黑洞社区

BAA BAA black sheep

If memories of getting hauled up in front of the headteacher at school fill you with dread, then spare a thought for the chairman and chief executive of BAA who had their wrists well and truly slapped last week by an entire select committee鈥檚 worth of MPs.

Chief executive Colin Matthews took the brunt of the MPs鈥� anger at the hearing into Terminal 5鈥檚 disastrous opening when he was unable to answer practically any question put to him. He had not had time to look into the case, was his brave explanation. The aghast MPs were forced to ask him, along with chairman Sir Nigel Rudd, to attend another hearing in two months鈥� time when they might actually have some answers. But this was not before the boys from BAA had been publicly branded 鈥渃omplacent鈥�, 鈥渋gnorant鈥� and 鈥減oorly prepared鈥� for the hearing. 鈥淭his is extraordinary,鈥� said one MP. 鈥淚 have been on this committee for a very long time and I have never heard the excuse that a witness has been too busy to come prepared with detailed answers to the questions.鈥� Gulp.

Nothing will come of nothing

I am pleased to report that the quest to build the perfect zero-carbon home is over. Yes, English Partnerships is the proud possessor of a report into the carbon footprint of its 拢1.67bn Millennium Communities programme, and it seems on first glance that the regeneration agency is well ahead of the game. EP mandarins will no doubt have been delighted by the fact that by 2032 an average Millennium Community home will have saved 145,000 tonnes of CO2. However, they may have been less bowled over by the daringly innovative means of reaching this target. Among the report鈥檚 findings were such pearls of wisdom as 鈥渉igher levels of insulation prevent heat loss through the building fabric鈥�, 鈥渓ow energy light bulbs should be used鈥�, and 鈥渂etter air-tightness reduces drafts and heat loss鈥�. In other words, zero new ideas.

Credit: Scott Garrett

Figure of fun

Poor Carl Turpin, chief executive of Oakdene, was clearly in a state of denial when the housebuilder announced its 2007 results last week. After some poor figures (they鈥檙e not alone there, of course), he was asked for the number of houses the company had sold in 2007. 鈥淎bout 200,鈥� came the vague reply. When pressed for the exact figure, he eventually confessed: 鈥淓r, it was 140.鈥� Come on, Carl, we鈥檒l never get through the credit crunch if we bury our heads in the sand.

Eat your heart out, Bovis

Bovis Lend Lease, the winner of 黑洞社区鈥檚 delectable Nouvelle Canteen competition, may have a pretender to the crown. Matthew Whitehead of QS firm Stace emailed me about the formidable bacon sandwich served up by a client of a recent project. The project is the extension of the Waterside Inn at Bray, and the client is none other than Michelin-starred chef Michel Roux. The French cuisini猫re鈥檚 take on the site favourite 鈥� a croissant au bacon, we鈥檙e told 鈥� has caused some consternation, though. 鈥淪tace鈥檚 accounts department is keeping an eye out for any culinary contra charges for fear they might exceed the fee,鈥� writes Whitehead. It鈥檚 certainly food for thought.

Hanging on

I was intrigued to see that as late as last week Taylor Wimpey still had Ian Sutcliffe proudly listed as its UK chief executive on its website. Either TW is hoping that we haven鈥檛 noticed his departure four weeks ago, or his new employer, developer Segro, might just have a question or two 鈥�