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Hinkley point C New Nuclear Build is currently the largest construction site in the UK. There are around 4,000 workers carrying out the enabling works. I work in the industry and had dealings with the project. These are large civil engineering companies like Kier, costain, BAM Nuttal. Industry experts have announced today that the project is now close to collapse due to the drop in pound, huge cost over run and being backed by a European country (France) spending billions on a project in a country leaving Europe.
Now Hinkley was always a problematic project and many will be happy to see it stopped. Looks very like Hinkley will collapse now. The first real big heavy weight to fall?
Depends how big is big?
We had 2 engineering projects cancel on Friday, that was my job secure until Christmas, now I'm out a week today. My backup plan was a job in the policy group working on EU legislation, I've not even bothered to phone them and ask.
I'm free, unfortunately my mortgage isn't, and we cleared out the war chest for the deposit thinking that we'd hit the bottom of the recession.
I'm up shit creek and Farage just stole my paddle.
Looks very like Hinkley will collapse now. The first real big heavy weight to fall?
I think it was just a matter of when; the economics never added up, it was just a very very expensive vanity project for Osbourne.
TINAS- I'm really sorry to hear that. We do work for Kier, Carillion, Galliford Try, Wilmott Dixon etc and it's quiet here. I'm worried. Really worried, especially if Hinkley is falling.
TINAS - sorry to hear that, best of luck getting something else. There will be many more stories like yours over the next couple of years, let's just hope that some of the consequences start to sink in to the thick ****s who voted for this.
I'll survive one way or another, we can pay the mortgage on minimum wage if we cut back on everything, that was our criteria for what we thought we could borrow, the bank offered quite a bit more, thankfully we didn't take it!
I've a few business ideas that require very low capital investments so you never know, things may look up!
After struggling through the last decade or so with the Construction Industry on the bones of it's arse, things were finally beginning to pick up over the last year or so.....until now.
I dread to think what's going to happen.
I'm scanning the public contracts portal for wall building opportunities near Carlisle or Berwick and thinking about setting up a specialist subcontractor to build machine gun towers on beaches.
hang on, we were giving money away to French taxpayers a few months ago?
on a serious note, TINAS, you are not alone. Two future projects cancelled since last week. 🙁
#fakecontrol
This one?
[url= http://www.infrastructure-intelligence.com/ ]Infrastructure Intelligence[/url]
Yes - hit my inbox as well.
HS2 looks doubtful, and as for Gatwick / Heathrow additional runway - well Boris wanted his Island and May is against on noise...
(TBH, "Boris Island" sounds like a good idea - preferably small and a long way away. I hear St Helena now has a runway and has some experience in dealing with exiles)
munrobiker - same here, we have a lot of work with the big construction companies, including work at Hinkley. We've had orders for work at Hinkley very recently, we'll see what happens with those.
Happy to see HS2 fall over, but not entirely sure how we will keep the lights on and the forum running if we don't get some new power sources up and running.
Bad times for anyone caught up in this fall out.
machine gun towers on beaches
At least we have a prospering arms manufacturing industry to benefit from the weak pound and pick up the slack by employing people to fit out those towers.
EDF don't seem to think so, either in the UK or the wider group, I'd say company finances are more of a concern.
Industry [b]experts[/b]
Ha! Well we all know what to think of them now don't we, bloody scaremongerers saying things will go downhill, what a bunch of idio...oh, hang on... TINAS (and others) good luck with the job situation.
Don't worry though, jamba says on another thread it will all be better 'in the medium and long term', by which I think he means "and they all lived happily ever after".
by which I think he means
He'll f*** off abroad again and avoid the chaos he helped cause....
Won't need these new runways anyway as all those migrants won't be coming here so far less air traffic (migrants that can afford to fly of course), and less migrants means less energy so we don't need a new power station after all.
😉
Once most British multinationals have gone to the wall, and people can no longer afford holidays, we can just turn Heathrow into a theme park for 'how we used to live'.
it will all be better 'in the medium and long term
He's quite right. Though admittedly he means "it will all be better 'in the medium and long term than the catastrophe that is the short term" rather than the implied "it will all be better 'in the medium and long term than if we'd stayed in Europe"
Though admittedly he means "it will all be better 'in the medium and long term than the catastrophe that is the short term" rather than the implied "it will all be better 'in the medium and long term than if we'd stayed in Europe"
Hopefully, all depends how well our skilled politicians manage us through the current chaos....
Businesses invest in Britain from all around the world, if the numbers make sense they'll do it. Hinkley is aboit selling electricity to Brits, that doesn't change
I'm freelance so can't really be out of a job, just degrees of busy. One job cancelled and one job being paid for in a foreign currency that's now much stronger against the pound mean that I am currently £4,600 down compared to last Thursday.
It doesn't compare to losing your job and if it stopped now i'll be fine but if it's the first of many then things could get a bit sticky.
One job cancelled and one job being paid for in a foreign currency that's now much stronger against the pound mean that I am currently £4,600 down compared to last Thursday.
****ing hell! The more I read about the knock on effect of the puppets who believed the Brexit the more furious I become of what they've done.
Tractor production is already ahead of forecasts for the quarter. If tractor production falls it is because superior engineering means they do not need to be replaced.
#brexitfacts
Eh - I invoiced a job over the weekend that was paid in USD and it made me £300 more than it would have a week earlier - are you sure you've done the maths the right way around?One job cancelled and one job being paid for in a foreign currency that's now much stronger against the pound mean that I am currently £4,600 down compared to last Thursday.
Businesses invest in Britain from all around the world,
All we have had to sell for the last 30 years is access to the European free market and a lack of employment rights. We have are losing one of those, I expect the crushing of the workers to become even more important.
A friend of mine works for an organisation which assists foreign SME's to locate in the south east. On Friday he had a meeting set up with a French company to discuss setting up an import/assembly/distribution facility potentially employing 50-70 people. The client cancelled due to the uncertainty of being able to export freely from this facility into Europe.
Since Thursday his client based has dropped by over 70% and he will probably be out of work by the autumn.
The shitstorm hasn't even started to hit yet...
Sadly, the St Helena airport is inoperable: too windy. That's not a reason not to send him though.
+1 for most of the above. One major masterplanning scheme that was pretty much going to support my office for the next year looks like it isn't going to happen, housebuilding will probably slow down, and numerous other regeneration schemes now looking shaky.
As noted above, the past year or so has seen pretty solid workloads across the industry, demand for engineers, wage increases and the general feeling that we were now out of it. To say that the mood in my company is now black would be an understatement. Those that worked through the last recession are thinking 'not again, not so soon,' while the younger folk are generally just pee'd off at the whole thing.
We've just lost a job worth £1.5m because of Brexit and will probably be making people redundant. I was out cycling with a friend in Sunday and he's expecting 20 going from his office (including him) to add to the 30 who've just gone due to the uncertainty.
chuck him out on a fly by - you wanted out - OUT
Bloody hell I'm so sorry for you all.
This is real and happening now. All we've done is vote out. It's only going to get worse with our negotiations.
I can't see the vote standing once people start losing jobs.
We sell lots of Belgian chocolates. God knows what they will cost next time we order.
while the younger folk are generally just pee'd off at the whole thing.
Yep, two recessions before they're even 30!
Yep, two recessions before they're even 30!
It's OK they are now in control
It's OK they are now in control
well they would be, except for their parents overruling them!
It only takes one phone call to cancel an order. How many phone calls will it take to sort this mess?
The CBI need to be strong here, read the riot act and give those idiots a wake up call before its too late.
We won't be able to do an Auf wiedersehen pet next time our construction workers need employment.
We are lucky enough to serve a very wealthy area. Most of them are builders and bankers, they are all worried.
So are we.
Eh - I invoiced a job over the weekend that was paid in USD and it made me £300 more than it would have a week earlier - are you sure you've done the maths the right way around?
Yay. Your right, I got that one completely arse about face. I'm not £4,600 worse off only £1,400 worse off (-£3k for the cancelled job but + £1.6k for the currency exchange) which is still not great but a lot better than I thought.
I think it was a general air of pessimism that convinced me that the currency exchange couldn't possibly be working in my favour when it was.
Mind you that initial moment of optimism when my error was pointed out has now faded with the realisation that in international markets I'm now less competitive than I was which will make getting new projects a bit harder.
You're more competitive. The pound is cheaper.
No, you are more competitive assuming your own costs are mostly £ and you can charge in €/$ whatever...that's why exporters love a cheap currency.
I'm a QS and quite a few of us here are pretty worried / concerned especially as things had just started picking up - more work, people moving jobs etc. The last recession was tough and I certainly don't fancy going through that again anytime soon!
Not sure how it will impact us either as we've been seeing the best growth / margins from offices outside of the UK.
People are worried all over, I think a lot of jobs might just head for the EU tbh
http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-corporates-pharmaceuticals-idUKKCN0ZA26J
I want to add: The official line from EDF is "The project continues" and a go ahead for phase 2 will be made in September. Hence me saying "on the brink"
Hinkley always was a sitting duck sadly. There will be a contract break clause allowing the to walk away if there are "fundamental changes to the terms"... as this is built to Eurocodes and standards.. its bust. The enabling works will likely get completed and then mothballed. This means you have the harbour, intake tunnels and foundations in and in 10 or 20 years the Chinese or others could finish it...
A lot of projects in my area come from banks. I can't see them signing off many new projects now. Give it a year or two until the current projects finish up then I might be in trouble.
[b]muppetWrangler[/b] - Yep as torsoinalake says - you're now more competitive if you charge in GBP (which is ok as far as you're concerned) and exactly as competitive as you were if you charge in the currency of the client, although you could lower your rate in this instance to become more competitive again.
I've a mixture of UK/Asian clients and it probably wont make a great deal of difference to me overall.
Although one of my UK clients is the "European distributor" of an electronics brand, which might mean they have to move into the EU if the common market access and VAT/etc become harder.
Anyway - glad that the news isn't as bad as you thought!
Blimey, this is getting better and better. At this rate I'll have to stop giving the rest of my family and half my friends the daggers look for voting out and take them all out for a slap up meal instead. 😕
My work is about 60% UK and 40% international. Oddly not much in the EU, mostly China, Singapore, middle East and US. Did go through a period of doing work in Russia but that was too hit and miss with regard to actually getting paid.
Good luck to all immediately affected.
We can only hope things don't work out as bad as predicted in the short term and the Leave optimism isn't misplaced.
I do like a balanced view though:
How many individuals lost their jobs or had their conditions worsened by being in the EU?
Jobs shipped to eastern Europe.
Companies setting up in low tax EU country and gaining access to single market driving companies in other countries down.
There has been, and will be, winners and losers either in or out.
Again good luck to everyone. I'm just keeping my head down at the moment.