatical and returns from a three-month break next month. When he gets back, maybe he could persuade Google to call its new headquarters in King鈥檚 Cross something other than KGX1.

Following the money

A pal of mine tells me that his nephew has come down to London from Newcastle to, and I quote, 鈥渇ill his boots鈥�. I always thought the 鈥淟ondon鈥檚 streets paved with gold鈥� story was a tall one but it seems not. My friend鈥檚 nephew is an electrician working on the Spurs stadium and is trousering more than 拢1,000 a week. He鈥檚 also getting his accommodation paid for. I鈥檓 off to retrain as a spark sharpish before I head up to N17.

The best and brightest

One of my hacks was at the Vitra furniture factory in Weil-am-Rhein, Germany, recently. For those that don鈥檛 have in-depth knowledge of the complex, the buildings have been designed by a who鈥檚 who of architecture. There are projects by Zaha Hadid, Herzog & de Meuron and Frank Gehry. They鈥檙e additions to the original 1981 scheme by Grimshaw, which was designed with a new factory and masterplan after a fire destroyed much of the site. The guide showing visitors around the site felt it only fair to point out a few facts: 鈥淪ir Nicholas Grimshaw is the only architect represented here not to have a Pritzker prize. But he is a Sir.鈥�

It鈥檚 a dog鈥檚 life

There are many pressures of working as a construction CEO, but when one of my colleagues approached the Construction Industry Council with a view to speaking with its chief executive Graham Watts, he was asked to be mindful of something very important. 鈥淗e鈥檒l be around all day,鈥� the PR said. 鈥淓xcept for when he鈥檚 out walking the dogs.鈥� It turned out Graham, a thoroughly decent egg, was up in the wilds of north Norfolk and sure enough, when he and my hack got round to chatting about insurance premiums the said pooches were barking away in the background. Giving an enthusiastic paws-up to their master鈥檚 industry observations, no doubt.

No extra paperwork here 鈥�

Brexiteers oft claim leaving the EU will see us ditch all that Brussels red tape. Yet wading through the government鈥檚 鈥渘o-deal鈥� impact documents, the litany of new requirements for UK importers from the EU in the event of no deal includes a UK Economic Operator Registration and Identification Number, a requirement to ensure their carrier 鈥渉as submitted an entry summary declaration at the appropriate time鈥� and a suggestion that firms might want to appoint a customs broker and acquire logistics software, 鈥渨hich will come at a cost鈥�. So it seems we could be replacing one lot of bureaucracy for another.