BCO PARTIES ON DESPITE CREDIT CRUNCH

摘要

"This is a bloody miserable conference this,'says Argent joint chief executive Roger Madelin, addressing delegates at the 17th British Council for Offices (BCO) conference in Brussels last week, during a seminar on the regeneration of London. 'And while that miserable loony git Gordon Brown is our leader, we are fucked,' he adds. And the great and good of the UK's commercial office sector -which the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) values at ￡740 billion - are lapping it up. Should the fiery Londoner tire of redeveloping King's Cross, a career in comedy surely beckons. But Madelin's point is a serious one. Twelve months ago the BCO - which was formed in 1990 to 'research, develop and communicate best practice in all aspects of the office sector' -gathered in the Waldorf Hotel in New York, where the sunny weather formed an apt backdrop to the industry's sense of continued optimism. What a difference a year makes. In a rain-drenched Brussels, BCO chief executive Richard Kauntze tells the AJ: "There is no point in kidding ourselves - we are in for a difficult period.