Hansom

Well out of it

It was good to see Multiplex’s Paul Gandy at the Clifford Chance drinks reception last week. The former construction boss looked tanned and happy, no doubt because he now oversees Multiplex’s development portfolio in Gibraltar.

I’m sure he would much rather be back on the Wembley stadium site this winter.

And talking of the Clifford Chance reception, it was disappointing to see an example of one the industry’s longest traditions being upheld – namely, sexism. Step forward Metro International chief executive John Gidman, who threw his keys on the floor and boorishly insisted that a female Building journalist pick them up, on the grounds that “there wouldn’t be an angle from which it wasn’t attractive”.

Paris, Yorkshire

Paris Moayedi, former chief executive of Jarvis, is a man after my own heart. At Building’s House of Commons terrace reception last week I discovered that during a three-year period of living in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, he developed a love of the local cuisine. While Mr Moayedi is known as a man who will drink little but vintage champagne, he prefers to accompany it not with caviar, but with fish, chips, and, of course, mushy peas.

Fear factor

Having worked extensively in Russia, architect John Thompson and Partners doesn’t take any nonsense. But in the face of potential fireworks accompanying this week’s G8 meeting even JTP has closed its Edinburgh offices to avoid any public disorder. “We hadn’t thought about it, but then the police said there would be 1000 anarchists roaming around,” said one concerned staffer. Never mind those guys: what if you run into Bob Geldof?

Bound for glory

Congratulations to my colleagues (above) who won the London region heats of the prestigious Willmott Dixon five-a-side football tournament last week. Despite having neither substitutes nor fans, the team secured the trophy at their fifth attempt. What was more amusing was the failure to turn up of long-time rivals Contract Journal and Construction News. CN pulled out on the day and it is rumoured that CJ was worried that I would ridicule them in this column if they lost to Building as they do most years. As if …

One last thing

As leaving presents go, it was a classic: it left an impression on everyone who saw it and it clearly took a lot of time and effort. Unusually, however, it was given by the person leaving, Housing Corporation deputy chief executive Neil Hadden, to his colleagues. His last act in the job was to list the number of homes built by the 70 housing associations. He then sent this out to all 70 and departed. Unfortunately, it turned out that many of the figures were wrong. Cue enraged phone calls and a major sweeping-up operation by the corporation. An excellent way of ensuring you’re remembered.

Rounded remarks
Argent boss Roger Madelin was his usual acerbic self at the RIBA’s annual conference in Bristol last week. While presenting the latest images of his King’s Cross development, Madelin revealed that Ken Livingstone’s latest sustainability targets had raised some eyebrows in the Argent offices. “In order to meet the 10% renewables target we worked out we’d have to build 532 wind turbines at King’s Cross,” he intoned in his deadpan style.

A candidate, no doubt, for Madelin’s favourite catchphrase: “bollocks”.