Re:Construction

It’s all big infrastructure in this episode, with Bishop & Taylor discussing a new 10-Year Plan, revelations of how badly awry HS2 has gone, and cartel busters from the Competition & Markets Authority being given a stab at management consultancy to tell us how to do civil engineering better.

Bishop & Taylor discuss the UK government’s big push on nuclear power, the forthcoming requirement for new homes to have solar panels and Extract, the new AI tool for local planning departments

Bishop & Taylor approve of a significant Supreme Court victory for Barratt Developments and take opposing views on the government’s plan to prevent land banking. They also discuss a report from a group of MPs calling for a licensing scheme for individuals and companies engaged in domestic energy efficiency retrofits.

Bishop & Taylor discuss the difference between cheating and gaming the system, how to tackle bribery and corruption in the construction industry, and (completely unrelated) the Reform Party’s construction connections

Bishop & Taylor have been learning that concrete is far from the carbon-bad-guy that it is popularly portrayed as. They also discuss the Nature Levy, known by some as Licence to Kill. And they wonder whether aerogels are set for take-off in insulation.

In this episode stonemason Pierre Bidaud of The Stone Collective promotes the benefits of natural stone as a structural building material.  Also, Bishop & Taylor discuss the crisis at British Steel (and whether it matters) and marvel at coffee-infused cement.

Bishop & Taylor discuss some of the talking points from chancellor Rachel Reeves’ recent spring statement, the formation of new government bodies, and the rise of pine.

Bishop & Taylor discuss government’s efforts to reduce regulatory hurdles, the challenges facing the UK cement sector and a proposal to lower the school leaving age to 14 in Scotland

Bishop & Taylor discuss the government’s response to the Grenfell Inquiry’s final report and juxtapose this with the forgotten Cole Report report into a primary school wall collapse.

In this episode, Bishop & Taylor discuss exploding batteries, how the one-year-old biodiversity net gain (BNG) rules are bedding in, and a call from steel companies for clients to buy British