More Comment – Page 476
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Stirling pounded
The Stirling prize is an inward-looking, self-congratulatory lovefest for architects and other associated luvvies to cuddle up to each other
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Big is beautiful
The article about David Fison downsizing from Skanska to Osborne (24 July, page 30) was interesting. We have gone through a similar process over the past few years
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Money management
As a keen supporter of, and a specialist in, all things NEC, I am biased, but Rudi Klein’s article is excellent (24 July, page 45)
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CommentIt's all in the game: Adjudication
Parties in a dispute set all sorts of rules and try all manner of tactics on each other, but adjudicators need to resist the temptation to join in the game
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Don't be absurd: Challenging a contract
If the meaning of a contract term is unclear, can it be challenged? A recent House of Lords judgment said yes – but there may be conditions
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CommentJustice for all: Cost of litigation
Lord Justice Jackson is worried about cases in which the legal costs are so disproportionate that small firms are denied access to the High Court. So he’s got some suggestions
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How do I... call on a performance bond?
In the second in our series of practical tips for taking control of your legal affairs, Geraldine Laing explains how and when to call on a performance bond
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CommentWould I have been blacklisted, too?
It’s completely understandable that firms want to do a spot of ‘due diligence’ when hiring workers. It may also mean that they lose out … Michael Gove makes the case for selective amnesia
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CommentIs the construction industry all white, male and middle-aged?
Two reports draw attention to the fact that the construction professions are as white, male and middle-aged as they were 70 years ago. It’s not good enough
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CommentDiversity in construction: Small steps
Ensuring the workforce reflects society (and therefore its clients) is a complex long-term project that needs to be tackled at all levels
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Contractors face a £24 billion drop in new work
UK contractors should prepare themselves for a £24 billion drop in the annual cash value of new work coming through as the recession reaches its expected bottom in 2011.Shrinking volumes and plunging prices threaten to drag the cash spent on buying new construction work down from £70 billion in 2007 ...
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Another one for the file marked "Gloom": What do you mean you haven't got one yet?
Many thanks to Mel Budd of Leading Edge who sent me the consultancy's latest forecast. For simplicity's sake I have put the base figures for output in a graph with the other industry forecasts.What is striking is the growing consensus that things are looking horrid and there is a lot ...
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Nationwide ponders the unthinkable: A house price rise for 2009
The latest figures from Nationwide show a rise in prices for the third month on the trot, which puts the price of an average house at 1.3% more than at the start of the year.This sign of buoyancy is not isolated, we are seeing various indexes pointing to an uplift ...
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SMEs caught between a rock and a hard place
In 2008 as a 55-year-old owner manager of a specialist contractor with money in the Bank, I was looking forward to my early retirement when the financial institutions’ house of cards came tumbling down.Now I read in the press that the very same culprits that got us into this mess ...
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And the slump goes on …
The UK economy shrank by another 0.8% in the second quarter, according to preliminary figures. While the drop was markedly slower than the 2.4% decline in the first quarter of this year, it was still a much sharper contraction than many analysts had hoped for. It also marked the fifth ...
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House prices are flat lining, says Hometrack
For the third month in a row Hometrack has registered steady house prices, with a perkier southern market compensating for weaker activity in the north.But this has not led Richard Donnell, Director of Research at the housing market data provider, to call the bottom of the market.Viewed in isolation, ignoring ...
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Odd ideas to kickstart house building No 93: Just give first-time buyers £10,000
What would happen if the taxpayer (via the Government) decided to give first-time buyers otherwise unable to raise a deposit £10,000 so they could buy a new home?The answer, at least on the face of it, is a bit quirky and, perhaps, for house builders quite delightful.The sums suggest the ...
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Green shoots?
RICS commercial property survey shows that the pace of decline has slowed and demand is marginally increasing in the office market. Of those surveyed, just 13% said new sales and lettings had fallen, compared with 71% two quarters ago, but any fall at all is still bad news.The rise in ...
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Seven years of construction growth wiped out say GDP figures
The latest GDP figures showed a marked slowdown in the rate of collapse of the economy.But the drop of 0.8% was significantly more than economists were expecting, if the mood judged by Reuters gives a fair assessment. The median of its poll of economist put the expected second quarter fall ...