Further to your article about Laing O鈥橰ourke laying off 17,500 workers, when I worked there I only ever got in trouble for telling them their business models were flawed

Direct labour brickies were paid for 45-hour shifts during winter when they could not lay, and so on. It had a central procurement department that provided a disunited and dysfunctional service, answerable to nobody. In the end these management decisions resulted in the firm winning little work throughout Middle England.

I could see their future being bleak and jumped ship before the cuts, even though management had decided to expand their Nottinghamshire office. That said, I wish them well - my time at Laing O鈥橰ourke wasn鈥檛 all bad - and I must say their efforts to improve site safety were second to none and have left a lasting impression on me.

M Klemp

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