Jowell covered up true cost of Olympics, claims former ODA chief

Published 04 December 2006 at 11:41

The former chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has claimed that Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell knew as far back as last May that the bill for the 2012 London Olympics would be far higher than the �2.4 billion first predicted.
American Jack Lemley has also said he urged Jowell and the chief executive of the government�s Olympic Executive, Jeff Jacobs, to go public with this knowledge. But he said his pleas had been ignored and that he had effectively been silenced by the minister.

�These numbers have been known for months by everybody,� he said. �And if Tessa Jowell hasn�t told the Prime Minister then she wasn�t doing her job.�

Jowell is said to be furious with the comments, and has said Lemley is �trying to rewrite history�.

In a statement, Jowell�s Department of Culture, Media and Sport said: �On costs, we, not he, initiated a full-scale cost review. It was certainly not the case that Mr Lemley was prevented from speaking at the Olympic board.

�In fact, as ODA chair the board expected him and the chief executive to provide regular progress reports and to bring forward key decisions for approval.�

This is the second time Lemley has taken a pot shot at his former colleagues since he stood down from the ODA. The first followed his resignation in October, when he claimed the games had been dogged from the start by political infighting and spiralling costs.

by Richard Vaughan

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Olympics chief refutes Lemley claims

The bitter row over the state of London's preparations for the 2012 Olympics deepened today.
Sir Roy McNulty, acting chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority, hit back at claims from his predecessor, Jack Lemley, that the project has been stymied by long-known land contamination problems and political meddling.

He stated that the ODA board, responsible for delivering Olympic infrastructure and venues, �does not accept the version of events that Jack Lemley has set out to the media in recent days�.

Sir Roy said he was confident the ODA would soon have a �robust and realistic budget� after talks with the Treasury and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport end in the New Year.

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Wolseley buys three more firms

Published 04 April 2006 at 08:25

Plumbing and heating distributor Wolseley has splashed out a further �25 million on acquisitions just a week after buying Brandon Hire.

The acquisition will mean that Wolseley, the world's largest specialist plumbing and heating trade supplier, has spent �623 million on buying firms in Europe and North America since August 1 2005.

The latest acquisitions are of Home Lumber, a Californian timber firm, Nevill Long, a ceilings supplier in the UK, and part of a Swiss gas and oil fired burners company called Hermann Frei. The three acquisitions will add around �72 million in revenue over a full year.

Charlie Banks, group chief executive of Wolseley said: �The acquisition of Nevill Long will build on our presence in the interior systems market in the UK, which we entered through the acquisition of Encon in October 2005, and Home Lumber gives us a stronger position in the buoyant housing markets of California and Nevada.�

The shareholders of Brandon Hire recommended a �72 million offer from Wolseley last week.

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Henry Boot profits boost

Published 05 April 2006 at 08:45

Henry Boot has announced a huge increase in profits today on the back of big sales for its property development business.

The firm works in a number of areas including construction, plant hire and property development. The chairman, John Reis, said that it had benefited from high demand for its property such as Priory Park retail centre in Hull.

For the year ended December 31 2005 pre-tax profit was up by 30 per cent, at �30.2 million, compared with �23.2 million in 2004. Turnover was up from �84 million in 2004 to �101 million in 2005.

Mr Reis said: �All in all, a very creditable and solid performance that has culminated in a further outstanding year's result for 2005.�

The firm's construction arm has secured a number of public sector framework deals, but failed to hit its turnover target. However it did beat its target for pre-tax profit.

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Orders power ahead

Published 06 April 2006 at 12:24

Construction orders jumped 8 per cent in the 12 months to February 2006 compared to the previous year, figures published today by the Department of Trade and Industry showed.

Orders for the quarter rose 9 per cent compared to the same period in 2005.

Private housing orders increased 7 per cent in the twelve months to February 2006 compared to the previous year and slipped one per cent for the quarter compared to the same period in 2005.

Public housing and housing association orders rocketed 36 per cent for the quarter compared to the same three months last year. Orders for the year crept up 6 per cent.

Infrastructure orders in the twelve months to February 2006 soared 28 per cent compared with the previous twelve months.

Public non-housing fell by 12 per cent compared with the previous year.

Private commercial jumped 10 per cent on the previous twelve months and 21 per cent compared to the same period a year earlier.

Private industrial orders in the twelve months to February 2006 rose by 29 per cent compared to the previous year with a 47 per cent increase compared to the same period a year earlier.

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MoD confirms £12 billion barracks contract

Published 06 April 2006 at 12:35

Carillion and its joint venture partners have confirmed the contract award of the �12 billion Project Allenby/Connaught PPP contract by the Ministry of Defence.

Aspire Defence - the joint venture between Carillion, Kellogg Brown and Root and HSBC - will deliver Project Allenby/ Connaught, which is the MoD's largest Estates Public Private Partnership contract to date.

The project will transform the army garrisons at Aldershot and across the Salisbury Plain area and provide support services for the barracks for the next 35 years.

The joint venture partners will invest a total of �120 million of equity in the project and the total nominal revenue for Aspire over the 35-year concession period will be approximately �12 billion -�8 billion in real terms based on January 2004 prices.

Carillion will invest �60 million of equity in the project and its share of Aspire's revenue will be around �6 billion.

Including Carillion's share of the construction and support services work to be provided as part of this project, the contract is expected to generate a total of approximately �9.5 billion of revenue for the Carillion Group.

The contract involves a 10-year construction programme at four garrisons with comprehensive facilities management services for the 35-year concession period.

The �1.2 billion construction programme will be carried out by a 50:50 joint venture between Carillion and KBR for garrisons at Aldershot and across Salisbury Plain, at Tidworth, Bulford, Perham Down, Larkhill and Warminster.

Around 11,000 en-suite bedrooms will be provided, including approximately 7,000 new bedrooms in single soldier living accommodation blocks and over 4,000 bedrooms refurbished to the same modern standards.

A second 50:50 joint venture between Carillion and KBR will provide the garrisons with a wide range of support services that are expected to generate around �5.7 billion of revenue over the 35-year concession period.

Carillion's chief executive John McDonough said: �The contract award for Project Allenby/Connaught is an important milestone in the development of PPP projects.

It almost doubles the value of our order book and further reinforces Carillion's leading UK position both in PPPs and as a major supplier in the Defence sector, one of our key growth sectors.�

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