Back bites and other bits: 27 September 2006

Not so sweet
Builders appear to be losing their sweet tooth, according to research by a new tea brand Make Mine a Builders – launched exclusively for the construction industry in partnership with the Federation of Master Builders (FMB). More than half of the 300 builders polled at the recent Interbuild show in Birmingham revealed that they did not take sugar in their tea. Asked which person they would most like to serve them a cup of tea, 28% voted for ‘her indoors’, with an equal amount ranging between well-known figures such as Rachel Stevens, Kelly Brook, the Dalai Lama, Nelson Mandela, Tony Blair and George Clooney.

A total of 21% preferred to make the tea themselves to get it just right, with 13% preferring their mums to do it. Girlfriends and the boss came bottom of the ranking for making a brew, scoring 5% and 3% respectively. Donations from the tea brand will go into a Builders Foundation, set up by the FMB to support initiatives in the building trade.

Hard labour From time to time, CJ receives requests for work from well-intentioned but entirely misguided casual labourers, who assume that we’re actually in the construction industry ourselves. Normally, these offers are entirely inappropriate, but a second glance at the latest application indicates that perhaps he’d come in handy for a spot of proof-reading on press day. Fast, efficient, and “relatively skilled” this potential new recruit attempts to close the deal with the following: “I shall be looking to earn around £50-per-day cash-in-hand in return for my reliability, punctuation, and general hard work.”

With skills like that, what employer would turn him away? He’s coming in for an interview next week.

Uncle Sam catches cold
You know the saying, when the States sneezes, the rest of us catch a cold. That has to be the worry for UK housebuilders as the US housing bubble continues to deflate with alarming speed. Fifteen months ago, the price increase rate (in annual percentage terms) peaked at 17%; during the summer months it was barely above zero. Merrill Lynch estimated that the housing boom accounted for a third of all jobs created since 2001, and half of GDP growth last year. The consequences of a slowdown would not be pretty.

...but the bear’s on fire
Meanwhile, things could not be more different in Russia. Moscow has a staggering 4,500 building sites, as Muscovites embrace an unlikely property boom. Average wages are less than £400 per month, yet one couple managed to sell their two-bedroom apartment (bought for £35,000 in 2003), for £150,000. And they’re not alone. Interestingly, in the weird and wonderful economy that is Russia’s, between only 5% to 8% of property purchases are backed by mortgages. Most pay cash, a payment method normally associated with gangsters – of which there are very few in Russia, of course. Still, who cares who’s buying your flat when its value quadruples inside just three years?

Be inspired
Thousands of new undergraduates start at university next week, and a lucky few will be sponsored through the CITB Inspire programme. CJ looks at how the scheme works.

Number of the week: 144
Full-time employee days saved in a year by Laing O’Rourke plant hire business Select thanks to use of BT’s Radio Frequency Identification technology.

[Contract Journal, 27 September 2006, p 52]