Letters: 8 August 2007

The Lighthouse Club would like to thank...

On behalf of The Lighthouse Club, East Midlands Branch, can I thank everybody who attended this year's SED show at Rockingham Raceway, back in May, for their generous support of the Club's Benevolent Fund. The fund is for those people employed within the construction industry and allied trades who fall upon financial hardship through sickness, accident or fatality.

Visitors will no doubt recall that we had some ladies shaking buckets at the exits, at the end of the day, asking everyone to donate their loose change. As a result of this and with donations given, we raised £6,000 for the Benevolent Fund. 

Finally, a very big thank you to the companies who kindly let us have some of their classic plant to exhibit on our stand and also to the various transport companies who delivered and returned the machines at their own expense.

Should anyone require more information about The Lighthouse Club, then please call me on 01604 830074.

Dennis Tidmarsh

Branch Welfare Officer

The Lighthouse Club

Supply chain collaboration will improve the UK's architecture

The Times and The Guardian have both covered this year's Stirling Prize nominees, identifying a lack of client ambition and aspiration as being a major factor behind the fact just two of the six shortlisted buildings are actually located here in the UK.

However, it would be wholly unfair to place the responsibility for this perceived architectural malaise solely at the feet of the UK's clients when outstanding construction relies so heavily on the collaboration of its constituent parts.

The uncomfortable truth is that the UK construction industry is not yet operating in a totally integrated manner. This silo-based approach manifests itself in many ways not least a continuing pre-occupation with price over value.

Furthermore, the linear way in which projects continue to be undertaken often sees construction companies brought in as the final piece of the puzzle.

Far better results are achieved when every part of the supply chain can contribute their expertise from the embryonic stage of projects, particularly the more ambitious ones.

And finally, the parochial nature of the UK construction industry continues to be another of our worst enemies. Examples of best practice and innovation can be found all over the world, if we only took more time to look.

As the construction company responsible for building both of the buildings nominated from the UK - The Savill Building in Windsor Park and the Young Vic Theatre - we at Verry are very proud of the work we have produced for our clients.

These two projects are examples of what can be achieved when we work in a collaborative way from the outset, demonstrating mutual respect for what each stakeholder in the supply chain brings to the project.

In truth, there are plenty of clients who are prepared to innovate in the field of construction and, as the spirit of integration becomes more commonplace in our industry, we will start to see more examples of the internationally respected architecture for which Britain has long been renowned.

Geoff Taylor

Director

Verry Construction