Podcast
Tue April 23 2024
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A fortnightly podcast in which veteran construction industry journalists Bishop and Taylor have a natter about some of the week’s events in the UK construction industry, seeking meaning even where none may exist.
29th November 2023
Bishop & Taylor chew over the autumn statement and late paying clients, discuss why Grenfell Tower still stands, and question whether state aid should go to a company owned by Persimmon and Goldman Sachs.
15th November 2023
Bishop & Taylor discuss the latest goings on at Westminster, new applications of digital technology in construction machinery and the revelation that working from home has added a year of delays to HS2 design work.
1st November 2023
Bishop & Taylor discuss Mace’s proposals to move London construction from mere recycling to the more virtuous state of circularity. They also chat about likely motives for the sale of piling specialist Rock & Alluvium. They conclude with a report that reckons a fifth of UK construction companies are in significant financial distress, and worry how many will survive.
18th October 2023
Bishop & Taylor mull over Labour Party leader Keir Starmer’s promise to get Britain building again and the National Infrastructure Commission’s blueprint that might help him. They also return to the topic of dodgy ladders, with new research form the Ladder Association.
4th October 2023
Bishop & Taylor discuss the cancellation of HS2’s northern section and the prime minister’s policy reversals on net zero targets.
20th September 2023
Bishop & Taylor are joined by Balfour Beatty sustainability director Jo Gilroy for a chat about decarbonising construction machinery and the promise of hydrogen.
6th September 2023
Bishop & Taylor return to the familiar topics of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) and nutrient neutrality, both in the news. Fears of RAAC panels collapsing has prompted the closure of more than 100 school buildings and now more and more building owners are following suit. Rules that prevent houses being built where excessive nutrient run-off might pollute waterways are to be swept away, the government has decided. The final topic in this episode is the increasing obsolescence of power tools with plugs and cables.
23rd August 2023
After a whinge about companies trying to interfere with their journalistic integrity, Bishop & Taylor get onto the real business of this episode – the 2023 Top 100 ranking of UK construction contractors, as featured in the forthcoming September issue of The Construction Index magazine. They also discuss Sir Robert McAlpine’s version of the Barbie movie.
9th August 2023
Bishop & Taylor discuss the latest tangles over switching from CE to UKCA product certification and the Transport Select Committee report on road-building. They also discuss repairs to Brentford’s modular Paragon Estate and latest results from volumetric house-builder TopHat
26th July 2023
With industry forecasts this week predicting a 7% fall in construction output, much rests on Michael Gove’s latest raft of intitiatives. Bishop & Taylor chew the fat on this. They also revisit the Inland Homes story on corporate governance and “related party matters”.
