ren jan 07x - john laing group · see the team spirit archives on page 9. ren jan 07x 3/15/07 8:54...

PRODUCED ON BEHALF OF THE JOHN LAING CHARITABLE TRUST SPRING 2007

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DEADLINE FOR NEXT ISSUE: APRIL 30, 2007

The Laing name continues in perpetuityLAING is such an integral part ofUK history that its name crops uptime and again on the news asmajor feats of construction in thiscountry celebrate anniversaries.In the past few months the

Second Severn Crossing and thenew town of Milton Keynes eachmarked 40 years since they werebuilt, with Laing as the main con-tractor. See the article, page 26.It is partly for this reason that

the British Film Institute has beenkeen to integrate Laing’s manyfilms into the National FilmArchive, a process which is nowon-going.Despite the scale, significance

and workmanship on Laing’s proj-ects, most retirees I speak withare more enthused by stories ofcamaraderie and the Laing familyspirit than the nuts and bolts of

construction. Having said that there are

always a few classic stories whichcannot go untold, like the airportproject where a mobile cranebuilt a terminal around itself andthen could not get out.Anyway, times change and com-

panies evolve. The world’s oldestcompany was Kong Gumi Co. Ltd,a Japanese construction companywhich had been trading continu-ously for 1,400 years beforegoing into receivership in Januarylast year. Their assets werebought up by the TakamatsuCorporation who specialise inleasing condominiums. Virtuallyall trace of the ancient buildershave gone. There was no deal orhanding over of the baton, thecenturies-old name is gone.The Laing name, however, con-

tinues and is still involved in cre-ating exciting new projects. TheCompany called Laing, that youworked for, is alive and well,largely thanks to your efforts andis still a leader in its market.Talking about moving on, I have

to tell you about a man and wifewho went out for a meal togetherin a restaurant. The husband keptlooking over nervously at awoman on the far side of therestaurant who was very drunk. The wife asked why he kept

looking and the husband said:“That woman used to be my girl-friend before you and I met. SinceI dumped her seven years ago,she has never been sober.”The wife replied: “Who’d thinkshe would still be celebratingafter seven years.”

Alex Finkenrath

Main news stories 3All the latest Company news

Roads news 4Details of road works at home and abroad

Laing in Canada 5Group acquires Health assets across the Atlantic

Health News 6Excellcare and LIFT projects

Group News 7Infrastructure news including MoD contract

Team Spirit archive 8-10News from 10, 25 and 50 years ago

Retirees’ Photo Competition 11-14Pull out section of winners and runners up

Club news and outings introduction 15The contact details and news from local clubs

Christmas Luncheons 16-23Words and pictures from all the events

Wedding Anniversaries 24-25Golden and Diamond celebrations

Extra Company and Welfare News 26Financial and other help keeping warm this winter

Listings 27

Please address news stories/queries to:Retirement MediaEdward HouseEdward RoadBedfordBeds, MK42 9DR

Tel: 01234 360940Mob: 07774 259542www.retirementmedia.comEmail:[email protected]

Please address other correspondence to:John Laing WelfareDepartment33 Bunns LaneLondon NW7 2DXTel: 020 8959 9013

CONTENTS

COVER PHOTO: The BarbicanCentre in London opened by theQueen. See the Team Spiritarchives on page 9.

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NEWS

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Laing carries on as usualIT is business as usual for JohnLaing following the successfulchange of ownership inDecember.

The £1,004 million sale toHenderson Infrastructure Holdcoltd (HIH) was concluded inDecember 2006 and chequeswere sent out to Laing sharehold-ers in early January. HIH is com-mitted to Laing retirees and haveno plans to change support givenby the Company.

HIH paid 405 pence per ordinaryshare and 138 pence per prefer-ence share. They first submitted abid last summer. This prompted ahigher bid by another company –Allianz – before HIH topped thebidding at over £1bn.

HIH is a fund, managed byHenderson Equity Partners, partof Henderson Group plc whobring together experiencedinvestors specialising in: Asianprivate equity, Infrastructure andFund of Funds (a managed fundportfolio).

The purchase has substantiallybolstered HIH’s Infrastructure.The Board has steered John Laingto being the UK’s leading projectdeveloper and investor in public

private partnerships in the UKand around the world. It is theonly UK listed company whosecore business is focused entirelyupon the development of PFI/PPPprojects and operations. TheGroup currently invests in a totalof 50 projects in sectors includ-ing education, health, roads andrail.

John Laing Projects &Developments, a new businessformed last year, focuses onproperty development involving

the public sector and rail infra-structure. By utilising the team’sspecialist skills in property devel-opment for further education col-leges and rail-related commercialmixed-use schemes, they are ableto help the funding model forthese projects.

The Company is also expandingabroad with big roads projects inNorway, Finland and Poland andtargeting new contracts in centralEurope, Canada and the US.

The Group designs, builds,funds and operates projects overlong concession periods, the earlyrepayments from clients coveringthe investment cost to theCompany and its partners. Asthese costs are paid the streamsof revenue become profitable.

Adrian Ewer, managing directorof John Laing said: “The Companyis in a strong position and we planto build on its success. The salewill not affect the way we do busi-ness or how we look after ourretirees.”

The Company’s main Board willremain the same, the only differ-ence being to the three non-exec-utive directors who will bereplaced by HIH directors.

THE annual Laing Engineers’and Architects’ reunion lunchtook place again this year atthe Sports Club in Rowley Laneon Thursday 15th March 2007,at 12 noon with a buffet lunchat 12.30pm.We hope to have photos from

the event in our next issue.If you feel you missed out and

want to book ahead for nextyear, contact Ian Jarvis, Tel: 01954 203 [email protected]

Engineers’ dinnerbooking ahead Trust seals film deal

ADRIAN EWER – managing director

FILMS from the Laing archive are tobe preserved for posterity as partof the National Film Archive.The hundreds of film reels, some

dating back to the 1920s, will becarefully archived and preservedby the British Film Institute (BFI).The BFI is also rendering some of

the films to DVD so that they canbe easily viewed.Expert assessors say that it is a

‘significant’ historical film recordas it covers so many years andimportant projects.Michael Hamilton, secretary of

the John Laing Charitable Trustsaid: “The Trust was keen for thefilms to be preserved by expertsand still accessible to people whofind them interesting. The BFI hasthe perfect facilities for preservingthese films and will hopefully alsoensure a wider audience by incor-porating them into the NationalFilm Archive.As well as providing copies on

DVD, there are plans for a presen-tation evening to launch the addi-tion of the films to the archive in2008.

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INFRASTRUCTURE

Tar very muchON 18 October, a ‘tunnel tar-ing’ celebration was held onthe E18 Muurla-Lohja motor-way project in Finland. It hasbeen a tradition that once tun-nel blasting is completed peo-ple are invited to spread tar onthe bottom of the tunnel forwater insulation and to cele-brate completion of the work.The tradition is still alive and

well, and the people involvedin the E18 project gathered forthe celebration at theLakiamäki tunnel, the first tun-nel that was blasted through.

The road in southern Finlandis working to programme and40% complete, with 49% oftunnel blasting done.

The evening ceremony endedwith the Stardust dancers.

* Street Lighting – The Walsall StreetLighting project recently received acommendation in the 2006 AnnualPublic Service Excellence Awards.* Netherlands – Laing has prequalifiedfor the Kromhaut Barracks project andsubmitted prequalification documentsfor the Groningen tax office project.Partners on both projects are the Dutchcontractors Strukton and Ballast Nedam. * Germany – JLI has successfully pre-qualified for the A1 project in Germany.The consortium will be JLI/BilfingerBerger with an equal 42.5% equity stakeand Johann Bunte (medium sized con-tractor) with the balancing 15%. JLI isalso currently bidding on the A4 and A5road projects. * USA – JLI has prequalified for a projectin Colorado USA, as one of 11 biddersshortlisted by the Northwest ParkwayPublic Highway Authority (NWPPHA) inColorado, USA. The authority is lookingfor a long-term private partner to pro-vide long-term finance and operate theexisting US$416 million NorthwestParkway toll road to the east side ofDenver.NWPPHA had been studying a refinanc-ing of the project’s debt because of dis-appointing early traffic and revenue inthe third year of operation. This oppor-tunity will increase JLI’s understandingof the US market for PPP roads.* Canada – JLI has entered into a jointventure with Bilfinger Berger BOTCanada to bid for PPP accommodationprojects in British Columbia andOntario.* Singapore Stadium – John LaingInfrastructure has been invited to jointhe Singapore Gold Consortium led byMacquarie Bank as co-sponsor to bidthe Singapore Sports Hub PPP. JLI iswaiting for the Singapore Sports councilto sanction involvement. This will be afully integrated sports, entertainmentand lifestyle hub for the Singapore pub-lic, and a unique cluster development ofworld-class sports facilities. The 35-hectare development is located next tothe city and will be connected to theMass Rapid Transit (MRT) network andmajor expressways.

NEWS UPDATE

Peter Couldery of John Laing Infrastructure (centre) with AulisNironen of the Finnish Road Administration and Perttu Puro,Secretary of State, kick off the taring ceremony

E18 PROJECT FACT-FILE:* The project already employs nearly 700 people* Approximately 50,000 tonnes (2,500 truckloads) of stoneand soil is being moved on the site each day - most of thisrock and soil will be used in road construction and land-scaping* A total of 51 kilometres of motorway is to be constructed,including 76 bridges and seven motorway tunnels* The total length of the tunnels is 5.2 kilometres* One of the tunnels, the Karnainen tunnel, will be thelongest highway tunnel in Finland, totalling 2.2 kilometres* Approximately 6 million cubic metres of soil and rock masshave been moved* There are 34 bridges under construction, 19 of whichalready have decks cast* The road will be opened to traffic in November 2008, afterwhich the entire route from Turku to Helsinki will be a motorway

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JOHN LAING has reached agree-ment with Macquarie Group to buyits shares in two companies formedto design, build, finance and man-age substantial healthcare facilitiesin British Columbia, Canada under30-year concessions.

Under the agreement John LaingInfrastructure will buy:• Access Health Abbotsford (AHA),the company selected to design,build, finance and manage the newC$355 million Abbotsford RegionalHospital and Cancer Centre • Access Health Vancouver (AHV),the company selected to design,build, finance and maintain theC$95 million Gordon and LeslieDiamond Health Care Centre atVancouver General Hospital.

These two investments are JohnLaing’s first in the Canadian mar-ket.

Derek Potts, Managing Director ofJohn Laing Infrastructure said: “Weare delighted to have made thisfirst significant acquisition in theCanadian healthcare infrastructuremarket. It is firmly in line with ourstated strategy to internationalise

our business in sectors where wehave substantial, existing knowl-edge.

“We see many opportunities inboth Canada and the United Statesto bring our expertise to bear andwe are actively bidding for a num-ber of projects in the infrastructureand social infrastructure fields.”

The transfer of ownership willconsolidate responsibility for thecompletion of construction and the

long-term facilities management ofthese two projects into the handsof John Laing..

Under the project agreements,which remain in place, both theconstruction process and the ongo-ing facility management operationswill continue to be delivered by theexisting contractors. John Laingwill supervise the constructionprocess and property manage-ment. Healthcare operations arenot affected because they are notincluded in these agreements.

Background on AHA and AHV

AHA and AHV were establishedto deliver cost savings and inno-vation in design, constructionand property management of thetwo new healthcare facilities.AHA was recognised for its inno-vation in 2005 when theAbbotsford Regional Hospitaland Cancer Centre project wasnamed the North AmericanPublic Private Partnership Deal ofthe Year by Project Finance mag-azine.

INFRASTRUCTURE

John Laing to acquire firstCanadian healthcare assets

Derek Potts, Managing Director ofJohn Laing Infrastructure

John Laing consortium plans to sort out Manchester’s wasteTHE Greater Manchester WasteDisposal Authority (GMWDA) hasconfirmed the Viridor WasteManagement and John LaingInfrastructure consortium as pre-ferred bidder on a £300m project inthe city.

The Private Finance Initiative (PFI)contract is to deliver long-termwaste management in GreaterManchester and is the largest inte-grated waste management contractin the UK.

The Viridor/ Laing consortium pro-posals will assist GMWDA with theirobligations under the EU LandfillDirective, achieving high levels of

materials recycling and recovery andradically reducing the proportion ofwaste sent to landfill.

GMWDA currently operates andmanages the UK’s largest wastemanagement contract, covering therecycling and disposal of waste fromacross the Greater Manchester areaand dealing with over 1.4m tonnesof municipal waste each year.

Viridor/Laing’s proposals provideoptions for the provision, redevelop-ment, refurbishment, operation andmaintenance of a number of essen-tial facilities. These include: materi-als recycling facilities,mechanical/biological treatment

and composting plants, a new andan existing thermal recovery facility,transfer loading stations and house-hold waste recycling centres, as wellas the provision of landfill disposalcapacity for treated residues.Detailed negotiations now com-mence with a view to the contractbeing finalised in May 2007.

Alan Hogg, John LaingInfrastructure Director said: “Thisshows that the partnership betweenViridor and Laing is working suc-cessfully and we are pleased to seethat there is an important role forprivate investment in the waste sec-tor.”

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HEALTH

Going up…Laing’s LIFT projectsEXCELLCARE and its six LocalImprovement Finance Trust(LIFT) Companies, have celebrat-ed a number of milestonesrecently.

ExcellCare is a joint venturebetween John Laing SocialInfrastructure and Bank ofScotland to invest in theGovernment’s LIFT scheme, amajor initiative designed to stim-ulate investment in local primaryand social care facilities.

MaST (Manchester, Salford andTrafford) LIFT company reachedfinancial close on two prestigiousNHS primary care and localauthority buildings in Salford,worth £29m.

The Southern Derbyshire LIFTcompany saw its £9m Long Eatonhealth centre, one of their flag-ship schemes, officially openedby Erewash MP Liz Blackman. Italso welcomed trustee of thePatients Association EdwinaCurrie to its new Swadlincote pri-mary care centre. Ms Curriereturned to her former con-stituency for a fact-finding tour ofthe £4.7m facility, which is due toopen to the public soon.

Sandwell LIFT Company’s £2.5mYew Tree healthy living centrewas officially opened by the

Mayor of Sandwell. Health minis-ter Lord Warner of Brockleypraised its Birmingham Roaddevelopment at a national NHSLIFT conference last month. Thehealth centre was among threehighlighted as providing not onlyGP surgeries but also primarycare services formerly provided inthe local acute hospital.

Leicester LIFT company’s lateststate-of-the-art health and socialcare centre has been given the

final go ahead. The team reachedfinancial close of the £12.8mCharnwood scheme, it’s largestto date in the area. Another of itsbuildings, a new £2.6m medicalcentre for the city’s Humberstonearea, was ‘topped out’ recently.Leicester LIFT Company’s chair-man Stephen Woolfe and PatriciaMansfield, Leicester City PrimaryCare Trust’s vice-chair got theirhands dirty laying the last brickon the roof of the new facility.

Currie favour: Edwina Currie, trustee of the PatientsAssociation, is shown around Swadlincote primary care centreby Southern Derbyshire LIFTCo’s Steve Maleham

JOHN LAING APPOINTED PREFERRED BIDDER FOR TEES,ESK AND WEAR MENTAL HEALTHFACILITYThe Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHSTrust has confirmed that it propos-es to appoint John Laing asPreferred Bidder for their ‘Ad>ance’project to improve mental healthservices across North Yorkshire,Cleveland and Durham. The schemecalls for the construction and oper-ation of a 300-bed inpatient mentalhealth facility with everything fromsecure accommodation for patientswith forensic mental health com-plaints or learning disabilities, to

adults with mental illness rangingfrom dementia to eating disorders.Peter Ward, Director of Healthcaresaid: “The trust wants to deliver ahuge range of services on the samesite; our design will offer welcom-ing, non-institutional environmentsto patients with widely differingneeds, and help destigmatise men-tal healthcare “. Laing O’Rourke willbuild the new facilities, and EquionFM will operate them.

SUSTAINABLE AWARD FORNORFOLK & NORWICHPFM organisers of the PFM awardsfor the facilities management sec-

tor awarded Octagon, the consor-tium behind the Norfolk & NorwichHospital, along with the Trust andFM provider Serco the prize for‘Partners in Sustainability’ inNovember. In order to beat theother finalists in this category,which included Carillion and Mitie,the group had to demonstrate howoccupiers, building professionalsand specialist suppliers worktogether to develop sustainableworkplace strategies extendingfrom building design through recy-cling and energy reduction, togreen transport strategies andwaste management.

M O R E L A I N G H E A L T H N E W S

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INFRASTRUCTURE

On coursefor collegeLAING has won the Hastings &Rother College project to pro-vide two new state-of-the-artcollege buildings.

On the Station Plaza site JohnLaing will create a 21st Centurycentre of vocational and aca-demic learning, combined with103 residential apartments andextensive underground parking.The site also offers a potentialdevelopment opportunity withthe Strategic Health Authority tocreate a primary care centre.

At Ore Valley a technologycentre, incorporating engineer-ing and construction work-shops, will offer students andbusinesses access to a range ofbest in class facilities. In addi-tion, John Laing is purchasingthe college’s three existing siteswhich it will develop as residen-tial developments, and provid-ing bridging funding to helpfund the construction of thenew facilities.

John Laing has entered into ajoint-venture with housebuilderGladedale to develop the resi-dential apartments.

Commercial close is due inMarch 2007 with financial closeto follow in June 2007. The col-lege is due to open inSeptember 2009.

Sue Middlehurst, the Principalof the college said: “These areincredibly exciting times foreveryone and I’m delighted tobe working with John Laing todeliver such major improve-ments. The changes in educa-tion in Hastings and Rother willprovide state-of-the-art facilitieswithin a dynamic new college. Ilook forward to September2009 when we will welcome stu-dents to the new college for thefirst time.”

All MoD consTHE Inteq joint-venture betweenJohn Laing and Interserve hasbeen appointed preferred bidderfor the £800 million CorshamDevelopment Project, that will pro-vide state-of-the art facilities tothe DCSA (DefenceCommunication Services Agency)at Corsham.

Financial close for the 25-year PFIdeal is anticipated for the end of2007, with all major building workdue to be completed by 2010. Theproject will see cutting-edge oper-ational and technical support facil-ities built at Corsham, with newand refreshed office accommoda-tion for around 2,000 staff and180 single en-suite rooms forservice staff.

Corsham Town CouncilChairman Allan Bosley said: “It’sextremely good news for thetown.”

Approximately 85 Ministry ofDefence (MoD) posts will transferto Inteq and the DCSA has com-mitted to a smooth transition andwill fully support those transfer-ring. The master plan and buildingdesigns have been tested to guar-

antee flexibility. It was a require-ment of the bid for the Laing jointventure to demonstrate full under-standing of the need to constantlyevolve and ensure the best possi-ble working practices over timeplus ‘future-proofing’ to ensurethe new buildings can adapt andexpand.

A spokesman said: “The officecomplex comprises four modularoffice units linked along an internal‘street’ and arranged in a shallowcurve to follow the topography ofthe site. A crescent plan allows forexcellent orientation of the site,with ‘fingers’ of the office extend-ing into the green spine of thelandscape.

“The project will contribute tosustainable development by pro-viding an estate of the right sizeand quality. Its development hasbeen directly influenced by theGovernment’s sustainability agen-da. As such, issues relating to thereduction of carbon dioxide emis-sions, pollution, water use andconsiderate use of material andresources are instrumental to thedevelopment of the site.”

Artist’s impression of the new defence site

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TEAM SPIRIT 50 YEARS AGO – 1957

March 1957 saw the completion ofthree cement silos by John Laingand Son (Rhodesia) Limited for theChilanga Cement Works nearLusake, an interesting scheme thatwas the result of the rapidly risingdemand for cement in NorthernRhodesia. With vast requirementsfor cement for the hydroelectricproject at Kariba, the ChilangaCement Company decided to installan additional kiln, which in turnrequired a 4,500 tonne increase incement storage capacity. Despiterigid specifications and a 139-daycompletion deadline, careful pro-gramming meant that the work onsite was completed four weeksunder the allowed contract time.

Work began on the £1 million facto-ry at Fawdon, Newcastle forRowntree Limited, designed for themanufacture of table jellies andpastilles. The building had a groundfloor area of almost six acres (com-prised of three different types ofconstruction within one building)that in length measured almost aquarter of a mile. The factory com-prised three types of construction –single storey north light shell roof,three-storey steel frame structure,

and three-storey reinforced concretecolumn and beam construction.

The Company was fortunate enoughto be awarded the contract for therestoration of Carlisle cathedral.This cathedral, although not amongthe greatest of the English cathe-drals, has some points of outstand-ing architectural interest; perhapsthe most important part of the con-tract was to be the restoration of thefamous east end of the cathedralwith its acknowledged medievalmasterpiece, the great east window.

Described as ‘one of tomorrow’s tallbuildings’ the tremendous speed ofconstruction of the 21-storey HeadOffice building for the BC ElectricCompany caused a sensation inVancouver. The $6 million contracthad been secured by the Companyin the face of strong competitionand the completion of this high-speed construction not only saw thecompany creating a stir in Canada,but proved that Britain could buildoverseas – tremendously importantfor the prestige of this country.

The extension the BridgetownMiners’ Hostel at Cannock (whichhad commenced in January) provedanother impressively speedy projectfor Laing. Planning was an impor-tant factor in the completion of thiscontract on time within it’s verytight schedule, yet within the 12week programme an attractiveextension for 300 men was con-structed on a site where deep cutshad to be made into the hillside andall trades such as plumbers, plaster-ers, glaziers, electricians, heatingand ventilating, roofers and floor-layers, had a part to play This proj-ect has been a fine example of thevalue of team spirit.

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1. Tony Gaughan (left) one of the gen-eral foremen at Berkley. He is describedas ‘cheerful and industrious’. Besidehim is Jim Brennan, described as an‘old timer with the Company’ who start-ed at Queensbury in 1934 and was cur-rently in Dalgarogg.

2. Some of the Group staff at Sale inCheshire. From left to right are: BrianMartin, Checker, Victor Douglas,Cashier, William Chilton, Cost Surveyor,Mrs Dorothy Gent, Typist, Eric Ellis,Electrical Supervisor and Dennis Broad,Agent

Each silo above is 75 feet in height

BC Electric Head Office Building

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Yet another record-breaking storyfor Laing, with the £9 million siliconchip manufacturing facility nearingcompletion on the 20 acre site atDuffryn Drive, Tredegar Estate,Newport, Gwent. This was a majorsuccess story for LaingManagement Contracting who com-pleted the important project within14 months of moving to the greenfield site.

March 3rd saw the opening of theBarbican Centre for Arts by HerMajesty the Queen. Although formany guests it was their first visit tothe complex, it was a familiar set-ting for Laing staff who had seenthe ideas and forms take shapeover the years to become a hugeand impressive complex, proving asplendid attraction for visitors andadding new dimensions to the livesof Londoners. Her Majesty capturedthe grandeur of the complex byrecognising it as a wonder of themodern world; “I don’t intend todwell on the statistics,” she toldguests, “at the end of the day, it isthe use to which the complex willbe put that will justify the faith ofthose who have designed it and thecraft and skill of those who havebuilt it.” The building of the centreand the long association with it wasa major achievement by the Group.

April was a particularly busy monthfor the South Eastern EnglandRegion who won three contracts,together valued in excess of £30million. This first and largest, worthover £25 million was the EastgatePhase II Shopping Centre atBasildon, Essex, which was to pro-vide some 59,200 sq m of shoppingand commercial floor space.Making up the remaining five mil-lion was £2.5 million geriatric unitand day centre to be built in StAlbans, Herts, awarded by theNorth West Thames Regional HealthAuthority, and a contract from theSpring Board Housing Associationwho required the construction of103 dwellings at Southend-on-Sea,Essex.

On February 24th and 25th thefirst ever Group MarketingConference took place in theTraining Suite at Mill Hill, produc-ing a wealth of ideas and discus-sion points between the maingroups. The conference was organ-ised against a background of adepressed market with no immedi-ate prospect of significant recov-ery. One of the basic objectives ofthe conference was to identifyways in which the Group’s positioncould be strengthened.

Yet another Royal appointment forthe company; this time the Queenarrived for the official opening ofthe Shire Hall, Shinfield, Readingon April 2nd; the striking buildingthat dominated the skyline abovethe M1 motorway in Berkshire wasa particularly prestigious contractfor the Group.

March 2nd, Group MarketingDirector Martin Laing welcomedguests to the Mall Galleries to the

tenth annual Laing PaintingCompetition award presentation.In spite of the rail strike andinclement weather an impressive382 entries had been received andthe director was (as usual) delight-ed with the high quality of theentries. First prize was awarded toPeter John Garrard, who won sixhundred pounds for his landscapein oils entitled, ‘The Hills From St.Paul’s’, while second place went toTrevor Chamberlain of Hertford for‘Under the Bridge at Whitby’ andthird prize to Joan Armstrong ofHove with ‘Aberllefenni, MidWales’.

Team Spirit featured a special visitto the northern Ireland team ‘work-ing to create a new Belfast’ for theIrish Region.3. McClure Street traditional housing,Site Manager Joe Cairns, left, andGanger Jimmy McGuckin.

4. Sandy Rowe, Traditional Housing,from left to right, Visiting EngineerSam McGreer, Site Manager JimmyBrown, Sub Agent, Jim Laughlin.

5. Duncairn housing action area siteteam: from the left, Walter Robinson,Productivity Controller, Seamus Wylie,Checker, Malachy Mezza, VisitingProductivity Controller, Tony Gawley,pupil QS, Michael Neill, GeneralForeman, Dennis Kelly, QS, KennethMeaklim, Sub Agent.

Martin Laing and Peter Garrardbeside the winning Landscape

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Millennium preparations didn’t sim-ply stop with the MillenniumExhibition project in London in 1997;JLC director Tony Evans promisedWelsh rugby fans that Laing’s mainpriority would be to preserve theunique and electric atmosphere ofCardiff Arms Park as he signed a con-tract on behalf of Laing Constructionto build Cardiff’s new MillenniumStadium at a press conference onMarch 16th. Pictured is symbolicremoval of the first seat.

John Laing Construction Ltd. Received two awards at a ceremony rewardingquality in construction organised by Construction News with the backing ofthe Department of the Environment and the construction industry board.The first was received in the ‘Marketing and Image’ category, with thejudging panel commenting that Laing “showed itself to be committed topresenting a positive and professional image of itself and the industry atlarge”. The second award was received in the category of ‘InternationalPerformance of the Year’ for the British Consulate in Hong Kong, undertakenby John Laing International in joint venture with Hip Hing Construction.

Whilst on site at the ScottishWidows project in Edinburgh,project secretary Hillary Percymore than rose to the occasionwhen she collected over £750for the Royal National Institutefor the Blind by climbing allthree of the tower cranes on site– a massive total of 168 metres.

The Millennium celebrations cameearly to Laing Management whenthe McAlpine/Laing joint venturewas appointed ConstructionManager for the £150 millionGreenwich Millennium Exhibitionproject. The joint venture com-bined the skills of two of the lead-ing construction companies with apartnership that shared resourcesand combined McAlpine’s localknowledge with Laing’s strength inconstruction management controlsystems.


On March 20th the groupannounced its annualresults with key factorsincluding:•A 22% increase in pre-taxprofits to £24.5 million(1995 = 20.1 million)•A return to growth in theconstruction sector•Recovery in the UKprivate housing market•Increased contributionsfrom a successfulinvestment strategy.Sir Martin Laing praisedthe Company, asserting,“we are continuing to buildon the strengths thatdifferentiate the Groupfrom the competition”.

34th out of 38 might notbe considered a ‘victory’as such, but the Laingteam who entered theMarie Curie Brain Gamedeserved to be very proudof their efforts to supportthe world famous charity.The evening was held atLWT studios andcompared by TVnewsreader Martin Lewisto help the charity raisemoney to continue to fightcancer. Despite theirdefeat, team captainChristopher Laing said:“Our aim was to contributeto the success of theevening both financiallyand socially. I’m glad tosay that we accomplished

D a v i dR o b s o nwas backon site atD a l s t o nR o a d ,C a r l i s l e

25 years after he had firstworked there. In 1971 hewas part of the team thatbuilt offices for CumbrianNewspapers in the city. Hewas now working on a £7mextension for a new presson the same site.

This trio aresuccessfulcontenders in theNHBC Pride in theJob Campaign forQuality 1996. TrevorPowell and AlanWatts of LaingHomes South Areaand John Gregory ofLaing Homes WestArea all qualifiedfrom over 400 sitemanagers in chargeof new build,conversion andhousing associationsites across the UK.They were deemedto have achieved thehighest standard ofsite managementcompetitively.

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Photographic competition results

11

THANK YOU for all entries receivedfor the Laing Retired Employees’News photo competition.The standard was excellent and wehave pleasure in showing you thewinning entry on the front page ofthis pull out section of the maga-zine. The winner is Eye Eye, takenby John Bourne of Lancashire in2006. Judges loved the subject andespecially the detail.Featured on the other pages of this

pull out are all the images whichmade the shortlist. In particularthere are five photos on the nexttwo pages which were judged to bein the final alongside our winner.The range of subjects impressedthe judges as much as anythingand the cutting-edge innovationshown by Mr Dan Markall’s entry ofthe Taj Mahal in which he ‘treated’an original image to create a newcomputer-composition added a new

dimension to the judging.It was also excellent to receive somany entries by email. Thesereproduced well and are on a parwith images sent by post. In fact,sending images by email ensuresthat they do not fade and are notdamaged whilst in the post.By now everyone who sent an entryby post should have received theirphotos back. If not please get intouch with Retirement Media.

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12


DE

C

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A) Australian RocksPhil Rendle, Somerset

B) Wishful ThinkingPhotographer - Jim CoatesTaken: April 2006.Subject is his daughter-in-law

C) And Stephanie saysthere is fish on the menu.Trevor Manning.Stourbridge, West Mids,Taken in June 06 at thesea life centre north ofOban

D) The ApproachingStormRic Halliday. Bexhill

E) CAT'S CRADLE.By Roger Mountford,North London

AB

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14


F) Autumn on the Pemigewatset River. PeterDonaldson, Harpenden, Herts. Taken Sept 06

G) Rainbow over Stirling Castle. David A Drinkwater,Aberdeenshire

H) A Golden Evening. Sea front clouds.Taken by Len Hope

I) The Taj Mahal - a digital composition. Taken-January 2006. Photographer- Dave Markall. Stockport,Cheshire

J) The Roman Bridge. Bill Malcolm, Mill Hill, London

F

G

H

I J

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15

CLUB NEWS AND EVENTS

CumbriaMargaret Levin01228-526374

ElstreeShirley Napier020 8207 5110

LNER (North East)John Crosby0191 262 4978

North WestBarbara Jackson0161 286 2538

REAL (North London)Pauline Bryant020 8907 2166

REALM (Midlands)Rowland Seymour01159 165199

Saltire (Scotland)Helen McFadden01294 203742

Solare (South WestLondon)Bill Blamire01737 553174

South WestGeoff Luckett01934 843077

ALL nine clubs enjoyed theirannual Christmas luncheonswhich took place up and down thecountry during December 2006and January 2007.It was a chance to look forward

to the new year as well ascatching up with old friends andcolleagues. As usual the range of

food and service was excellent.Welfare manager Margaret

Staines attended the luncheonsand gave special thanks for theexcellent work undertaken by thecommittee members who keepthe clubs going. She also thankedthe staff at the venues for makingthe events such an enjoyable

experience for everybody.Following are reports and

pictures from each of the events.As usual there are so manystories to tell that they could notall be included. Remember, allreaders are welcome to send intheir stories and memories oftimes with the Laing Company.

Club eventsREALMarch 15 Lunch at the Cassiobury restaurantApril 12 – Talk on ‘Quaint and Quirky Herts’April 26 – Pub/lunch walk WheathampsteadMay 10 – Cream teaMay 17 – Coach trip to Southend

LNERApril 25 – By popular request this year’s firstouting is to Whitby. It promises to be amemorable day out with lunch organised at theCross Butts Farm Hotel and Restaurant, aspectacular setting. Members will then take theshort journey into town on a steam omnibus!

CarlisleApril 23-27 – The group is organising a shortholiday break to Steeple Aston.

REALMMarch 21 – Skittles outing to LeicesterApril 22 – Realm Club Holiday

CLUB CONTACTS

Club Christmas Outings

At the South West luncheon,from the left, Jan Little, St

Peter’s Hospice, ClubChairman John Tite, Sir Martin

Laing, Welfare ManagerMargaret Staines and Mrs

Lorraine Tite.

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SOLARE – The Wayfairer Hotel, Wimbledon

AS usual the round of retiree clubChristmas luncheons began inWimbledon with Solare, Among the new guests were Neville

and Sylvia Tickle. Neville was awelfare officer at Laing although hestarted out in 1953 as a time keeperand cashier. He began on theEasiform projects for the NationalCoal Board on a number of sitesaround Doncaster and Rotherham.In 1955 he was moved to Mill Hill,brought in to sort out the tax forweekly paid people.

It was not until 1976 that hemoved into Welfare, working underAllan Martin and recalls when thedepartment was set up. He said: “Isoon realised that I was born to be inWelfare.” He also captained theLaing hockey team for ten years andwent on to play bowls when heretired from that role.Peter and Carol Watkins are fairly

new members at the Solare club.Peter was Mill Foreman for VictoriaJoinery. He occasionally got out tosee some of the big contracts thatthey were supplying wood for. Heremembers the Bank of England,Coventry Cathedral, John PaulGetty’s place near Berkhampsteadand an Arabian embassy.Wiith him at the mill was another

new member to the club. JohnMcGuinness worked the machines atthe mill for 20 years retiring in1992. “It was a marvellous place,” hesaid. “I ended my career therehaving started working in thefurniture industry previously.” Maureen Rice cringes at my

shorthand and points out that shewas trained in Gregg and wascompetent to 120wpm. She still triesto take down the news sometimes,old habits die hard! She added: “If aword comes out that completelyfoxes me, I come to a dead haltthese days. It was the opposite with

some people I used to take a letterfor, you could predict what theywere going to say. Some of themalways said exactly the same thing.”Fred and Rosamund Bell were also

present. He was a joiner at HollowayBros for 40 years.The club managed to enlist the

services of a new committeemember in the form of LeightonDavies. He was attending withWendy Marple and they were flushedwith success from a recent show ofHobson’s choice in which Wendyplayed Maggie Hobson and Leightondirected. They are part of theEwhurst Players and played topacked houses at the village hall.Beryl and Arthur Henry were

present. It was Beryl who worked forLaing, but many people thought thatArthur was a Laing man because healways used to come down to visithis beloved. He, though, worked in a

spectacles factory at Hadley,Thames Ditton. He started thereaged 14 and, when he retired 50years later, he was the last person toleave the factory before it closeddown. He could tell you a few thingsabout spectacles, not least the vastdifference in prices on these islesand abroad.Joyce Lemonier raised a laugh when

she observed: “We used to gettogether and talk about ourchildren, now we seem to talk aboutour grandchildren and greatgrandchildren. This was especiallyfunny for Betty Hagart celebratingrecently the birth of a greatgrandchild.Chairman Ken Jones announced

that the raffle had raised £114. TheAssociation for Pastoral Carereceived another cheque from theclub plus an extra donation from theWayfairer’s owner.

They used to talk abouttheir kids

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REALM – The Manor Hotel, Meriden

THERE was large number of newmembers present at the RealmChristmas event, among themJohn and Sheila Parry.Although John rarely had an office

during his 18 or so years with thecompany, he knows a lot of peoplefrom all over the country thanks tohis work in Group Safety Training.He said: “I enjoyed my time with theCompany. I travelled around tomost of the biggest projects andmet a lot of people during thecourse of my work.”Ray Ritchie was wearing his

Carlisle United tie to reinforce thefact that he had never been luredinto supporting any of the bigMidlands sides during his timethere. The Midlands boys werejoking that he had picked it up in alocal jumble sale.Another new couple were Gill and

John Gandy. John spent 24 yearswith the Company, mainly as a

superintending estimator. Hetrained with Laing’s, which alwaysstood him in good stead, havingarrived straight from school as anindentured student. Joyce Jackson has been a long-time

member of the Realm club, but hasonly this year retired from her two-day week at Severn Trent Water. Theformer comptometer operator andaccounts supremo spent 21 yearswith Laing. She now spends hertime doing voluntary work forBarnardos and ‘joining ramblingclubs’. It is a big change havingworked all her life from the age of15. She modestly discounts theeight years she took off to bring upher children.Hilda Cartwright’s husband Jack

was one of the founding employeesfor the Lytag project when thefactory started in Rugely. Theirchildren’s diverse careers were:Electrical engineer, retired Det Chief

Insp, child welfare worker anduniversity teacher. Stan Utting worked on some of

Laing’s biggest projects in themidlands. Few know about hissecond career giving talks andpresentations on the subject ofpipeline work for all sorts oforganisations including Probus andRotary. In fact Team Spirit once dugout a load of archive shots for himto use. He had them put onto a bigboard that he would use to illustratehis talks and still has it.Ken and Margaret Hughes were

amazed during a holiday in the Isleof Wight earlier this year when theybumped into fellow club membersMargaret and Alan Cox and Alanand Audrey Sloan. Ken Hughes was among the many

who believe that lots of places puttheir decorations up too early. Hesaid he would like to go into gardencentres that have just finished theirxmas displays in September andsay: “Haven’t you taken these downyet?”Ian Rennie revealed that he was

named after the ghost on a film,well his middle name anyway. Hepopped out the day after his motherhad been to see The Ghost GoesWest. He father announced that theywould NOT be calling anybodyMurdoch, but they compromisedand it is his middle name.

John and Hilda Goodenough wereattending their first Christmasluncheon. Her article as a Laing wifeis still talked about by readers.Chairman Freda Kearney made

members laugh as she wentthrough some of the year’s newsand announced that the clubs hadraised£1,200 for hearing dogs forthe deaf.Finally Tom Hughes’ wife Elizabeth

attended for the first time havingretired from her job in the healthservice.

Bring in the new...

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NORTH WEST– Britannia Hotel, Didsbury

THE rain was torrential, but thewelcome gentle and warm asNorth West club gathered for theirChristmas luncheon.The members have plenty of

experience of Laing and its projectsbetween them, at home and abroad.When asked for suggested projectsthat could be rendered onto DVDthey had many suggestions. StephenMoss suggested a couple of Dubaicontracts including the Emirates andCreek golf clubs and the Nada Sheba.He added that the BBC had also donea film covering Laing’s work out therecalled Camel Tracks.Jack Stokes suggested the

Interchanges in Baghdad, but added:“Although what is left of them thesedays we do not know for sure.”A number of other people

suggested places closer to home, notleast the CIS Insurance building andthe Bridgewater Hall.An ever-popular suggestion was the

M1 again. Mike McKenna remembers

his time there at Northampton as amechanic. He joined Laing fromschool and loved his work. He wenton to become a crane inspector and,although he is based in Manchesternow, has fond memories of lots ofpeople from the depots down south,not least Ramsey Madden and DavidFlue. He also remembered anotherLaing man Bill Fennell from Realmwho had sent felicitations to anotherof his old mucker’s at Manchester,Finbar Carroll.Finbar suggested two big projects

near Bedford, Thurleigh andTwinwoods airfields. He alsoremembered the town, partlybecause of the beautiful river, butalso because of the time he and wifeSusan were looking for flats to rentthere. They went into one and therewere labels on every light switchsaying ‘Please turn off after use’ andabove the taps too. It is a wonder thathe has such a fondness for the townas he recalled another episode when

he and his wife had taken her motherto a restaurant in the town. Theyhappened to get a glance inside thekitchen on their way out. What theysaw of the kitchens and the chef inparticular made them feel sick!Anyway, one thing which is the

same the world over is the Nativity atChristmas, or is it? Roy and JoyceElliott’s granddaughter Molly Gracehad landed the little-known part ofthe snowman in her nativity. “Wedon’t quite know where the snowmanfits in to the Nativity,” said Roy. “She’sbeen told to turn up with a sheet anda cushion.”Jessie Hood was looking forward to

seeing her granddaughter atChristmas too. She is coming overwith her husband from New Zealand.Chairman Roy announced that the

raffle had made £40, but there wasthe normal palaver as the generosityof members and the large number ofwinners meant that the last giftnearly wasn’t given away.

Manchester memories

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CARLISLE – Greenhill Hotel, Wigton

ON a Day when the wind and rainwere fierce and the authoritieshad re-introduced a state of redalert following the terrible floodsof two years earlier, you wouldn’thave known it walking into theCumbrian Christmas luncheon.As usual the retirees had more

important things on their minds, notleast the fact that Elton John wasgoing to be playing at CarlisleUnited. This had prompted a lot ofinterest because he will be thebiggest act to play in the city sincethe sixties.Mrs Ann McVittie recalled seeing

Cliff Richard at the Lonsdale cinema.This was before she met husbandGeorge, who said one of the mostmemorable acts he saw in the 60swas Janice Joplin. Others, includingColin Wood, spoke of the Beatlesand also Guy Mitchel being thrownout of the Crown and Mitre for theirantics and behaviour.Tickets went almost immediately.

Lorna Ledgerwood likes the thoughtof seeing Elton John, but not theticket prices. She suggested that itmight be easier to sit outside inWarwick Street and listen to theconcert from there! Edna and Alan Sim, see diamond

weddings on page 25 say the secretof their marriage is that they are anexcellent team “He looks after theupstairs and I look after thedownstairs,” she joked. Apparentlythere is no truth in the rumour thatinstead of writing to the queen torequest a card for their anniversarythat Edna wrote requesting aDamehood for putting up with Alanfor 60 years.Chairman Gordon Carter was

caught out by the Farepack scandal,but didn’t let it ruin their plans forChristmas. As he said there was asmall bit of good luck too as hepicked four correct numbers on thenormal lottery and three onhotpicks.It was especially lovely for

everyone to see Mark Corrie back at

the lunch following his adventure inthe Summer. Wife Eileen said thatthe press interest in the story afterMark was stranded in a ravine fortwo nights, went on for a long timeafter the incident. Their daughtereven managed to do a deal withmagazine for a donation ofhundreds of pounds to the airambulance. Anyway, Mark is back athome and ‘fit as a lop’(or flea to youand me).Last issue’s article about Fred Story

brought out a number of otherstories and memories of the formerLaing man. Apparently when he wasfirst kitted out for work at theCompany, they couldn’t find him apair of boots big enough, They hadto send out for two specially madepairs of size 14s. Tony Daltry remembers seeing

Fred playing rugby and also when hewas renovating his own houseacross the road. He put a doublefront on a single front house andmatched the cobbles and workperfectly, by himself.On the subject of Laing, his wife

Margaret said that she sometimesstill sees houses advertised in thenewspaper for sale as ‘Laing-built’.She was sad recently to see in a localcharity shop a copy of The GoodBuilder which still had inside it thecard that new employees used toreceive which explained how topronounce Laing among otherthings.Other talking points included the

fact that Carlisle cemetery hadrecently won the best cemetery inthe country award. It is the restingplace of Sir John Laing.

Elton heads for Carlisle

REN JAN 07x 3/15/07 8:58 AM

MARTHA Morison was a welcomevisitor to the LNER Christmasluncheon. Her husband Bill (Jock)worked at Laing for around 30years. ‘He loved the Company’she said and was a brickie basedin the north. Bob Kelly was keeping an eye on

the news regarding the future ofPost offices. He is part of acampaign group trying to save thepost office in their village.He has already had some success

this year. Bob lives behind a green inthe village, the same green where hewas born (when it had houses in it).Earlier in the year they receivednotice that there had been anapplication for planning permission,but they could not find out what for.On further investigation theydiscovered that the council hadapplied for planning and that therewere rumours of them selling theland. The campaigners finally wontheir case. “It is wonderful that theland will not be developed at all andthat the bearns can still play on it,”said Bob.John Sutton is one of a very few

people in the UK with two birthcertificates. His father was reportedkilled in action, but was later foundto be a prisoner of war. John’s birthcertificate at that time read CliffordJohn Sutton, the same name as hisfather. When his father returned,however, he decided that twopeople with exactly the same namemight be a bit confusing, and soJohn was given his new name, JohnClifford. Interestingly John’s fatherwas captured at the same farm inFrance where John was billetedduring the Normandy landings.Jack and Eileen Henderson were in

attendance. Jack, who madeheadlines for completing an NVQ inoutdoor pursuits when he was 71, isstill very active. He had planned ondoing a bit more cycling, but was

knocked off his mountain bike inOctober. “It was about 7am and I was

knocked clean off and injured myelbow, side and legs. However, Inow have a brand new mountainbike which I am looking forward tousing.” As if that isn’t enough, thecouple are off to Andorra for askiing holiday.Arthur Fitzpatrick worked on a

great many project aroundNewcastle as a foreman joinerincluding the Monument Mall andthe Crown Courts. Now he and wifeSarah’s grandson John is a projectmanager working for LaingO’Rourke in the same area.One person who remembers Arthur

from his time on the Newcastle

projects was Anne Foster from thecanteen. She was sitting with her friend Mrs

Joyce Phelps whose husband, AlfredGeorge, spent 30 years with theCompany as a foreman joiner.Bill Jackson seemed to have taken

on a consultative role in the famousLNER raffle following an expansionof the team to include Peter Purvey. Although he was back at the fore

with his unmistakable patter once itwas time to call the tickets.Michael Blakey was attending with

his daughter Barbara Jackson.Chairman Roy Bettney thanked

everyone for coming and remindedreaders that any new members arealways welcome.

LNER – The Assembley Rooms, Newscastle

Building strong foundations

20

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21

SADLY the REAL ChristmasLuncheon at Bushey Police SocialClub, clashed with the LNERouting up in Newcastle. Alreadybeing in the north of the countrywe attended the Newcastleouting. Thankfully though clubsecretary Anne Lyons sent thesepictures and a few brief words.The Christmas Luncheon went

well, there were 76 guests andmembers. The photographs weretaken by Bill Malcolm. During theluncheon Chairman Frank Hearnpresented Derek Maynard with acertificate of Honorary Membershipof the Club in thanks for the longservice he has given.

In honour of some longservice given

THERE was a good turn out for theElstree Christmas Luncheon at theBattleaxes pub near Elstree.Bill Devine came along with his

niece Wendy and her husband Terry,with whom he lives in a convertedbarn at their home near Mildenhall,Suffolk.Terry and Wendy met while they

lived in Arkley and Borehamwoodrespectively. Terry rememberscollecting chop wood for theirboilers from the old Laing saw millat Bull Road. He also spent some time working

for Laing as a jobbing builder in thearea and privately for formerdirector Mr Greenhowe.Interestingly Terry’s mother was

the first person in the UK to receivea third party insurance pay out inthis country. In 1932/33 his fatherwas the passenger in a motorbikesidecar when a lorry lost a wheelwhich caused his death. His mother

received a £500 pay out.Club chairman Don Putman gave a

brief speech to thank everyone forcoming. He had recently been giventhe latest thing in garden design,

special illuminating strips whichmake patterns as they light up. He isnow grappling with the issue of howand where to use it!

Lighting up the festive period

ELSTREE and REAL

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WE arrived in the centre of Glasgow toa new venue and the sight of theChristmas decorations still festooningthe city centre. They looked a bitwashed out in the rain and the dimdaylight, but the lunch had attractedits biggest crowd for a few years. Itwas a Christmas do after all andMargaret Lone was chatting abouther son’s Nativity experience. Lastyear he had played a shepherd. Whenshe asked him if he was in it againthis Christmas the seven-year-oldreplied: “Yes but I have not got ahuman part this year – I am an ani-mal.”Hugh McGeoch has one of the

biggest welfare patches around cov-ering his homeland of Scotland. Untilsome years ago he would visit a pen-sioner who lived on Seal Island alongwith Princess Diana’s mother. Hewould kid people that he droveacross the Atlantic, which in effect hedid do as the island some milessouth of Oban is surrounded by theAtlantic. Another Laing pensionerlives on Mull and another in his 80sis moving from his home down southto the Isle of Arran. Nan Ashbridge’s daughter has three

daughters each with Irish names.They are all beautiful names, but thespelling often catches people out.Her nine-year-old granddaughter hastaken to responding, when asked hername, by saying: “Niamh – N I A M H.”Ian Beckwith, on the other hand,

was hoping to call his son AthollLoughlin. “It wasn’t going to hap-pen,” said wife Jean. Apparently the Duke of Atholl is

head of Ian’s clan which is where thename suggestion came from.Tom McVeigh has returned from his

son’s South African home and ravingabout how he was able to lead a win-ner into the winner’s enclosure fol-lowing a horse race. We didn’tbelieve him until we saw the pictureabove middle. He may soon see moreof his son who is opening a practicein Newmarket.Dave Thomson and wife were slight-

ly late in arriving. It seems that Davehad a dental appointment whichwent on longer than expected as thedentist decided there was some workto do. Fair play, he still turned up toeat, despite the unexpected work.A welcome new face was Willy

McIntyre who spent 26 years withLaing. Having started out a joiner,Willy ended up as a site manager andeven spent some time in SaudiArabia. Among his favourite projectswas the Glasgow Royal Infirmarywhere he spent eight years working.He is the son-in-law of MonicaGriffiths, a long-time club memberwho sadly passed away last year.The smoking ban is coming up for

it’s first anniversary in Glasgow, andwill be implemented south of theborder later this year. Betty McGillfinds it funny to see people on soapoperas filmed south of the borderstill puffing away on fags. “We don’tsee that on TV here,” she said. “It isillegal to smoke in any place of workand that includes the TV studio.” Onething is for sure, a year on the paperscover stories on the ban regularly. Her husband Frank came over from

Ireland when he was 16. He hadhelped his father farm sheep up untilthen, especially during lambing sea-son. But as all his friends left hewanted to come over to England tofind work too. In those days he needed a passport to do so.

SALTIRE – Millennium Hotel, Glasgow

A round of festive drinksfor the folk of Saltire

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SOUTH WEST – Brent House Carvery

FLOODING preceded the annual SouthWest Christmas luncheon but it didnot affect the turn out. Lady Laing waswelcomed as the new president butshe was sadly unable to attendbecause of a family crisis, but SirMartin and Sue Hendin were there.Ron Flowers was a project manager at

Laing during a career with theCompany spanning 40 years. Hisfavourite project was the NationalConcert Hall in Cardiff.Colin Jones, attending with his wife

Marcia, worked in the Bristol accountsoffice. He must have been quite a goodboss as he was sitting with two of thepeople he used to work with, NanetteGoodman and Christine McCarthy. Thechap who took them all on, MikeBownas, was also there.When asked if there were any ‘ vege-

tarians’ on their table, Illtyd Hughesreplied: “Church of England” to muchamusement.Brian and Joy Dodds had recently

attended a wonderful occasion. Afriend’s daughter had initially invitedthem to the christening of their child,but they decided to go the whole hogand get married on the same day aspart of the same ceremony. It was awonderful day and after the serviceguests were taken on an open top redbus down to Wimbledon for the recep-tion. “You don’t realise how bumpythose old buses are until you have triedto drink champagne out of a plasticcup on one,” remarked Brian.George Evans said that in his neck of

the woods was a mobile reverend whohad no parish since his wife became illand now does weddings and funeralsas ‘Rent a Rev’.Peter Rowe has finally got rid of his

trademark red Jaguar, although hisDiscovery still shifts (it has a V6 enginein it). He said: “It has gone into retire-ment in the London area.”Don Shallish worked 33 years with

Laing including looking after threesites in Saudi Arabia during his timewith the Company. These were makingbarracks at Medina, Taif and Kem-a-shay. One of his lasting memories waswhen he witnessed a beheading in Taif.

John Tite’s first speech as chairmanwelcomed Lady Laing as the new pres-ident and also said ‘thank you’ to PeterRowe and the retired committee. He said: “I first met Peter Rowe 50

years ago and I remember some of hisjokes from those days.”Sir Martin Laing read out a letter from

Lady Stephanie Laing thankingtheSouth West for club asking her totake on the role of president. He added: “Stephanie has always

closely followed news of the club andwhat goes on and recognises it has astrong membership which is down tothe sterling work of the committee and

the work Peter Rowe has put in overthe years.”He also praised the restaurant for its

excellent food and service and theorganisation of the event.Fred Holbrook and Bill Haines’ birth-

days were just before and after (respec-tively) the lunch date, but Joan Peacockwas celebrating her birthday on theday itself.Mike handed over a cheque for

£1,000 to St Peter’s Hospice represen-tative Jan Little. It will go some waytowards the £5m annual running costsfor which they only get £800,000 fromGovernment. Over the years the clubhas donated £15,000 to St Peters.

A flood of friendship

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24

WEDDING ANN

GOLDEN WEDDINGS

DIAMOND WEDDINGS

26 JanuaryDick & Pat Wilding

7th DecemberIvan & Mary Johnston

28 DecemberGeorge & Jill Smith

11 FebruaryCharlie & Rasheen McGarrigle

22 FebruaryRoly and Gladys Rogers

JOHN AND MONICASCOTT have celebratedtheir Golden Anniversary.They first met at a dance in

Washington after Jack hadreturned from fighting inKorea in 1953.Jack maintains it was love

at first sight and they weremarried in 1957 (after acourtship during which Jackclaims he had to see what

she was like)Jack worked three spells

with Laing, the last time forabout 11 years. They havetwo boys who have paid forthe couple to spend threeweeks in Portugalcelebrating theiranniversary. The couple arepictured during the LNERclub summer outing lastyear.

Save the lastdance for me

Jos and Edna DobsonJos and Edna Dobson celebrated their 60thanniversary in October. He worked 51 years for the Company andthey were delighted to receive their cardfrom the Queen.

Hazel and John Renshaw celebratedtheir Golden Wedding on December22 with a Caribbean cruise.They met almost exactly a year

before marrying. John’s sister is asinger and he overheard her talkingabout a schoolteacher who hadaccompanied her on the piano. Johnthought she sounded interesting and,when working in the area of theschool, went in, found her class andinvited her to a performance ofHandel’s Messiah.‘Surprisingly’ according to the

couple, she accepted and ‘in shortorder we were engaged and married’.They now live in Salisbury, having

moved with John’s work with theCompany, from Manchester toSurbiton, and then Mill Hill. Johnstarted with the Company as a siteQuantity Surveyor and became GroupDeputy Chairman and Chairman ofLaing Construction.Hazel followed her profession after

their two daughters were at schooland became a head teacher for 20years at schools in Redhill,Rickmansworth and St Albans.A luncheon was arranged for 60 old

and new friends in Salisbury and asimilar event for family and closefriends including the couple’s sixgrandchildren.

That’s the way to get a date!

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NNIVERSARIES

HARRY AND MARGARET CLAPHAMcelebrated their Golden Weddingon December 29, 2006.They met whilst at Swansea

University in 1950 where Harrystudied Civil Engineering andMargaret studied Physics andMaths.They married in 1956 when Harry

was in the design office at Mill Hilland Margaret was teaching at theWelsh Girls School at Ashford inMiddlesex.During his time with Laing Harry

was the Managing Director ofGround Engineering Ltdthroughout the 60s and 70s. Heconsulted on the earthworks onmany of the motorways that Laingwas involved with at tender and

construction stages. He alsoconsulted on Graythorp Dock,many sugar silos and on theAnhydrite silo at Whitehaven.

The couple have lived inLeverstock Green since 1960 andhave a son in Australia and adaughter in Abbots Langley.

When Harry met Margaret

Alan and Edna Sim celebratedtheir Diamond Anniversary inJanuary.They met on a walk from the

church. It seems that there weretwo lovely girls (the most lovely ofwhich was obviously Edna). Alanhad the choice of walking eithergirl home although they lived ondifferent roads, one of which wasabout 1.5miles longer journey forAlan. Alan chose what he thoughtwas the shorter road, which ‘hasended up being a 60-year journey’so he says.The couple have three children,

six grandchildren and seven greatgrandchildren. Edna added:“There wasn’t any TV in thosedays. We didn’t have any moneyso if we had a row there wasnowhere for her to run off to!

She added: “Our first house hadno electric and we had a wirelesswith two batteries, a wet and dry.I had to travel 2.5 miles to go andget the wet one charged up.

We look forward to receiving your Golden, Diamond and even Platinum Anniversarydetails. You can send words and pictures to Retirement Media or call us on 01234 360940.

Alternatively you can contact the Laing Welfare Department.

GORDON and MARGARET HUCKLECelebrated their golden anniver-sary on December 8. A celebrationwas held for 80 family and friendsat which a good time was had byall.

A Diamond laugh all the way Family’s Goldencelebration

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26

WELFARE NEWS

It is important to notethat tax does not stopjust because peopleretire. This does notonly apply to incomepeople are still earningin retirement, but anyincome including pen-sions and benefits,allowances and virtuallyany other money com-ing in which is above acertain amount.

If you are worried abouttax issues and can’tafford to pay for profes-sional advice, there isan independent free taxadvice service for olderpeople on householdincomes of less than£15,000 .

TaxHelp for OlderPeople : 0845 601 3321

TaxHelp for OlderPeople (TOP) run regularadvice surgeries at AgeConcerns and similarvenues.

REMEMBER to retain theannual notification youreceive from thePensions Service givingdetails of increases inyour State Pension andother benefits. YourState Pension is taxable,but benefits such asDisability LivingAllowance andAttendance AllowanceARE NOT.

TAX INRETIREMENT

Double 40th anniversaryTWO of Laing’s many landmark con-struction projects reached their40th anniversaries recently.September marked 40 years since

the Opening of the Severn Bridge,(the M48 Severn Crossing) by HMthe Queen in 1966. And just months later the first

stages of Britain’s newest townMilton Keynes were completed.The new town has continued grow-

ing and was largely built by Laing.The famous shopping centre, cen-tral roads systems and much of thehousing in the area were all Laingconstruction.The town has grown from strength

to strength. In fact some fear it isso successful and wont to grow thatit may swallow up some of the sur-rounding villages. There was muchtelevision coverage of the anniver-sary, especially in the AngliaRegion.The Severn River Crossing Plc

decided to grant access to members

of the public to the Tower Top ofthe Severn Suspension Bridge tomark its 40th birthday. They usedthe opportunity to raise funds for StPeter’s Hospice, Bristol and StAnne’s Hospice, Newport, on eitherside of the Severn Estuary. Both were given 150 places to go

up the bridge’s tower (75 on eachday), with each place being “sold”for £40. The tower is 450 feetabove water level.

* Mr Peter Saunders wrote to SRCand claimed to be one of the firstto cross the Severn Bridge on abicycle on the first day the publicwere allowed to use it, Friday, 9thAugust 1966. He is now 57 yearsold. It was an historic project, theaccess gained by the motoringpublic to cross swiftly betweenEngland and Wales is now hard tocomprehend; no more queuing forthe ferry or the long trip viaGloucester.

Calibre Audio Library is a chari-ty that provides a free postalservice. Recordings can beplayed on cassette players andare also now available on digi-tal MP3 disk.

To become a member, or tofind out more, please contact:

Calibre Audio Library,Aylesbury, Bucks HP22 5XQOr telephone: 01296 432 339.The website iswww.calibre.org.uk.

An audio version of theirbrochure is available onrequest.

Do you love booksbut can’t see to read?

Calibre audio librarythe freedom to read‘

REN JAN 07x 3/15/07 8:59 AM

LISTINGS

27

2006. He was 84 years ofage and retired in 1987after 25 years’ service.

Jack Hargrave:Formerly a Driver with CivilEngineering, died on Friday16 February 2007. He was88 years of age and retiredin 1983 after 29 years serv-ice.

Alfred Howes:Formerly a Foreman Joinerwith Laing Construction,died on Friday 5 January2007. He was 93 years ofage and retired in 1978after 21 years’ service.

Ted Jones:Formerly a GeneralOperative with John LaingConstruction, South Westregion, died on Wednesday31 January 2007 He was 84years of age and retired in1987 after 26 years’ service.

Ted Kirkwood:Formerly Industrial RelationsManager with John LaingConstruction, died onMonday 15 January 2007.He was 84 years of age andretired in 1984 after 22years’ service.

Albert Oakley:Formerly a Ganger with JohnLaing Construction, SouthWest region, died onMonday 27 November 2006.He was 72 years of age andretired in 1992 after 39years’ service.

Fred Bolton:Formerly a Site Agent, withLaing, North East region,died on Sunday 21 January2007. He was 91 years ofage and retired in 1978after 31 years’ service.

Alan Briggs:Formerly CommercialDirector, with Laing,Northern region, died onThursday 4 January 2007.He was 74 years of age andretired in 1991 afrer 42years’ service.

Michael Burford:Checker with Laing Limited,(Civil Engineering), died onMonday 8 January 2007. Hewas 58 years of age andcommenced with the com-pany in 1980.

Paul Cracknell:Formerly a Senior PlantAdvisor, with EPL, St. Neots,died on Sunday 3 December2006. He was 59 years ofage and retired in 2001after 35 years’ service.

Len Evans:Formerly a Foreman Joinerwith John LaingConstruction, South Westregion, died on Monday 18December 2006. He was 96years of age and retired in1975 after 25 years’ service.

Gabby (Jan) Gabrysz:Formerly a Labourer withJohn Laing Construction,South West region, died onWednesday 20 December

Derek Pulford:Formerly a Ganger with JohnLaing Construction, Midlandregion, died on Tuesday 26December 2006. He was 73years of age and retired in1996 after 33 years’ service.

Joe Sheaman:Formerly a Ganger withLaing, Northern region, diedon Saturday 27 January2007. He was 91 years ofage and retired in 1980 after31 years’ service.

Frank Towler:Formerly a Plant Controllerwith Plant & Transport, diedon Tuesday 20 February2007. He was 82 years ofage and retired in 1981 after28 years’ service.

George White:Formerly an Aerial PlatformOperator with EPL, Heywood,died on Friday 1 December2006. He was 80 years ofage and retired in 1991 after12 years’ service.

90th Birthdays90 - John O’Halloran -

December 8

90 - Mrs Violet McIlwaine - January 9

90 - Vic Vella - February 4

IN MEMORIAM

REN JAN 07x 3/15/07 8:59 AM

JOHN LAINGALLINGTON HOUSE150 VICTORIA STREETLONDONSW1E 5LBTel: 020 7901 3200www.laing.com

Specialist owner, operator andmanager of public sector infrastructure assets in the UK and internationally.

REN JAN 07x 3/15/07 8:59 AM

ren jan 07x - john laing group · see the team spirit archives on page 9. ren jan 07x 3/15/07 8:54...

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