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It was a pair of Australians declaring 鈥渢ough guy鈥� intentions when it came to Wembley stadium. A shiver ran up my spine then: I could just sense there would be trouble ahead with those attitudes.

I got that same shiver as I read your interview with BAA鈥檚 Steven Morgan (26 June, page 26). I can already hear the lawyers preparing their letters of introduction to BAA and their would-be major capital construction project contractors 鈥� and the whole supply chain behind them!

Construction is not a battleground, unless you choose to make it so, and I have never read about a battle where one side wins without any casualties. One of the fundamental tenets of partnering is the expectation of continuous improvement.

It takes hard work, dedication and a creative mind to achieve this across a spectrum of contracts, contractors and consultants. The process also needs to be client-led, with the whole team trained in the discipline.

Morgan declares, 鈥淚 want the A-team.鈥� Well, if this is true then why doesn鈥檛 he select the best team rather than living in the forlorn hope that price-led competition will somehow produce it. And this declaration is not entirely consistent with his expectation that 鈥淚 want them to give me the best value once they have won the contract鈥� and 鈥渃ompetition is one of the best ways of achieving value for money鈥�.

However, if you do select the A-team and then work with them in a collaborative manner with mutual objectives then the team as a whole will be the ones who can provide best value ... I thought we had learned that lesson.

Michael T Lawton, managing director, Trinity Solutions Consultancy