Opinion 鈥� Page 398
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CommentMy digital life: David Appel
Mr A鈥檚 digital life is a pretty normal round of social networking, reading friends鈥� blogs, watching sport, learning French 鈥� and wanting to buy a Batmobile
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CommentHard times
At the time of writing, the Royal Society for Arts was planning a debate on the question: 鈥淲hat kind of economy and society will emerge from the new age of austerity?鈥�
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Permission to appeal
The CaseThis case concerns an application by the claimant, Majorboom, for permission to appeal under section 69 of the Arbitration Act 1996 on several questions of law arising from an arbitrator's award.Majorboom developed a property in Manchester by converting it into flats. Following completion of the flats a company, Stonebridge ...
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It's been emotional
It can't be easy being the boss of a housebuilder at the moment. The incessant flow of bad news must take its toll.But while some are proving they have the hides of elephants, others appear to be wilting under the pressure.If rumours in the square mile are to be believed, ...
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Construction redundancies hit 10-year high and job vacancies drop by a third
The rapidly worsening headline figures for UK jobs are worrying enough for us all. It is a sobering thought to contemplate the pain of 100,000 fewer in fulltime employment and a leap of 140,000 in the number of unemployed over the three months to September.The latest figures for the third ...
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Why bigger contractors were slower to see the oncoming recession
Something that has been puzzling me for some while is why bigger contractors were so slow to accept their may be a recession coming.Up to about springtime in various conversations with fairly senior folk and in notes I'd read from main contractors I noted an air of confidence and talk ...
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House sales plunge further but surveyors see brighter future
The RICS has put an extremely upbeat spin on its latest monthly housing market survey despite the continued collapse in sales.The survey highlights the clear 20% majority of optimists over pessimists among the surveyors quizzed in October about future prospects for sales.This +20 balance in favour of sales increasing in ...
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CommentBest buys for the taxpayer
Now we鈥檙e all Keynesians again, public money is going to be spent on stimulating demand. But in the case of social housing, what should it actually buy? Nick Raynsford has some suggestions
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Fancy a 40% discount on a house? Then just wait, says the futures market
The futures market has downgraded it expectations for house prices which now points to a fall in cash terms of more than 40% from the peak in August last year to the bottom of the market in 2011.According to Tradition Future HPI an average house measured by the Halifax index ...
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IMF sees major decline in UK economic prospects
The prospects for the global economy are declining so fast that it has prompted the updating of an IMF forecast released just last month.The prospects for the UK now look decidedly gloomier to the IMF, which has revised its forecast of 0.1% fall in GDP to a fall of 1.3% ...
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Company collapses add to construction industry woes
The financial stress within construction firms caused by the credit crunch is made stark in the latest official insolvency figures. And the problems facing the sector are being increased as property firms collapse in massively swelling numbers.Between July and September this year there was an increase of almost two thirds ...
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CommentA no-brainer
So you want to build your project for less money, risk, stress, hassle and time? Well, there鈥檚 a simple way to do everyone a favour, says Peter Kilby
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Comment黑洞社区 buys a pint 鈥� for Whitelaw Turkington
Chosen venue: The Prince of Wales, Kennington, South London Ambience: Cosy cricket lovers鈥� pub near Paddy Ashdown鈥檚 home Topics: Credit crunch denial, meeting Jonathan Ross, tartan vs plaid ...
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CommentMy digital life: Philip Turner
This architect carries his love of cycling into the digital world, to track down bike parts, get technical information and watch the Tour de France. That doesn鈥檛 leave much time for Facebook or his phone
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CommentPut on a happy face
What鈥檚 the best way to keep cheerful through the downturn? A quick game of golf, a few fireworks and then a glass of bubbly back at the in-office bar sounds good to me
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Lebanese labour
The first time I picked up 黑洞社区 magazine in Dubai, I was extremely impressed 鈥� until I came across this comment (黑洞社区 Gulf supplement, October, page 32): 鈥淯nless you employ cheaper labourers from India, Asia and the Lebanon, you won鈥檛 be competitive in the marketplace.鈥�
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Electricity vs biomass
Why is electricity given such a negative loading in the Code for Sustainable Homes?
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Dreaming of a warm Christmas
Well, it鈥檚 a freezing morning here at Wolseley head office and Rob 鈥渓ook at the size of my bonus鈥� Marchbank has just held a business review meeting for the benefit of the staff left here (we lost 73 last month).