Contractors Focus – Page 9
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FeaturesContractor salary survey 2012: Signs of life
Find out the winners and losers in this year’s salary survey with our interactive tables and full analysis
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FeaturesThe missing apprentices
Why are there fewer apprentices in construction despite increased government spending on apprenticeships? Building investigates
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FeaturesHow Canada took the if out of PFI
While the UK government tries to work out what to do with the controversial procurement route, the Canadians have created a version that transacts deals in half the time and gives the market far greater cost certainty. But could their approach work here?
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FeaturesStephen Pycroft: The man who scaled the Shard
With no more Shards on the horizon, how will Mace keep moving upwards? The firm’s chief executive explains
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FeaturesM&E firms: The heat is on
Why have M&Es been hit so hard this year and can anything be done to stop more of them going under?
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FeaturesSteve Hindley: Mr Happy
The chair of contractor Midas and the CBI’s Construction Council has a smile on his face. What does he know that we don’t?
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FeaturesShould we work all hours?
Ray O’Rourke has said a 35-hour week would make the industry more attractive to recruits. How realistic is a shorter working week is - and does anyone really want it?
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FeaturesOlympic marketing rights: Time’s running out
Is it too late for UK construction to benefit from the Olympics?
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FeaturesEverybody’s talking…
… and unfortunately the government can’t hear a word they’re saying. It has never been more important for the industry to speak with one voice. Now the chairman of the CPA has a new plan
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FeaturesAre contractors not up to the job?
Building’s survey shows clients are having trouble finding contractors with the skills they need. Joey Gardiner asks why
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FeaturesPension problems: Don't look now
Construction firms’ final salary pension liabilities of £33bn are set to attack their balance sheets, stop investment and hold back growth for years to come. Yet far from confronting the problem, many are simply ignoring it and hoping it will go away. Will Hurst reports
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FeaturesThe state of play 01: Contractors
The double-dip recession that the industry has been dreading is finally upon us. But exactly how bad are things out there, and how much worse are they going to get? In the first part of Building’s State of Play series examining the health of the industry, sector by sector, Emily ...
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FeaturesThe State of Play: Views from the top on the contractor market
Building’s State of Play series kicks off with a look at the contractor market – here, three top bosses predict the future for UK contractors
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FeaturesContractors' pay: The 30 days war
Eighteen months after the government introduced its Prompt Payment Code, Building’s Specialists White Paper has revealed that 83% of contractors are still waiting more than 30 days to be paid. Vern Pitt reports on one of the industry’s longest-running battles
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FeaturesPaul Sheffield: ‘You can hear somebody saying, “Well, it was all right when I left …”’
Paul Sheffield could barely have chosen a worse time to become chief executive of a UK construction firm, but two years after taking over at Kier, his growth strategy appears to be paying off. By Allister Hayman
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FeaturesInterview: Mitie boss Ruby McGregor-Smith
How construction’s only female chief executive learned to stop worrying and build a £2bn company in the midst of a global economic crisis
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FeaturesUniversity Technical Colleges: Dumbing down
Until January of this year, University Technical Colleges were fast gaining favour as a way of attracting new talent into our industry. Then, out of the blue, education secretary Michael Gove downgraded vocational qualifications, putting the feasibility of the programme in question. Building asks whether the government is making a ...
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FeaturesRedeveloping Bart's and Royal London hospitals
It was tempting to hang a ‘do not resuscitate’ sign on two dingy, barely accessible London hospitals, but Skanska’s redevelopment of the sites has made them functional again - which should perk up medical staff and patients alike
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FeaturesHigh Speed 2: Jobs on the line
HS2 has got off to a speedy start by appointing its first-phase consultants in just three weeks. But the real wow-factor of this mega-project is that it could employ thousands of construction workers over more than two decades. Building assesses the opportunities ahead
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FeaturesPredictions for 2012: The year of the groundhog
So what does 2012 have in store? Well, there’s the Olympics, of course, and some potentially interesting developments in nuclear power and infrastructure. But mostly it will be a year of battening down the hatches. There will be recklessly low bids for work, some firms will go under, others will ...