http://blog.emap.com/cn-editor Construction News editor Nick Edwards updates his blog every day Mon, 30 Mar 2009 18:22:35 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Ray O’Rourke can obviously pick winners. A copy of Ronan O'Gara’s autobiography was on his desk when I interviewed him last week, a few days before the rugby player kicked the winning points in Ireland’s historic Six Nations victory.   His spacious corner office in Laing O’Rourke’s offices in a business estate ... http://blog.emap.com/cn-editor/2009/03/27/ray-orourke-exclusive-interview/ We had some sad news last week with the death of John D Allen, one of Construction News' longest serving editors.   John edited CN through more than three decades, finally hanging up his spurs in 1991, although he continued to write for the paper for many years after that. Personally I ... http://blog.emap.com/cn-editor/2009/03/25/john-d-allen-passes-away/ BAA gets a lot of stick about the passenger experience at Heathrow. And it is frustrating on so many levels (try showing a three year old any planes at any of the terminals - it pretty much impossible unless you want to stand outside in the smokers area!).   So BAA chief ... http://blog.emap.com/cn-editor/2009/03/21/whos-to-blame-for-heathrow/ The deadline for the CN Quality Awards is 20 March so make sure that you don’t leave it to late to make a difference to your business.     Categories cover both projects and excellence in performance in areas like safety and training – there’s something for any company, big or small.   Find out ... http://blog.emap.com/cn-editor/2009/03/16/cn-quality-awards-deadline-approaches/ ...We hope you like our new content, design and size.   We have given you more news, more contract leads and more Inside Knowledge as a way of making CN an even more valuable companion through what will be a tough year.   Look out for more developments in the next few ... http://blog.emap.com/cn-editor/2009/03/12/welcome-to-a-new-cn/ I remember the time not so long ago when a big conference would not be complete without the chief economist of one of the big banks being rolled out to sketch a few thoughts about the market. The chief economist from the Royal Bank of Scotland was an entertaining and ... http://blog.emap.com/cn-editor/2009/03/11/how-far-the-banks-have-fallen/  It felt like a perfect time to celebrate excellence in the industry with this year's Specialists Awards last Thursday. If you’re the editor of Construction News you get to do a lot of great things throughout the year – but doing the Specialists Awards is one of my favourites.   It’s our ... http://blog.emap.com/cn-editor/2009/03/08/specialists-awards/ I was talking to Newsnight on Friday about a story they were planning on the allegations of blacklisting made by the Information Commissioner against more than 40 constuction companies. At the time they were planning to make it the lead item, although in the end it got pushed.   The producer said ... http://blog.emap.com/cn-editor/2009/03/07/blacklisting-the-great-silence/ As you will have noticed by now, CN's website (www.cnplus.co.uk) looks pretty different - and it's got a lot of new content as well.   My colleagues, Lisa Glancy and Myles Burke, have been bringing all their experience and imagination to bear on our new online service.    Some things on the site - like our ... http://blog.emap.com/cn-editor/2009/03/03/welcome-to-the-new-look-construction-news-website/ I was talking to someone at a recent dinner who is heavily involved in the South African infrastructure market.   He was pretty gloomy about the prospects for next year's World Cup - not because the stadia won't be finished in time (he thinks they will be, though a bit scrappy round the ... http://blog.emap.com/cn-editor/2009/02/20/south-africa-2010-will-the-lights-stay-on/