Re:Construction

Among topics covered in Bishop & Taylor’s wide-ranging conversation this week are Ilke Homes in need of rescue, the dangers of growth and whether the construction industry is behind the curve in embracing technology.

This week Bishop & Taylor discuss the revised hospital building programme and whether the HSE should investigate suicides. They are also joined by Adam Nicoll, director of HR firm Randstad, who has unfashionable views on the role of alcohol in the world of work.

Bishop & Taylor discuss Legal & General’s withdrawal from prefab housing, offsetting (again) and the economic clouds hovering over the UK industry

It has been a busy week for Bishop & Taylor: National Highways is preparing a diploma in integrated project delivery (IPD) that it expects its suppliers to sit; the Independent Review of Construction Product Testing has been published; and Persimmon has invested £25m in volumetric housing manufacturer TopHat.

Bishop & Taylor discuss the cancellation of the smart motorways programme, Billington’s recruitment difficulties, GMI’s shadow board and heat pumps.

Meriden MP Saqib Bhatti joins Bishop & Taylor to discuss HS2’s listening skills and community relations in the West Midlands. Also on the agenda are the £60m fine handed down to a demolition cartel and Balfour Beatty’s discovery that most battery-powered plant is not up to the job.

Bishop & Taylor discuss the recent Budget statement, including  tax allowances (and perhaps how to exploit them), new additions to the Shortage Occupations List and the postponement of major transport projects. They also discuss developers that have not (or not yet, at time of recording) signed Michael’s Gove’s building remediation contract. And there’s an interesting new arrival in Vistry’s boardroom.

Bishop & Taylor give two cheers to National Highways for choosing to repair a Scottish viaduct instead of simply filling it in; they discuss latest initiatives in the push for a national retrofit strategy; and they sympathise with a contractor stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Bishop & Taylor’s wide-ranging discussion in this episode takes in the 90-year-old Buy American Act, concrete made from seashells, problems with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete and what plant-hire companies want from the upcoming budget statement.

Bishop & Taylor discuss a Supreme Court judgment on nuisance, the review of Compulsory Purchase Orders, and claims that HS2 is not as biodiversity-neutral as it thinks it is.