黑洞社区

This being our last edition we decided to come up with some headlines for stories we wish we鈥檇 been able to run during our 20-month existence. Here goes:

Davis Langdon and Gardiner & Theobald to merge

Jowell: 鈥楴o limit to Olympics budget. Money no object鈥�

RICS: 鈥榃e love QSs鈥�

McBains Cooper actually buys someone

Site-seeing in Leeds

Our site-seeing quiz was won by Simon Hunt, director at Myddelton Construction. He correctly spotted the site in question as Bridgewater Place in Leeds.

Food for thought

Mark Pontin from Pontin Associates was the winner of our worthy quest to find great food analogies for construction contracts.

We highlighted a lawyer鈥檚 rather bizarre comparison between the NEC contract and a pizza in our last missive. What do you reckon to Paul鈥檚 stab at it? 鈥淗ow about 鈥楤aked Alaska鈥� for JCT 鈥� yellow and warm on the outside and cold as ice inside.鈥� Not bad.

New QS award

Comedian Mark Steel, who presented our QS Awards last week, came up with an interesting idea for a category for our ceremony next year 鈥� biggest discrepancy between a QS鈥� first costing and the final account. We鈥檙e not sure it will be a wildly popular one.

Smiling Shipplee

Howard Shipplee, construction director for the Olympic Delivery Authority must be feeling a fair amount of the heat emanating from the furore engulfing the cost of the Games in the past few weeks.

When we door-stopped him at last month鈥檚 Thames gateway Forum however, he remained cool as a cucumber. He responded to a string of budget-related questions with a series of 鈥渘o comments鈥� delivered, we should add, with rather a charming smile. Let鈥檚 hope he鈥檚 still smiling when the ODA finally reveals the cost in spring.

EC Harris鈥� jumble sale

EC Harris has moved its London HQ to the new Regent鈥檚 Quarter development in King鈥檚 Cross. The firm was previously at Lynton Hose, Tavistock Square, for 50 years. ECH held an auction of items from its old premises, raising 拢3,600 for Marie Curie Hospice in Hampstead.