As the self-employed owner of a small limited company, any respect I might have had for the UK Government’s COVID-19 response was fatally undermined by Rishi Sunak in March. In early March 2020, I attended an industry trade show (FutureBuild) at London’s EXCeL, never imagining the place would later become a centre for treating COVID-19 …
Category: business
Oct 15 2019
End of an era at Crewe Alexandra?
After a few uncertain years on the pitch, a sexual abuse scandal off the pitch, and prolonged uncertainty about the club’s financial future, we seem to be at a turning point in the fortunes of Crewe Alexandra football club. Long-standing Alex supporters may tell you 2016 was Crewe’s “annus horribilis”. The club was relegated from …
May 30 2019
The North Face and Leo Burnett Tailor Made join the Wikipedia hall of shame
News today (see The Guardian, The Drum, for example) that marketing agency Leo Burnett Tailor Made (part of the multinational Publicis marketing and public relations agency group) has manipulated Wikipedia on behalf of its client, outdoor apparel manufacturer The North Face, has spectacularly backfired. The North Face has been forced to apologise for its campaign, …
May 09 2019
Construction and social mobility
“There’s a business case for tackling the issue of social mobility” says Making The Leap’s Carmen Antiqueira, who wants more construction businesses to showcase their achievements in the Social Mobility Awards 2019. On 19 March, I attended a business seminar about social mobility, organised by Making the Leap, a London-based charity that improves social mobility …
Jan 10 2019
One in three construction practitioners do not have easy access to the knowledge they need
A survey carried out by the UK’s Construction Knowledge Task Group has found that a third of construction practitioners do not have easy access to the knowledge they need. Feedback from 299 practitioners from every part of the industry, found almost two fifths (38.5%) said they did not have easy access to all the knowledge they …
Sep 17 2018
PR: proud, practical, not propagandists
CIPR CAPSIG research regarding women in construction PR and marketing showed considerable pride in working in the sector, and recommended some changes to help develop a better, more diverse industry. Colleges and others are also taking practical steps – not turning into propagandists with another ‘lipstick on a pig’ campaign. The image of construction has …
Sep 06 2018
Epson targets freelancers’ print costs
Epson’s central London pop-up shop gives visitors a space to co-work and to test their new EcoTank printers – which offers the UK’s growing population of freelances and SMEs a cost-effective alternative to ink cartridge machines. Three times (so far) in 2018 I have had to dash out to a nearby supermarket and buy expensive …
Aug 24 2018
Don’t just digitise. Rethink construction
Modernising construction is not something that will be achieved just by the adoption of new technologies. “The current business model of the construction sector is not sustainable.” I spoke at two Specifi events in July 2018, the first in Manchester on 4 July, and the second two weeks later in London on 17 July. In …
Jun 26 2018
New Homes Ombudsman could help restore consumer confidence in housebuilders
A cross-party Parliamentary group has set out proposals for a New Homes Ombudsman to help provide better redress for dissatisfied home buyers. Poor experiences with housebuilders are common factor in many people’s perception of the construction industry; promoting better behaviours in the housebuilding sector would therefore contribute to improving the image of construction. New Homes …
Jan 16 2018
Carillion’s liquidation: another PR disaster for UK construction
As news of Carillion’s liquidation exploded yesterday (see previous post), I provided a short comment for the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, in my role as chair of CIPR CAPSIG, and was subsequently asked to provide a longer opinion piece for PR Week, which was published earlier today. Below is my original draft (a little …
