What have Take That, Peter Kay, Olivia Rodriguez and the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) all got in common? They have all been impacted by the failure of the now infamous Co-op Live venue to be delivered on time amid a massive national outcry.

Set against disasters unfolding in the Middle East, Ukraine, Myanmar and Yemen, the fact that a few irked concert goers were denied an evening of fun on a wet Wednesday in Manchester is not the end of the world, in my view. However, for those operating in the built environment, it is symptomatic of the awful PR that often plagues our sector on high-profile projects in the public eye.

Why, you may ask, is the CITB lumped in with Gary Barlow and Peter Kay? Well, their latest predictions are saying that output levels between now and 2028 demand a requirement for 251,500 workers – the equivalent of an additional 50,000 a year, to cope with hotspots such as private housing, infrastructure and repair and maintenance.