Well the press has come in for a bit of a bashing lately, and in many cases, rightly so. In the trade magazine sector, it’s no different to a newspaper – readers should quite reasonably expect to be able to believe what’s between our covers, and we go a long way to ensure that happens. Our contributors range from specialist construction writers, to industry heavyweights, legislation experts and even the legislation-makers themselves (see this month’s Renewable Energy feature, by Energy and Climate Change Minister Greg Barker). And I’d like to think in this media sector we’re pretty unusual in the amount of great case studies we offer, this is an entertaining way of showing the products and construction methods in action – and the problems met and addressed by your peers may show you that you’re not alone!
Things are still hard across the whole industry, although some new starts may be made in education sector. The Construction Index reports that the Department for Education “plans to carry out a condition survey of all school buildings prior to a new £2bn school building programme that follows the recommendations of the James Review. The Priority School Building Programme replaces the axed BSF programme. The new scheme prioritises those buildings in the worst condition and will use standardised designs for new buildings. It will be privately financed and open to all schools, whether on the BSF programme or not.”
This time next year the Olympics will have kicked off – and possibly in a year and a month we’ll be wondering what all of the fuss was about! One of the aims though, is the ‘legacy’ left by the regeneration of under-utilised areas, and the future use of some of the venues, which, it is hoped, will mean great sports facilities for public use. A lot of the venues were not created specifically for the Olympics, but are already impressive structures – the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Eton Dorney, Old Trafford in Manchester, but those purpose-built such as the Aquatics Centre, the Velodrome, and the Olympic Stadium itself will surely add to our sporting culture for years to come. Go Team UK!
