…MR DROP IT LIKE IT’S HOT GETTING ALL SPEEDY?
You might associate American gangsta rapper Snoop Dogg more with weed than plant. But now that Speedy Hire is the official sponsor of the Manchester International Festival, construction equipment and support services provider will forever be connected with The Doggfather. Speedy is providing the generators, crowd control barriers and radios for the biennial event in July.
The Dogg joins a host of other international stars including Björk, Damon Albarn and Sinéad O’Connor in Manchester’s biggest event of performing arts, visual arts and popular culture.
…KITTING OUT A FLY FISHER?
That’s what north-east construction company Esh Group has done. County Durham, it turns out, is one of the keenest angling counties in the country — attested to by the fact that “By Royal Appointment” supplier of fishing rods and tackle to the gentry, Hardy, is based in the picturesque village of Alnwick.
The scheme is the brainchild of Esh QS Paul Roper, a keen angler. Having spent many a weekend perched precariously on rocky coastlines, Roper is aware of the risks anglers run to hook their dream catch. “I realised angling clothing doesn’t feature enough high visibility materials, so we decided to supply the local South Beach Residents Association Angling Club with ‘Be Smart — Be Seen’ vests,” said Roper.
Maybe it’s the QS in Roper that means he’s charging for the vests, but at least all the proceeds are going to the RNLI, to help fish out any anglers that might end up in the drink.
…WHAT HAWKSMOOR MIGHT HAVE MADE OF THIS?
Yes, Hawksmoor’s obsessions with Platonic solids, especially pyramids atop his city churches, may have earned him the nickname of “the devil’s architect”, but there’s nothing unholy about this pyramidal polycarbonate steeple for a church in Castle Vale, Birmingham. Robert Horne Materials supplied the Lexan Margard polycarbonate in a transparent green tint, and SMP, a local contractor constructed and installed it.
Its surface is resistant to graffiti, and with the material 10-year warranty on breakage, high wind resistance and ability to resist impacts 30 times better than acrylic sheet, it should also resist random “Acts of God”. The press release also states that the “Lexan sheeting is exceedingly hard wearing and the finish means that minimal cleaning is required” — proving that cleanliness really is next to godliness.
…FLYING THE FLAG IN CUMBERNAULD?
Apparently, in the famous Rangers town Larkhall, outside Glasgow, the Celtic colour green is a no-no. Green traffic lights wouldn’t last the weekend, and local residents even gave supermarket chain Asda a grilling in the hope that it would change its corporate green to Rangers blue for its planned new store on the outskirts.
Thankfully, things are a little more tolerant in Cumbernauld, where City Building has completed the £7.1m Beechwood Court residential development for RSL Sanctuary, developed around the Kildrum Primary School. To show off the eco-credentials of the school, which received an international Gold Standard for environmental excellence, City Building donated a flagpole from which to fly the eco-flag. It might not be football mad, but it’s good to see them wearing a sustainable heart on their sleeve.
