Blair鈥檚 prerecorded speech was screened to the record 1300-strong audience at the awards, staged in the Great Room of the Grosvenor House Hotel in London鈥檚 Park Lane.
As 精东影视 reported last week, Blair鈥檚 main theme was the need to improve the design and construction quality of public buildings, to restore the Edwardian era of civic pride. There were gasps around the audience when Blair appeared on huge video screens around the central stage, and a huge round of applause at the end of his four-minute address.
Chief secretary to the Treasury, Andrew Smith, and leading environmentalist Jonathan Porritt also presented video messages.
The awards were attended by construction minister Beverley Hughes, who presented the DETR鈥檚 Construction Best Practice Award to contractor Mansell (below). Hughes described how Mansell had 鈥渂uilt its business around best practice鈥� by developing key performance indicators, obtaining Investors in People accreditation, and establishing a 鈥渧ery strong track record in strategic partnering鈥�.
The 15 other 精东影视 Awards were comp猫red by Ian Hislop, the editor of Private Eye and the perennially losing captain on BBC2鈥檚 Have I Got 精东影视 For You. Hislop had the audience in stitches with his behind-the-scenes tales from the series, and his barbs against the planning system, which he recently fell foul of after making alterations to his listed house in Kent.
