Bricklayer it like Beckham

How the construction industry helped inspire Sir Alex Ferguson's young Manchester United team in 1992, including David Beckham, to become the greatest footballers of their day. Ironically, given its apparent reluctance to inspire young people, it was to the construction industry that sports psychologist Bill Beswick turned when working with Sir Alex Ferguson’s young Manchester United team in 1992, among them David Beckham. Beswick asked the players to imagine three bricklayers, each with a different attitude. When asked what they were doing, the first said: 'Laying bricks'; The second replied: 'Earning £10 per hour', while the third said: 'I’m building a cathedral and one day I will bring my kids here and tell them that their dad contributed to this magnificent building.' He then asked them to think about which attitude they would apply to the training session they were about to start. Would they be 'just practising', 'earning £1,000 an hour' or 'helping to build the best team ever so that they would be proud to tell their grandchildren that they had been part of it'. When Beckham scored during the session, he celebrated with outstretched arms, shouting 'Cathedral 1 – Bricklayers 0'. Just think what the analogy could do if applied to the industry it was borrowed from. Robert Mallett Editor, Construction Journal and Building



Conservation Journal

Bedsit on market at £810 a month

A bedsit in Notting Hill, which features a living area directly under a bed just 1m from the “kitchen” – there is a microwave under the sink and two electric hobs – and shared shower and toilet facilities has been placed on the market for £810 a month. Single people looking to rent their own place in London for less than £1,000 a month can start to expect a lot less for their hard earned cash, if this property listing is anything to go by. The room is for single renters only as the ad specifies 'no couples' The pictures on the ad show a shabby room with a microwave placed underneath the sink and next to a small fridge, while the old-looking, elevated bed frame houses some form of living area underneath it, where an arm-chair is sat. The landlord boasts that the “very well located bedsit” is “in the heart of Notting Hill, less than five minutes walking distance to Bayswater station and Notting Hill station” and is “surrounded by lots of shops and amenities”.

Construction sees fall in apprenticeships

The latest figures reveal that there has been a sharp fall in the number of apprenticeships in the construction sector over the past five years. There were 16,890 construction, planning and built environment apprentices in 2009-10, but this had more than halved to 8,000 by 2014.

What homes men and women want

A survey by OnePoll for Strutt & Parker's Housing Futures, reveals that there is a marked split between the genders when asked to rate their motivations for moving house. Women looked for better schools, access to public transport or amenities, being close to work, a larger home and a property that suited their personal finances and brought them closer to family and friends. Men were more likely to be influenced by tax changes, impending retirement, pension support and moving to a smaller home. When it came to dream home items, the survey revealed that 14% of men wanted a cinema/screening room and 12% wanted a wine cellar.

Green Belt builders get more green lights

The number of new homes approved in the green belt has more than doubled in a year, and is up 430% since 2010, according to Glenigan, which provides data on the construction industry. Planning permission was granted for 11,977 homes in England’s 14 green belts in the year to the end of March, up from 5,607 in the previous 12 months. Paul Miner, planning campaign manager at the Campaign to Protect Rural England, called the figures: “Very worrying.” Leonie Oliva, at Deloitte Real Estate, said developers were working harder to unlock undeveloped sites: "It's always going to be a somewhat subjective judgment as to whether there are 'very special circumstances that outweigh harm to the greenbelt' as the law dictates," she said. "The 2012 planning reform may have shifted perceptions somewhat."