Client summit plan

The new head of the Construction Round Table - a collection of 13 "super clients" who account for 10 per cent of construction output - has instigated a bridge-building meeting with the industry's big contractors. He has also met with other clients to repair recent sharp differences.

Martin Reynolds, director of Railtrack Development, will meet Sir Neville Simms and the whole of the Major Contractors Group for dinner on 7 September.

Reynolds instigated the move with Jenny Price of the MCG amid concerns of "antipathy between the Major Contractors Group and the CRT" following the launch of its Agenda for Change last December. He told CJ: "They said it would be nice sometimes if we were told that everything we do is'nt awful."

The CRT has had a high profile since launching its report and has dominated the Egan Task Force. This recently caused major tensions with other clients in the Construction Clients' Forum.

Reynolds has also met senior civil servant John Hobson to discuss how the CRT would work with the Task Force initiative. He told CJ that CRT had offered to take a flexible role in the future of the Task Force: "I said, 'You tell us where the CRT can give you the best contribution so the industry as a whole can move forward'."

Reynolds has also met with Terry Rochester, chairman of the Construction Clients' Forum and has reassured more mainstream clients about the future role of the CRT. Tony Pollington, CCF secretary, confirms: "They had a very helpful meeting. There isn't any doubt as far as other members of the CCF are concerned that Martin Reynolds is keen to make his approach inclusive."

Reynolds wants to see CRT widen its membership to be less exclusive, for example allowing other retailers beside Tesco and Marks and Spencer to join. He also wants the organisation to be more open about the work it is doing.

On the Task Force initiative he said that he was expecting the October conference to sign-off the measurement systems by which demonstration projects would be benchmarked.