HANSOM CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER

摘要

It's not like Ucatt to flip-flop on issues concerning the construction industry, but emails from the union last week showed an unusually indecisive streak. At 4.05pm on Thursday a stern message arrived proclaiming "disappointment" at a government consultation into asbestos-related illnesses. But lo and behold, at 4.50pm a "corrected" version of the same email arrived, calling the consultation "a step forward". What changed in that 45 minutes to mollify the union's hardline stance? It couldn't be that Ucatt's famed firebrand Alan Ritchie is going soft on us, could it? Any publicist worth his salt can spot a marketing break a mile off, and there's no greater promoter in the construction industry than Gleeds boss Richard Steer. Following on from quirky marketing stunts like Gleeds TV and Gleeds' green Christmas party, Steer's team is taking opportunism to new-levels on its group trip to Beijing this summer. While Chinese officials frantically try to clear pollution away from the capital in order to meet Olympic air quality standards, the consultant is planning a range of bespoke Gleeds facemasks. Talk about putting your money where your mouth is.