Blogs

Wandering round the EcoBuild show a couple of weeks ago, several things struck me. One, obviously, was 'where on earth am I and how can I find that stand I want?', but one other was how mainstream the show seems to have grown.

At last, there's a government-organised scheme which is going to benefit some builders merchants - two schemes actually.

Whoo Hoo! Permit me, if you will, to gloat, just a little over the fact that there will apparently be an announcement in the PreBudget Report later today of a Boiler Scrappage Scheme, similar to the car scrappage scheme.

Wow, this national insurance row is hotting up. Now Jewson's Peter Hindle has waded into it.

Ooh goody. The big banks have made lots and lots of lovely profits.

There was quite a lot of noise on the web last night regarding Mary Portas - she of the orange bobbed hair and power-dressed heels - and self-styled Queen of Shops. It's also been echoed on our sister site DIYWeek.net so I thought I'd take a bit of a look.

Where would this industry be without the grapevine? There's nothing that binds people together - and I mean blokes just as much as girls - like a good old gossip.

Well those of us who thought that last week's Housing Strategy didn't go far enough found out why at about 12.30pm yesterday when that nice George Osborne stood up in the House of Commons and told that there's no money.

Apologies if this turns into a 'grumpy old woman' type of blog but I feel the need to get something off my chest as it were.

So the Government thinks it's so important to get us all the invest in the energy efficiency of our homes that it is prepared to spend its own (well, taxpayers') money to promote it.