Hansom: All ears

Wax works

Anti-blacklisting protesters do employ some odd tactics at times. The latest, promoted by an Andy Organiser Watson on Facebook, involved presenting prime minister David Cameron with a “Stop the Blacklist!” poster. Reasonable enough except this wasn’t the real David Cameron but a waxwork model standing outside a similarly artificial 10 Downing Street (below). Did Watson’s novel protest fall on deaf ears? Perhaps not. While the flesh-and-blood Cameron remains opposed to launching a public inquiry into blacklisting, Hansom has it on good authority that his wax counterpart is far more sympathetic and is understood to be planning immediate action.

Stick to the dress code

As everyone knows, there’s no love lost between the Premier League football team in Trafford and the one in Manchester proper. So perhaps it should come as no surprise that workers on Bam’s £100m project to build a new training ground for Manchester City who turned up in Man United colours were told to change their shirts. Bam remained unapologetic, saying it had put in place a “no football shirt policy” from day one. “We wanted to avoid any partisan alliances being brought into the workplace,” said construction director Ian Fleming. “We are treating any football shirts, no matter what the team, in the same way. We may have missed some but are striving to enforce the policy across the site.”

The leading man

Last week I brought you news of the boom in the Lego sector of the construction industry. This week the news is more exciting still with tidings of The Lego Movie. Viewing the trailer, I was overjoyed to see that a humble construction worker takes the lead role. Voiced by Chris Pratt, who was also in hit films Moneyball and Wanted, the masterbuilder figure holds “the fate of the world in his tiny yellow hands” after evil forces threaten the world of Lego with demolition. Whether Pratt’s character is happy to take on a job with such a high-risk profile for the low margins of today’s construction market remains unclear.

Peddle pushers

As we approach the start of the Tour de France with the prospect of a second British winner in as many years, I’m delighted to note the industry is also taking on a couple of mammoth cycling challenges. Peter Murray, chairman of New London Architecture, and a group of construction professionals are currently riding across the whole of the US, Ireland and the UK from Portland, Oregon, to Portland Place in London. They’re well over half way now and are due to arrive in the capital on 13 July. Meanwhile, eight staff from Ryder Architecture are riding around this country to each of the firm’s offices to mark its 60 years in business.Good luck to all of them.