Opinion 鈥� Page 357
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Comment
Forecasts suggest some rays of hope, but huge uncertainty remains
For those with an optimistic nature there was some good news to be seen in the latest set of industry forecasts with both the Construction Products Association and Hewes trimming how much they feel output in the industry will fall.Indeed the three forecasts came closer together in this round of ...
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Comment
You've hardly changed at all
Constructing Excellence鈥檚 review of the progress we鈥檝e made in the 11 years since Sir John Egan, who was chairman of BAA at the time, published his report should come with a health warning: reading this may cause severe depression.The review, Never Waste a Good Crisis, was put together by an ...
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Comment
Pessimism postponed
Bellway boss John Watson is naturally a glass half-empty kind of guy and was in 鈥渕uted recovery鈥� mode at the housebuilder鈥檚 full-year results this week.Yes reservations were down from 6,556 to 4,380 and the average selling price fell 9% to 拢154,005. And yes the company posted the first loss in ...
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CommentFee rates: What's a lawyer worth?
Lawyers are discounting fees and moving away from hourly rates, but limits on them taking a share of sums recovered in a dispute may disappear
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Comment
Appointing consultants: Bully-boy tactics
The suspicion is growing that public authorities are using their dominant position to impose onerous conditions on consultants鈥� appointments. It鈥檚 the last thing the industry needs
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CommentHey, big spender: getting cash from the European Investment Bank
When Crossrail landed a cool 拢1bn loan from the European Investment Bank last month, it provoked a surge of interest from other businesses. Joey Gardiner looks at what chance they have of getting eurofinance
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Comment
Move with the times
The appointment of a chief construction adviser is welcome, but in the 10 years since the Egan Report the game has moved on a long way
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CommentA word to the Wise
I followed Chris Wise鈥檚 logic in questioning, for environmental reasons, whether RIBA should have recognised the 100,000-tonne Bird鈥檚 Nest stadium in Beijing (9 October, page 28), but I struggled to follow why he then used what was clearly a unique structure to criticise the efficiency of steel overall
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Comment
Expose the OFT
It is not surprising, what with the draconian powers of the Office of Fair Trading and the possibility of future appeals, that few bosses are prepared to put their heads above the parapet and comment on the spate of fines imposed upon our industry
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Comment
Jobs: Wanted
I can鈥檛 quite believe the lack of support that the unemployed graduates are receiving (11 September, page 34)
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CommentHansom: Lese majeste
Just as Hyde Park鈥檚 Rue du Roi was renamed Rotten Row, and Sir David Maxwell Fyfe became Dai Bananas, so the mocking laughter of the public continues to haunt the great and the good 鈥�
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CommentThe hard way: Gus Alexander on novating an architect
Transferring control of the architect from client to contractor can work fine. It can also make everyone鈥檚 life a lot more difficult 鈥� particularly the architect鈥檚
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CommentWonders & blunders with Tony Travers
Academic and pundit Tony Travers heaps praise on a pier that lends grace to the Naples of the north, and pours scorn on a pathologically misanthropic medical college
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CommentAir-con's last gasp: David Strong on a new era for cooling
New guidance on sustainability in offices could mark the beginning of the end for the high-maintenance technology that is air-conditioning 鈥� and about time, too
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CommentA good day for gloom-mongers
We live in confusing times. On one hand, we鈥檝e had a week of posturing by the Tories and Labour as each tries to outdo the other on the prickliness of the hair shirts they鈥檒l be forcing Whitehall in particular, and the public sector in general, to wear
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Comment
A good day for gloom-mongers
We live in confusing times. On one hand, we鈥檝e had a week of posturing by the Tories and Labour as each tries to outdo the other on the prickliness of the hair shirts they鈥檒l be forcing Whitehall in particular, and the public sector in general, to wearOn the other, there ...
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Comment
How bad must things be at Jarvis?
When former Jarvis finance director John O鈥橩ane left the rail specialist last month to join engineering service firm Redhall, it reunited him with the firm鈥檚 chairman David Jackson. They had both previously worked together at rail engineer Peterhouse in the same roles.Back in the summer of 2004 Peterhouse received a ...
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