From the rooftops

We couldn’t have put it any better ourselves. “Building Magazine’s campaign is a great opportunity for the sector to celebrate the fundamental role it has played in the delivery of London 2012,” said Olympics minister Hugh Robertson this week as he gave his emphatic backing to the Building 2012 campaign. Just six weeks in, the campaign to celebrate UK construction’s role in the London Games and its legacy has already acquired some serious clout. In addition to the Olympics minister, construction minister Mark Prisk and the government’s chief construction adviser, Paul Morrell, have added their weight to the Building 2012 campaign.

Just six weeks in and the campaign to celebrate construction’s role in the Olympics and its legacy has acquired some serious clout

The campaign’s ambition is to alert the country to how firms of all sizes have demonstrated excellence by being “greener, faster and smarter”. You will have read in these pages about the onerous marketing rules that prevent construction firms from being able to promote their roles in delivering the London Games. We don’t intend to let that stop us. Right up until the big event in July, Building will be broadcasting on all our platforms the many stories of innovation, learning and technological expertise. And we’ll be telling the world about contracts won by all the designers, contractors, consultants, manufacturers and their suppliers.

We do, though, urge the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games to allow some discretion in the interpretation of the No Marketing Rights protocol. Other Olympic host countries have given companies room to be able to tell their stories - why not the UK? Good news, after all, is in short supply. For our part, we promise to be unstinting in our efforts to help firms get the most out of the Games and the host of lucrative contracts that are part of the global legacy.
               

Globetrotting

Talking of international legacy, for further proof of the growing opportunities UK firms can find abroad, see our India focus . It reveals the details of India’s twelfth five-year plan for development, which sets out $1tn of government investment in roads, rail, infrastructure, health and education facilities from 2012-2017. And take a look at Emily Wright’s interview from Qatar with developer Msheireb. Msheireb director John Rose says British firms are at the front of the queue for work in Doha, which has a phenomenal pipeline of work planned over the next five years, fuelled by Qatar’s success in being chosen to host the 2022 football World Cup. Furthermore, Msheireb’s chief executive Issa M Al Mohannadi, who is also the chair of the Qatar Green Building Council, promises that the new Downtown Doha development could become the largest collection of sustainable buildings in the world. And there are plenty of UK firms already using their role on the London Games to grow their businesses. So watch this space in the coming weeks for more special focuses on Qatar, China and other international hotspots as we provide you with the ultimate guide to where the work is around the globe.

Tom Broughton, brand director