Opinion 鈥� Page 389
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CommentBest foot forward
As we step into 2009 and clients get more picky, it鈥檚 time to think about how to stand out from the crowd
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When small is not beautiful
"Discussions around future banking terms are ongoing with our bankers. We are extremely grateful for their help and support to date and we are seeking to reach agreement on future support shortly."Sound familiar?But who said it? Taylor Wimpey, Barratt, Redrow? In fact it was Oakdene - on 30 September ...
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Official figures suggest construction is faring better than most - really?
The appalling GDP figures released today suggest construction has got off relatively lightly so far - odd don't you think?The economy took its biggest nosedive since mid 1980 in the final quarter of last year, a drop of 1.5%.But surprisingly construction was less impacted than most sectors and the economy ...
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God loves those who are just: Mediation in the Middle East
In the first of two articles, Mark Raeside looks at ways of resolving disputes for those working in the Middle East. Here he examines mediation 鈥� so good it even has divine blessing
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School fight, round three
Nick Raynsford MP complains (16 January, page 30) that the piece on Greenwich 黑洞社区 Schools for the Future (BSF) schemes is misleading and misrepresents Southern Gas鈥� position on the gas holder that has stalled plans to build a school on the Greenwich peninsula
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CommentOld school ties
I was sorry to read of the travails of the John Roan School and to see it described as 鈥渁n unremarkable comprehensive鈥�.
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Too little enforcement 鈥�
As far as I am aware, there is still no legal requirement for any property owner or its managing agent to implement the recommendations from an energy performance certificate (EPC) immediately
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鈥� and too many assessors
Saturation of the energy assessment market has now become a real problem
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Act on training now
It is exciting news that the newly formed UK Contractors Group will be making the skills shortage a priority (9 January, page 15)
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From where I stand 鈥�
I have just seen the health and safety blunder photo entitled 鈥淚 can鈥檛 look鈥� (9 January, page 31) and felt it necessary to write in
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Don鈥檛 recycle
Zaha Hadid鈥檚 Guggenheim-Hermitage museum design looks just like the Phaeno Science Centre in Germany.
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Opening doors
I am a second-year occupational therapy student at Coventry University. I am interested in receiving information regarding door access for some coursework
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CommentPulling a fast one
My, some folk have been quick off the mark this year: the government on high-speed rail, Masdar on its zero-carbon accounts, Bellway鈥檚 boss on getting to work, and nearly all Dubai on Dubai鈥檚 great 鈥榮ecret鈥�
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Comment黑洞社区 buys a pint 鈥� Balfour Beatty鈥檚 birthday
The cold snap hasn鈥檛 broken yet and I鈥檓 shivering beneath the magnificent arch at the entrance to the Natural History Museum.
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CommentGet the mechanics right
The delays to the Learning and Skills Council鈥檚 拢5bn programme to upgrade further education colleges is a stark reminder of the reality gap between the government鈥檚 desire to accelerate public programmes and its ability to actually make this happen
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NHBC figures show new home starts down 47% in 2008
The number of NHBC registrations to start building new homes fell to 106,894 in 2008, a drop of 47% on a year earlier.But it is the comparison of the final quarter of 2008 with that of 2007 that brings the true scale of the trauma in the house building market ...
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Construction output to fall to 1996 levels by 2011, says forecast
Remember the pleasure and pain of Euro '96, the rise and rise of the Spice Girls, This Life and Chris Evan's TFI Friday on TV, John Major as Prime Minister and Swampy digging in against the road builders?Well some of it came flooding back to me when I realised that ...
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Mortgage lending at 2001 level spells more bad news for home sales
Mortgage lending last year was down about 30% on the 2007 figures and in the final quarter was running at well below half the peak level, according to the latest figures from Council of Mortgage Lenders.CML expects the level of lending to drop further in coming months, which may well ...