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This book draws together the main elements of strategic management theory and considers their relevance to contemporary practice in construction. It assists students understand what corporate strategy involves and how it is possible to develop a proactive approach to the management of key organisational resources that are essential to attain objectives. €. Understanding of the importance of strategic management has developed rapidly in the past decade. Recent economic events have shown that all organisations must continually reassess their approach to achieving intended objectives, especi.

News that, according to the data produced by the ONS (Office for National Statistics), the consumer price index (CPI) has risen over the last twelve months to 5.5% in December is not good news Nachiappan (2022). Given that only just over a year ago, in January 2021, CPI for the UK was 0.7%, it's possible to see that there's been a marked increase over the last year (Martin, 2022).

Tuesday's announcement by the ONS (Office for National Statistics), tells us much about the state of the economy. That UK unemployment fell from 3.9% to 3.8% in the three months to February, back to its pre-pandemic levels (October-December 2019), suggests an economy that's recovered from the shock caused by lockdowns and prospects for workers are good.

Having been in Ireland over the weekend, the first time since 2019, I was interested to see how its economy is doing in the aftermath of Brexit. My travel, which originally planned to fly to Belfast and travel across the border, was altered because of the problems being experienced with airlines. Instead, we used the car ferry to Dublin and drove to our hotel which is just south of the border in the Republic.

From 1968 until 1976, all users gas appliances were converted from 'town gas' to what was proclaimed to be a cleaner and cheaper alternative, 'natural', North Sea gas. Significantly, it's interesting to note that in 1970, central heating was still regarded by many as a luxury item. The percentage of households with central heating systems in the UK was 30% though would double by 1980 and rise steadily to 96% by 2010-2015, dipping very slightly since (Statista, 2022).

In the last week or so, we've heard a great deal about 'Levelling Up'. This is a phrase which many believe, was coined in the run-up to the December 2019, 'Get Brexit Done' general election as a way to summarise the aspiration to create equality across the country, most particularly in areas of the country in which citizens had become disgruntled by their sense of being forgotten about (BBC, 2022).

James O'Brien, whose morning show is one of commercial radio's most popular – according to Official RAJAR figures regularly attracting over 1.3 million who tune in for "his lengthy critiques of Boris Johnson's government" (Waterson, 2022) – is unafraid to call it as he sees it. Indeed, one of the reasons he chose not to continue presenting BBC Two's flagship programme Newsnight was, as he stated in a tweet in January 2018, to be able to retain the ability to "criticise Brexit and Trump" in his capacity as presenter on LBC Radio (Todorova, 2018).

Entering the new year, we reflect on what's not been done and tend to resolve to improve. Unfortunately, our ability to stick to promises is often undermined by willpower and, too often, events over which we have no control.

Though not of the scale of the Olympics we so thoroughly enjoyed ten years ago this summer, Birmingham will be hosting a major sporting event this summer. From Thursday, 28 July to Monday, 8 August this year, Birmingham will be the location for the Commonwealth Games when 19 different sports will take place between athletes from 'Commonwealth' nations.

In the last couple of weeks in politics, what we've witnessed feels like a rollercoaster of farce. 'Party gate' and questions of whether Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, ate cake at his impromptu birthday party back in 2020, when, as Northern Ireland minister Conor Burns, claimed, he'd been "ambushed by cake" (he subsequently backtracked), has created the sense of confusion and crisis at the heart of government (ITV, 2022).

A lot's been written about weather recently. Understandably, the succession of storms, Dudley and Eunice last week and Franklin on Sunday night and into Monday, has created inevitable stories based on our being subjected the dangers associated extremely high wind speeds which damage property and are a threat to life and limb.

In the current climate it's easy to become pessimistic. Some contend the Russia's invasion of Ukraine as has parallels to the beginning of the second world war when, in 1938/39, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler used the grievances of the German-speaking citizens of the Sudetenland, then part of Czechoslovakia, as a prelude to war (Florea, 2022).

In 'Hard Times' (McCabe, 2021), it was speculated that, given the success of the vaccine roll-out, potentially heralding an end to the pandemic, 2022 might be a year when events were not quite so bleak. We could look forward to better times. There were certainly grounds for believing that were the economy to develop sufficient momentum, sustained recovery would follow.

Prices for oil and gas, already rising as a consequence of supply constraints due to reopening of economies following the pandemic, have been adversely affected by Russia, on which much of Europe is very dependent for fuel, invading Ukraine. The price of fuel at filling stations has increased, on average, by about 40p a litre for petrol and 50p a litre for diesel (Tidman, 2022).

Even before Russian President Putin's decision invade Ukraine, food prices were rising. Last week's ONS (Office for National Statistics), showing that the overall rate of inflation was 6.2% for the twelve months to February, included the item of 'Food and non-alcoholic beverages' at 5.1%.