Opinion 鈥� Page 354
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Comment
I have every sympathy
In Patrick Murdock鈥檚 letter (25 September, page 32) he suggested that, because of the recession, the major consultancies are turning their backs on graduates. As a trainer involved in graduate development I believe this is not the case
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Comment
I don't have any sympathy
Regarding the article on graduate unemployment (11 September, page 34), there are lots of jobs out there: they are obviously being too fussy or not trying hard enough
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Comment
Set the standard
I read with interest the comment from John McDonough of Carillion calling for sample schemes to be scrapped to cut the cost of bidding for 黑洞社区 Schools for the Future (BSF) projects (18 September, page 11)
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Comment
Nostra culpa
I鈥檓 fed up with seeing emails and articles showing images of idiotic and dangerous situations, like the health and safety blunder on page 33 of the 25 September issue
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Comment
OFT special: What now?
The OFT has imposed fines of 拢129.5m on 103 firms that colluded with competitors. Over the next four pages we look at the legal aftermath 鈥� starting with Chris Hill on the question of appeals, restitution and discrimination
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CommentChris Wise on RIBA's Lubetkin prize: The ugliness of steel
The RIBA was wrong to give the Lubetkin prize to Beijing鈥檚 Olympic stadium. A building that contains that much embodied energy is frankly distasteful
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CommentOFT special: Our game
One strange feature of the we play it is that clients pay 拢10bn a year to cut costs 鈥� and encourage incompetent contractors to muck up their schemes. Time to change the rules
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Comment
OFT special: This time it's personal
Even if the OFT has found a firm guilty, they can still nail the directors 鈥� with a prison sentence and colossal fine. And individual liability is a growth area
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Comment
Musings from the Tory conference
David Cameron鈥檚 rousing finale to this year鈥檚 Conservative Party Conference 鈥� focused on family, community and country and highlighted health, regeneration, education and housing. The importance for our sectors in focusing on the benefits of investment in infrastructure, and the role of built assets in enabling efficiency, rather than ...
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Comment
Future traders think the tide has turned for house prices
The futures market is now pricing in strong growth in the housing market, with the Halifax index priced to rise by 6% over the coming 12 months and by 12% over 5 years.This is a marked rise in the prices from just a month ago and reflects the uplift in ...
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Comment
Who'll do "a Parsons Brinckerhoff" next?
Contractors are still pondering the implications of Balfour Beatty's canny swoop on American infrastructure firm Parsons Brinckerhoff last month.The almost universal reaction has been one of envy at a deal that takes Balfour up the food chain and further into the white collar world of consulting while strengthening its US ...
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CommentThe G3 summit: How much trouble are we in and how do we get out?
At this point in the business cycle we have at least some idea of what the recession has done to consultants, and how they can regroup and fight back. Three QS leaders comment
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Comment
How do I 鈥� fund a claim?
Even if you are reasonably sure of success, funding can be an obstacle to pursuing a claim. Luckily, there are three alternatives to stumping up the cash yourself
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CommentCosting the earth
You may think that, given the importance of a housebuilder鈥檚 landbank, there would be a well understood way of valuing it. And you鈥檇 be wrong
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Comment
Blame the clients
One aspect of the Office of Fair Trading鈥檚 cover-pricing inquiry that seems to have been missed is the effect of clients and their professional advisers
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Comment
Take a cut of future contracts
There may be such a thing as an innocent cover price, if the contractor does not want to bid but does want to show willing. However, cover prices can be used to share the work around and the only reason for that is to keep prices high
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Comment
Doubt its illegality
The 13 roofing contractors that the OFT found guilty of price fixing in 2006 were not engaged in 鈥渟imple cover pricing鈥�, but bid-rigging