黑洞社区

On your Marks, get set鈥�

I was heartened to see that the two Marks at the top of Barratt haven鈥檛 lost their sense of humour. This, despite rumours swirling in the run-up to last week鈥檚 trading update that chief exec Mark Clare and finance director Mark Pain were about to fall on their swords. When a colleague popped into Barratt鈥檚 office last week, Pain apologised and said he was just on his way out. 鈥淐ome on, the results weren鈥檛 that bad,鈥� quipped the witty hack. Both Marks were able to laugh 鈥� for the moment, anyway.

We should be so lucky

It鈥檚 good to see that even though the economy鈥檚 prospects get gloomier by the day, the government is still looking on the sunny side of life. This week we had the publication of the Department of Health鈥檚 Heatwave Plan after a weekend in which temperatures in the capital soared to a sweltering 140C. The plan recommends, among other things, 鈥済reening the built environment鈥�, using green roofs, solar shading and the provision of 鈥渃ool areas鈥� in hospitals and nursing homes. Perhaps the government is hoping for a scorching British summer to take our minds off the wintery economy.

Snubbed by Boris Johnson

Property tycoon Irvine Sellar鈥檚 Shard of Glass party last week was a veritable who鈥檚 who of the capital鈥檚 development industry 鈥� with one notable exception. Gossips noticed that while former mayor Ken Livingstone was there toasting Sellar鈥檚 success in getting the development off the ground, new mayor Boris Johnson was not. Apparently, the mop-top had been invited but was represented instead by one of his many deputies. When in power, Ken was a zealous advocate of the 310m high Shard, whereas it is well known that 鈥楤oJo鈥� has a less favourable opinion of tall buildings. Could Boris鈥� snub spell trouble ahead for the London Bridge project?

Stretching a point

All you construction workers who still insist on a daily fry-up, look away now. These are pictures of the opening of supplier Parker Merchanting鈥檚 South-east London branch this month. Guests were invited to watch, or wince, at a display of athleticism by champion British gymnast Ross Brewer, who performed all manner of manoeuvres involving traffic cones, plastic barriers and a noticeable absence of PPE. The connection? Parker hopes its branch will be well frequented by Olympic contractors. So, nothing to do with the hair-raising balancing act of the 2012 budget, then?

My cups overfloweth

As is at least fairly well known, the modern brassi猫re was invented by a structural engineer, one Henry Lesher. How heartening to see, then, that one noted engineering firm is following in Lesher鈥檚 footsteps. When a female colleague complained that a picture taken of her for company literature failed to sufficiently emphasise her bust, a gentlemanly colleague used the wonders of Photoshop to add a few inches to her d茅colletage 鈥� with her approval, it must be added. It鈥檚 always good to see well-honed CAD skills being used to their best advantage in the workplace, I must say.

Top trump!

I鈥檇 imagine Lawrie Haynes, the chief executive of White Young Green is not a man accustomed to being snubbed. But last week, when the former boss of the Highways Agency and British Nuclear Group went to Turkey to meet the British ambassador, his meeting was cancelled at the last minute to allow for the visit of an even higher ranking dignitary 鈥� (clue: she鈥檚 got a crown and corgis). Well 鈥� at least it wasn鈥檛 Keith Clarke of Atkins.