The final account

Playful reminder

At the topping-out ceremony for 125 Old Broad Street in the City of London last week it was heartening to see two chief execs grouting like everyday tradesmen (see picture).

New Bovis boss Murray Coleman and Hammerson’s head John Richards were re-burying a time capsule from the 1970s found in the foundations of the site, which is the old home of the London Stock Exchange. What was left in the time capsule to remind us of three decades ago, besides the obligatory copy of the day’s newspaper? Platform shoes, horn-rimmed glasses or an Abba LP? Nope, a more predictable nod to the industry – a vintage copy of Playboy.

No crime of passion

We enjoyed a posh dinner in the West End last week hosted by project manager Rowney Sharman. At Reading Real Estate Foundation’s annual bash the speaker was a well-known face on the circuit, former Crown Prosecutor Peter Brown. His turn was overshadowed by a bizarre interruption from one of the diners. Brown was recounting watching legendary Welsh footballer Mickey Thomas scoring the winning goal for Wrexham in their memorable FA Cup victory against Arsenal in 1992, and then the next week having a hand in sending him to prison for 18 months. “His crime?” Brown asked. One sober looking, mature gentleman stood up and confidently pronounced: “Stabbing his wife’s lover in the buttock.” There was a shocked silence from the crowd before Brown informed us that the misdemeanour was slightly less dramatic, being a counterfeit currency scam.

Mission Impossible

Good to hear that Manchester Business School is again launching a contest with the RICS to partly fund a student through an MBA for Construction Executives. The question for candidates is an intriguing one: ‘‘Why are the margins so low in the construction industry and what would you do to improve them?” We presume if one of the hopefuls successfully answers this teaser he or she will be able to walk into any construction job in the land.

Circle of life

Well done to consultant Goodrich, which has raised £27,500 for Northampton General Hospital. Half the money will go to the Circulation for Life appeal to help re-equip and extend the hospital’s vascular unit. The other half goes to the hospital’s breast care unit. Goodrich acted as QS and PM on medical students’ accommodation and a library at the hospital, which was completed in March 2005.

Living the dream

Help at last for those desperately trying to buy a house – a cave house, that is. A firm branding itself “the leading cave house developer in Andalucia” has launched an online guide to buying cave homes. The developer, Spanish Inland Properties, has some 180 ‘cave dwellings’ for sale or redevelopment. We’ve fallen in love with Cueva Dalia 79 (picutured). Act now to avoid disappointment, visit www.spanish-inland-properties.com.

Keep smiling

A leading construction lawyer has added his voice to those who’ve been criticising the ‘partnering’ approach. Explaining how it works to an amused audience at a recent RICS legal event, he said, in appropriate legalese: “The shaftee shall keep a smile on its face while it is being shafted by the shafter.”