Last night I met the industry鈥檚 cycling clique at a reunion for those who rode to MIPIM for charity (which doesn't include me). I learnt three things:

1)      Cycling is hard. After a 500m sprint on the stationary bike I had to lie down for half an hour in a nearby churchyard, trying not to vomit. So well done to winner Justin Lomas.

2)      Capita Symonds MD Jonathan Goring is a great example of percentage look-a-likes: 60% Jonathan Edwards, 30% Richard Gere, 10% the bad guy from Terminator 2.

3)      Architects are posh and contractors aren鈥檛.

I only started working at 黑洞社区 a few weeks ago, and that third point was an obvious preconception, but I didn鈥檛 expect to have it confirmed so quickly by a contractor I spoke to:

Me: 鈥淎re you an architect then?鈥�

Contractor: 鈥淒o I look like a f@*king architect?鈥�

Well... Suit, spiky hair, northern accent (other than Manchester), pride in use of Excel F functions and no Zaha Hadid back catalogue on his iPhone. Clearly a contractor. But why is there still such a class divide between architects and contractors? Why do architects have Brideshead haircuts, scarves and undecided shoes, whilst contractors have unhappy suits and big hands?

I suppose architecture is more expensive to train in. Then there鈥檚 pretension 鈥� posh people value 鈥榗reativity鈥� over profit margins. And architects spend more time indoors, thinking and being inspired, whilst contractors have to do sums and wear muddy boots. Whatever the reason, I鈥檓 sure it adds a nice dimension to site politics.

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