This is a year to show off

Being an old cynic I suspect that it is the latter. At the CBI conference Tony Blair pledged to slash bureaucracy and has plans to order Whitehall departments to cut regulation by 25%. For a bloke who at best only has another five months in office, this seems all rather hollow, especially coming from someone who wants a legacy a little grander than cutting red tape.

However, in terms of overall usefulness relief on red tape would do more to improve economic performance than almost anything else. If Blair cannot carry this through what are the chances of Gordon Brown continuing with the idea? With the new proposals due on pensions, I suspect the chancellor will be bringing a host of new regulations, mostly ways of raising taxes on the quiet to fund an ever-growing black hole in public finances.

As far as construction goes though, 2007 provides another opportunity to show what is really great about the industry. There is a vast array of really talented people doing some fabulous work. I hope that in 2007 they will all pulling together to get the Olympic project rolling without the usual interdisciplinary turf wars breaking out.

Who leads projects is less important than what that leadership delivers. Design led, contractor led, does it matter? What matters is showcasing what the industry is about and using it to attract the next generation of professionals.

A demographic analysis of most of the professional bodies shows a bulge of baby boomers coming to retirement in the next five to 10 years and the rate of recruitment of younger people to take over is way behind what the industry needs. To some extent we are already too late because it takes time to develop the experience.

The good news is that those of us who, thanks to Gordon Brown’s drubbing of the pensions, have less to look forward to than we might have wished, might be able to work a bit longer. Happy New Year!