黑洞社区

Teamwork: Nil

The continuing legal saga over Wembley stadium took an embarrassing turn last week for Mott MacDonald and Brookfield Construction (the company formerly known as Multiplex) as the two received a stern ticking off from Mr Justice Coulson. The judge became so fed up with the parties鈥� failure to agree on which points should be argued that he ordered the opposing sides to reach an agreement that day or he would throw out the entire sub-trial. 鈥淵our lack of co-operation is abysmal; that is very apparent to me,鈥� he told the firms鈥� legal teams. 鈥淚 feel like I鈥檓 refereeing these disputes in a game of blind man鈥檚 buff.鈥�

Roma rumour

A disturbing tale has been circulating among the Mipim delegates who are girding themselves for next month鈥檚 property bash. Some have been saying that their hang-out of choice, Caf茅 Roma, has been 鈥渄emolished鈥�, causing widespread alarm among the champagne-swilling brigade. Well, fear not. 黑洞社区 can reveal that the beloved venue is in fact being refurbished. And the improved bar will be open in time to be swamped by revellers 鈥� sorry, businessmen 鈥� just like it is every year. Phew.

Haute constructure

Unlikely as it may seem for an industry whose garment of choice is a fluorescent high-vis vest, construction was represented at London Fashion Week this Tuesday. The unlikely marriage came courtesy of Gleeds, who sponsored the appearance by 鈥渆thical fashion designer鈥� Ada Zanditon.

Alas, the chances of Ada finding a more permanent market within the industry for her work look slight. Her promotional material states that that she is 鈥渇ocused on creating desirable womenswear鈥� 鈥� although the description of her work as an 鈥渁rchitecturally disciplined collection鈥� may offer some opportunity 鈥�

Minimising Damages

If you鈥檙e a small consultant then getting your name to appear top in a Google search is a pretty key task. Have pity then for construction economist Martin Hewes, and his www.hewes-associates.co.uk website, which has been having a tussle for Google top spot with www.hewesassociates.com, the website for Glenn Close鈥檚 fictitious law firm in the US television series Damages. Martin has only recently managed to regain top spot from the fake site, which simply sells DVDs of the programme, and is therefore not so useful for anyone after detailed economic analyses of the construction industry. However, he now faces a new challenge: Damages has just returned for a third season on UK television, once more threatening Martin鈥檚 position as most searched for Hewes on the internet.

Beds, sofas and trampolines

Russian Ikea bosses have come up with a psychedelic plan to get shoppers spending a few more roubles on lamps called Ulrika and bed frames called J酶rn. The group is in talks with none other than Cirque du Soleil about turning the stores鈥� minimalist entrance halls into circus rings. It seems research showed that a bit of culture is what gets Russians out of bed in the morning 鈥� well, if neon pink leotards won鈥檛 do the job, what will?

Coming quietly

Davis Langdon might be keeping tight-lipped about takeover approaches from American predators, but the possibility of an Aecom deal is sounding more and more likely 鈥� including to those involved. Word reaches me that at the meeting of Davis Langdon partners to discuss approaches by Aecom and Jacobs a fortnight ago, the mention of the former prompted one senior figure to ask: 鈥淒o we have any other choice?鈥� Nobody鈥檚 saying it鈥檚 a done deal, but apparently the ensuing silence was deafening.