Editor's comment: Wembley an own goal

Editor's comment: Wembley: an own goal?

Washing dirty linen in public is never a good idea. And it's even worse if you are the client or the contractor involved in building one of Britain's most avidly waited-for projects.

The acres of coverage of Wembley this weekend can hardly have helped either side move forward in this increasingly acrimonious debate. When even the sports pages devote space to the issue you know there's some particularly juicy argument going on.

But will it do Multiplex or WNSL any good? The chances are neither will win by conducting their discussions through the media. But it provides plenty of fodder for journalists, particularly as it combines the ingredients of our favourite sport, a bad news story and an on-going argument.

However, the ramifications for the UK's construction industry are worrying.

Now it's impossible even to go to the pub without someone talking about Wembley and the fact that construction contractors can't build anything on time and on budget. Add to that the coverage of the Bath Spa ­ which opens this week, three years late ­ and as a layman you'd be convinced that we're on the path to disaster for Britain's 2012 Olympics. And that, sadly, certainly seems to be the favoured view across the UK.

For an industry that does deliver on time and on budget in many, many cases, it's frustrating that we¹re all being tarred with the same brush. Arguing through the newspaper pages won't to do anyone any good in the long run.

And for the UK's construction industry it's the worst possible outcome, particularly in terms of recruitment and PR.
It¹s time for the public arguing to stop, for each side to get on and deliver what will be a great new stadium, and for the UK construction industry to prove the sceptics wrong by delivering a fantastic venue for London 2012. But, if it's a success, chances are the architect will get the credit.

Emma Penny, editor, Contract Journal, 9 August 2006, p. 36