Opinion – Page 371

  • Comment

    Noises off

    2009-06-05T00:00:00Z

    In my experience, good acoustics in schools are still viewed as a nice-to-have rather than a must-have (“Can you hear me at the back?”, 15 May, page 40)

  • Comment

    Good health

    2009-06-05T00:00:00Z

    Regarding your article on a health scare prompting regulation change (29 May, page 13), hats off to NHBC for producing a report that takes the real world into account

  • Comment

    The third amendment

    2009-06-05T00:00:00Z

    The Standing Joint Committee for The Standard Measurement of ڶ Works has prepared amendment three to the Seventh Edition, effective from 1 June.

  • Comment

    Messing about near boats

    2009-06-05T00:00:00Z

    I work for a charity called the Waterway Recovery Group (www.wrg.org.uk) which restores the derelict canals of England and Wales

  • Comment

    My digital life: Alex Burton

    2009-06-05T00:00:00Z

    This week

  • Comment

    The disaster area

    2009-06-05T00:00:00Z

    Open mike: The latest data from purchasing managers confirms that construction has been one of the worst afflicted areas of the UK economy. Roy Ayliffe peers into the gloom for signs of hope

  • Denise Chevin
    Comment

    Sometimes a great notion...

    2009-06-05T00:00:00Z

    They say great ideas have three phases: first, they’re ludicrous, then they’re wrong and finally they’re obvious

  • Nick Raynsford
    Comment

    Human sacrifice won't help us

    2009-06-05T00:00:00Z

    Kicking out apprentices and slashing training is not going to cure the recession, but it will kill the recovery. What firms need to do is keep their nerve – and their staff

  • Martin Playford
    Comment

    Wonders & blunders

    2009-06-05T00:00:00Z

    Martin Playford revisits two grand schemes from the seventies, one a gleaming symbol of the might of the City, the other a sad leftover from a best-forgotten motorway project

  • Comment

    The disaster area

    2009-06-04T13:45:00Z

    The latest CIPS/Markit Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data shows that global forces continue unremittingly to batter all UK industries, with the ailing construction industry the sick man of the economy.Indeed, construction firms’ purchasing managers say the slight improvement in operating conditions in the past month only reaffirms how bad things ...

  • Comment

    CIPS construction index bounces back, but what does that mean?

    2009-06-02T13:16:00Z

    The latest survey by the buyers' body CIPS shows a remarkable bounce back in the broad construction index towards the magic 50 no-change mark.The index has risen from 30.9 in April to 38.1 in May and up to 45.9 in June. This will no doubt be taken as a sign ...

  • Comment

    Relief on the home front, but are we really on a road to recovery?

    2009-06-01T12:07:00Z

    The relief among those connected with the house building and selling industries must be enormous at the moment.Following on from a set of more encouraging sales data and a fall in pessimism among estate agents, we had figures from Nationwide at the end of last week saying that house prices ...

  • Chris Wise
    Comment

    The bridge on the river Tees

    2009-05-29T00:00:00Z

    Its parents were Eric Fletcher and Margaret Thatcher. Assisting at the birth were 500 midwives. It is now being cared for by the 187,000 people of Stockton-on-Tees

  • Comment

    The general purpose specialist

    2009-05-29T00:00:00Z

    If we want to make it through the recession with our highly trained staff intact, we have to carry on doing what we do well, and start doing a lot of things that we don’t

  • Comment

    Why nobody wants to buy

    2009-05-29T14:45:00Z

    Tumbling fees, dwindling workloads and payment periods stretching beyond the horizon. In the last recession this led to a frenzy of mergers and acquisitions. This time, it's different.According to a report by researcher Corpfin, corporate activity in the first quarter of this year has ground to a virtual halt. There ...

  • Comment

    Short and tweet: Bob Leung

    2009-05-29T00:00:00Z

    Dispatches from the Twitter social networking site: Bob Leung is the co-founder of Woobius, the collaboration hub for architects and engineers and a partner at Make Architects

  • Ashes to Ashes
    Comment

    My digital life: Robin Copeland

    2009-05-29T00:00:00Z

    What’s your favourite website?

  • Comment

    ڶ buys a pint … for Penson Group

    2009-05-29T00:00:00Z

    “I’m claustrophobic ,” announces Lee Penson, founder of architectural practice Penson Group

  • Comment

    Unequal combat

    2009-05-29T00:00:00Z

    Small Scottish firm vs Zaha, local resident vs Nick Candy, pensioner vs planners, man vs wife: this week proves that sometimes, just sometimes, the underdog comes out on top

  • Comment

    A matter of consequence

    2009-05-29T00:00:00Z

    The idea of improving the existing housing stock has been debated and analysed for many years now, especially in the information, advice and guidance for Part L (15 May, page 9)