Opinion – Page 386

  • Comment

    The FD revolving door keeps spinning

    2009-02-13T12:08:00Z

    Another week, another new finance director.The latest move sees David Wilton promoted to take over the reins from Bob Hartley at White Young Green. The reshuffle sees Hartley move sideways to become services director as WYG braces itself for the recession.The last few months have seen FD changes at Atkins, ...

  • Gus Alexander
    Comment

    The new realism

    2009-02-13T00:00:00Z

    The economic downturn isn’t without its consolations. It seems to be ushering in a new age of collaboration in construction and a more sober reckoning of what we’re about

  • ڶ buys a pint... for East
    Comment

    ڶ buys a pint... for East

    2009-02-13T00:00:00Z

    East are a busy lot. In December last year they landed the job of working out what should happen to the whole district of Farringdon over the next 25 years, including planting a Crossrail station in the Smithfield meat market area

  • Hansom
    Comment

    Because we care

    2009-02-13T00:00:00Z

    Not yet found the perfect gift for your loved one? How about a bottle of Zaha perfume, a £100m apartment or two or maybe just a trip to the UK’s most romantic building? Wherever that may be...

  • Should London boroughs such as Hackney ‘take a lead on the type of housing that is delivered in their area’?
    Comment

    The choice is theirs

    2009-02-13T00:00:00Z

    In response to your article on the Greater London Authority’s housing targets ("London council in crisis talks over affordable homes target,"), the GLA’s approach is based on realism and focuses on working closely with local councils

  • Comment

    Like with like

    2009-02-13T00:00:00Z

    With reference to the issue of foreign trades taking UK jobs, while the government is correct in stating that we can all apply for these jobs, that everything is fair and square and minimum wage laws and so on are covered, this does not mean that the wages paid to ...

  • Comment

    Local difficulty

    2009-02-13T00:00:00Z

    Your correspondents, Patrick Cooper and Sally Hughes, do not want the John Roan School to move to a new site on the Greenwich Peninsula as part of the ڶ Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. They are perfectly entitled to their views, although I do not myself agree with them.

  • Comment

    It's simple really

    2009-02-13T00:00:00Z

    To meet the BSF programme, we need to respond to the current financial environment

  • Quasimodo’s right to work in this country is now under investigation... “Fathers for Justice” say they should have won the tender to be able support their families
    Comment

    The bells...

    2009-02-13T00:00:00Z

    Regarding the picture published on 6 February

  • Comment

    Bamboozled by banks

    2009-02-13T00:00:00Z

    Several articles in ڶ mention the fact that most building companies have, or are about to, breach some of their banking covenants

  • Comment

    Black mark

    2009-02-13T00:00:00Z

    In response to Mr Forlane (19 December), the Construction Skills Register (CSR) would like to make readers aware that the Black CSR card (as it is known in Northern Ireland) is not as easily acquired as he suggests

  • Sir Michael Latham
    Comment

    How to stay healthy

    2009-02-13T00:00:00Z

    Hands up all those who have been tempted to cut training on safety during the downturn? Do so and your business will suffer

  • Most recently I downloaded all of The Deadliest Catch, a documentary about crab fishermen in Alaska
    Comment

    My digital life: Peter Cunningham

    2009-02-13T00:00:00Z

    This week

  • Comment

    Construction new orders: the Good the Bad and the Ugly

    2009-02-12T10:41:00Z

    The latest new orders figures confirm the dire state of work in the construction pipeline.There was a drop of £6 billion in new work construction won in 2008 compared with 2007, which points to a rough road ahead.While there are some reasons for optimism within the infrastructure sector and public ...

  • Comment

    More than 100,000 construction workers made redundant last year

    2009-02-11T09:49:00Z

    The latest employment figures provide yet more grim reading for those in construction with the numbers made redundant in the final quarter of last year rocketing to 48,000.The official figures out today show that 109,000 construction employees were made redundant over the year. Some will have got new jobs, but ...

  • Comment

    Trades not professionals have been hit hardest by construction job losses

    2009-02-10T13:52:00Z

    I read with interest the Sunday Times story about how quantity surveyors were joining the dole queue at a faster rate than any other group in the UK economy.So I looked at the base figures and, well, came to a remarkably different interpretation.Put it this way, if the Sunday Times's ...

  • Comment

    RICS report stamps on signs of green shoots in the housing market

    2009-02-10T09:45:00Z

    For all the excitement created by the Halifax upward blip in house prices in January it now looks increasingly like a freak result, at least that is what the latest housing market survey from the surveyors' body RICS would suggest.Yes I know it seems that for every green shoot spotted ...

  • Comment

    Beacons of hope in times of trouble?

    2009-02-09T08:50:00Z

    There is currently much excitement being generated about the probability of construction starting on some of the much-talked of copse of towers planned to slice through the skyline of London.If that prospect smacks of confidence it is in stark contrast to the general prospects for commercial construction in London and ...

  • Comment

    A phrase I wish I'd coined

    2009-02-09T08:39:00Z

    As I was giving the recent Rightmove consumer confidence poll a hard time last week, the Bad Science column in the Guardian kept coming to mind.So it was a bit spooky when I read the latest offering from Dr Ben Goldacre.If I was superstitious I would have read rather a ...

  • Richard Steer, senior partner at Gleeds
    Comment

    Defeats, green shoots and fees

    2009-02-06T00:00:00Z

    It’s tough out there and firms are holding their cards close to their chests and their cash even closer. But the important thing is not to panic and take it one day at a time