Hansom: If you say so

Organised panic

With world events changing so violently over the last week it should come as no surprise that some of the industry was looking for rapid exit strategies from global trouble-spots. First there was Turner & Townsend, which planned a hasty retreat from Tokyo over worries of a nuclear cloud engulfing the city. This was followed by news that Atkins had fled from Bahrain after local police started dispersing protesters in a rather lethal manner. However, news reached one of my colleagues that the firm’s press machine was less than happy with being described as “fleeing” the Gulf kingdom. Engineers weren’t running from burning buildings clutching nothing more than their prized possessions, it was argued. That may be true. But “Atkins begins departing from its Bahrain offices in an ordered and unpanicked fashion” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

The bright lights of construction

I sent my spies out to fraternise with EC Harris in the firm’s uber-chic central London hideout last week. Hacks were invited along on a Thursday night, when there happens to be a free bar manned by the partners themselves. As one partner explained to a delighted journalist: “It’s a motivational strategy. We figured that it was better for us to dig into our own pockets for a few drinks each week to keep staff happy, rather than shelling out on hefty recruitment fees because of staff leaving.” My minion was about to question whether this “motivational strategy” backfires when it comes to “motivating” staff on a Friday morning when he experienced the firm’s pre-emptive strategy: bright neon lights switched on at eight o’clock on the dot, signifying that it is time to drink up and head home to check the BlackBerry.

Dangerous acronyms

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency has been issuing regular information on the status of the country’s nuclear generation capacity, following the recent earthquake and tsunami. However, something may have got lost in translation. The e-bulletins all apparently sport the first three letters of the plant in question, followed by “Update”. So news related to Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant would be titled Ham Update, that relating to Shimane would be Shi Update and so on. But it’s the news concerning Fukushima that has caused most consternation, and potentially clogged up the spam filters of interested parties across the English-speaking world.

Serious semantics

Problems are plentiful for the construction industry these days. Dwindling contracts, rising material prices and a stagnant market are just some of the challenges it currently faces. But it would seem that the biggest problem of all is online encyclopedia, Wikipedia. The Chartered Institute of Building has released a lengthy press release urging construction professionals to challenge the Wikipedia definition of “construction management”. Apparently it is “too narrow” and industry figures “should be setting them straight.” Surely, as a profession that deals in the tangible - bricks and mortar - a few words won’t bring us to our knees?