Press Articles

Mon, 3rd May 2010

All that Glitters...

Although I’m reluctant to admit it, I have been advising Contractors and Sub-Contractors on buying insurance for over twenty five years. It is a frustrating business and, quite frankly, a thankless task. No wonder I feel so old!

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Thu, 1st April 2010

Adjudication and Multiple Disputes

The Scheme for Construction Contracts (England and Wales) Regulations 1998 makes clear that an Adjudicator can only deal with one dispute at any one time. Of course, it is open to the parties to agree differently but it is a rare occurrence when parties actually co-operate with each other, let alone the Adjudicator, in an adjudication.

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Mon, 1st March 2010

Funerals, Liquidators and Adjudication

We are told by experts that the first green shoots of economic recovery have started to appear.

It is a well-known fact that more companies go bust coming out of a recession than during the depths of a recession. Overtrading and lack of bank funding will inevitably cause companies to fail. Contractors and Specialist Sub-Contractors are no exception.

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Thu, 14th January 2010

TVP Launches Vindemnity insurance product

The Vinden Partnership (TVP), a leading North West property consultancy, has launched Vindemnity a unique insurance product for the construction industry following the appointment of Steve Padley.

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Thu, 1st October 2009

The end to HMRC free banking?

As I look through my window on a wet October day in 2009, my thoughts turn to those Contractors and Sub-Contractors for whom holidays are well and truly over - and I am not talking about the bucket and spade variety!

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Tue, 1st September 2009

Difficult Conversations, Hostage Negotiation and Mediation

If you want to know the meaning of pressure, try negotiating with a hostage taker whose demands are extremely unreasonable and whose motivations are political, racial or based on religious beliefs when a person's life is on the line - then you will really experience what it is to have a difficult conversation!

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Sat, 29th August 2009

What is Mediation?

The process of Mediation is one of the most common forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution, or ADR. The 'Alternative' referred to is the alternative to a trial and process leading up to trial.

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Mon, 13th July 2009

Sharing Pain and Gain – No Win No Fee Adjudication Services

Given the current economic circumstances it is hardly surprising that Vinden’s Dispute and Corporate Recovery teams are expanding rapidly. Peter Vinden, Vinden’s Managing Director, says this is down to a number of factors.

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Wed, 8th July 2009

Difficult Conversations, Hostage Negotiation and Mediation (01)

North West Mediator, Peter Vinden, talks about using his hostage negotiation training in mediation.

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Thu, 25th June 2009

Common Sense Advice for House Builders

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has set ambitious targets for the provision of three million new homes by 2020. Sixty percent of these homes are targeted to be built on brownfield land and by 2016 all new homes in England and Wales are to be ‘Zero Carbon’.

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Tue, 5th May 2009

Multitasking key to beating recession

Quantity surveyors (QS) are facing an increasing need to multitask to beat the recession and keep building their business, according to experts at the Vinden Partnership.

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Tue, 7th April 2009

Adjudicators, Jurisdiction and Fees

I recently issued my 100th Adjudicator’s Decision. Whilst this may have been a personal landmark, there were no cakes, no candles or any other celebrations for that matter. Just a little bit of quiet reflection and an intake of breath before diving into the next case in line.

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Mon, 6th April 2009

Latent Defects, Trumpets and Insurance

I have heard it said on many occasions that it is never a good thing to “blow one’s own trumpet” but on this occasion, however, I just can’t resist. The reason for lifting my head above the parapets is to announce that those clever boys and girls in our insurance department have just come up with a rather useful new form of insurance policy which could soon be in great demand.

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Mon, 6th April 2009

Insolvency in Construction, CVAs and Adjudication

My firm, The Vinden Partnership (“TVP”) spends a lot of its time advising Directors, Banks and Insolvency Practitioners on the best way to restructure and/or recover businesses involved in the construction supply chain. We have been doing this since TVP’s inception in 1994. It is true to say that over the last 15 years I can remember the Company Voluntary Arrangements (CVAs) I have been involved in on less than the fingers of one hand! However, for reasons that I am hopefully about to explain, things may be about to change.

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Fri, 13th March 2009

Compulsory mediation?

Anybody reading this article who has been involved in a construction dispute will know that it can be an expensive business. Lawyers do not wear nice suits because they are cheap to hire!

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Wed, 21st January 2009

Chaired Solutions - A new kid on the block?

I attend a lot of settlement meetings with clients. These are invariably conducted on a “without prejudice” basis and the purpose of such a meeting is both simple and given away by its title.

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Thu, 27th November 2008

Getting caught between a rock and a hard place

Let’s face facts. Things are getting pretty tough out there and being a director of any company operating in the construction sector at present is not for the faint hearted. Rising costs and too many companies chasing too few orders leads to one thing only – reduced margins and losses!

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Tue, 30th September 2008

Cowgill Holloway advises on TVP merger

Cowgill Holloway’s corporate finance department has advised on the merger of The Vinden Partnership Ltd and Watson Laurie Group, a group of companies controlled by Andrew Crompton.

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Wed, 24th September 2008

Scheme Interest and the Late Payment of Commercial Debts

My last article dealt with the subject of an Adjudicator’s power to award interest under the Scheme for Construction Contracts (England and Wales) Regulations 1998 (“the Scheme”). The article concluded by saying that where a contract has no provisions relating to the payment of interest, an Adjudicator has no “freestanding power” to award interest.

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Wed, 24th September 2008

Claiming Interest under the Scheme

If you have ever found yourself in an adjudication the chances are that either you or your opposing party will have asked the Adjudicator to decide that interest is paid on overdue payments.

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