This week resembles nothing so much as a big night out, starting with a booze-up in the new bar, a comical confusion about who’s doing what, a late Currie – and of course the massive bill at the end
Judging by results
Where, oh where, are Currie & Brown’s results? That is the question being whispered in the corridors and cubicles of the consultant’s London Wall home, I hear. The QS has tended to publish its figures punctually in February – except its 2006 accounts, which appeared in July 2007 and revealed a £2.6m loss. My moles tell me the financial director is keeping the accounts hidden from all but the most senior staff. So we won’t be the only ones checking the Companies House records with bated breath.
The case of the sneezing Chinaman
The slow spread of swine flu has largely been replaced in the public’s thoughts by the slow, agonised death of new Labour, but it is high in the mind of at least one of our readers. Bill Dunster, the eco-architect best known for BedZed, sat next to an extremely sneezy Chinese passenger on a flight to Beijing recently. Upon arrival, the authorities feared the wurst (geddit?) and packed him off to quarantine in a Chinese hostel for 24 no doubt rather terrifying hours. Thankfully, both the architect and his neighbour were given a clean bill of health and let out of the country. Dunster is now recovering from the experience, but we understand he is not bed(zed)bound.
That sinking feeling …
The latest government reorganisation – known informally as the “deckchairs on the Titanic” reshuffle – saw Jim Knight, the genial schools minister, moved to the work and pensions department. Bad news for Partnerships for Schools, which hoped to have some form of ministerial consistency during the Building Schools for the Future programme, but worse news for Building as we interviewed him for this week’s issue on his now-redundant brief. Presumably, new schools man Vernon Coaker won’t change direction entirely, so to read Knight’s interview, go to www.building.co.uk
Meccano across the Mersey
Some plucky students from the North-west are, we hear, set to build a bridge made from Meccano over a lock in Liverpool, with the help of a noted engineering consultant.
It’s all in aid of a BBC programme, apparently. Although the consultant in question said it was “sworn to secrecy”, we can reveal that it is, in fact, Atkins which is digging out its old model-making kits. All we can say is that at least it isn’t Arup, which has been known for the wobbly nature of at least one of its bridges …
John the thirst
Although the expenses scandal has so far failed to affect the construction sector, it would be remiss of us not to point out the eating habits of John Walker, former head of English Partnerships, who spent £18,000 on dining out over a 20-month period. According to recently released freedom of information data, the 112 meals that Walker billed to the taxpayer included £1,152 spent in a Belgravia pub and £843 in legendary Westminster eatery Shepherd’s. Walker’s guests were mainly other civil servants and government figures. Any housebuilders or regeneration chiefs out there who benefited from Walker’s taste for fine dining should let us know urgently if our money was spent wisely.
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