好色先生TV

The road to nowhere

It says a lot about a job when both the people in charge of the firms building it say they wouldn鈥檛 have touched it with a barge pole if they鈥檇 been in place at the time the deal was inked. We鈥檙e talking about the road to hell known as the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route. Carillion鈥檚 bosses reckon it helped send the firm under and the top dogs at the road鈥檚 remaining two builders, Balfour Beatty and Galliford Try, say they would have given it a massive swerve. It鈥檚 due to be finished this summer despite Balfour chief executive Leo Quinn admitting the pair have barely been able to lay any blacktop since the middle of December because of the appalling weather. My hack wondered whether the summer completion was still achievable. 鈥淒epends which hemisphere we鈥檙e talking about,鈥� was Quinn鈥檚 wry reply.

El Oro鈥檚 oration

I must confess I鈥檓 not that familiar with London investor El Oro but I鈥檝e noticed its chairman Clement Robin Woodbine Parish doesn鈥檛 shirk from offering his views on all sorts of things 鈥� from the 鈥渁bsurdity of HS2鈥� to the 鈥渄ismemberment鈥� of the UK鈥檚 armed forces, the 鈥渁bsurd [Nick] Clegg and [Jeremy] Corbyn鈥�, the 鈥済raceless wife鈥� of former President Mugabe, the 鈥渂affling鈥� electrification of the Great Western railway, 鈥渁uthoritarian鈥� China and the damage PFI has done to the NHS from firms like Carillion and their peers 鈥� who he refers to as 鈥渕onolithic near-monopolistic enterprises [which] are the antithesis of true Capitalism鈥�. He ends with a quote from the Old Testament. This was all in the build-up to introducing the investor鈥檚 half-year results and, unusually for such documents, it鈥檚 an absolutely cracking read.

Go figure

Under one proposal put forward to get the government to rescue Carillion, I was under the impression that if taxpayers stumped up 拢10m a week, then Carillion鈥檚 banks would do the same. After all, that鈥檚 what its interim chief Keith Cochrane told MPs last month. But under a plan attached to a letter Carillion鈥檚 chairman Philip Green sent to the government asking for help just two days before it went bust, the government would have stumped up 拢160m by the end of April and the banks just 拢60m. That doesn鈥檛 seem like a funding match to me. But then, sums weren鈥檛 exactly Carillion鈥檚 strong point, were they?

Tourist information alert

Announcing plans to build 1,200 homes in Norwich, Weston Homes rather helpfully tells me that Norwich is 鈥渁 cathedral city and the county town of Norfolk, located on the River Wensum in East Anglia, approximately 100 miles north-east of London鈥�. Thank goodness for the geography lesson 鈥� I had no idea there was anything north of the Old Smoke I鈥檝e resided in for 175 years. Sadly, the firm makes no reference to Norwich鈥檚 most famous son, Alan Partridge, who was once moved to ask during an intimate moment: 鈥淲hat do you think about the pedestrianisation of Norwich city centre?鈥�

Taking a hike

For those wondering what Andrew Davies, the former Wates chief executive who was due to become Carillion鈥檚 next chief executive the week after it went bust, has been doing, I have some news. He鈥檚 been walking the South Downs Way, which runs 100 miles from Eastbourne to Winchester. The trail says it offers walkers 鈥渢he opportunity to get away from it all鈥�. Hopefully Davies hasn鈥檛 bumped into other former Carillion directors looking to do the same鈥�