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The just-out Apple TV+ series reveals the highs and lows of their lives.

For millions of people, regardless of whether they are interested in fashion or not, Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista and Naomi Campbell can be identified by sight alone.

Now the just-out Apple TV+ docuseries “The Super Models” reveals much more than obvious beauty. Far from anything along the lines of the secret lives of supermodels, the four-part series amounts to nearly four hours of flashbacks, current takes and future plans.

Spoiler alert: This would be a good place to stop reading if you prefer to experience the four episodes yourself.

Now in their 50s with children of their own, the foursome shared snapshots of their younger selves. Turlington’s pre-modeling work experience involved babysitting and cleaning stalls. Long before she demanded $10,000 just to get out of bed, Evangelista’s first paycheck came from being a convenience store employee. Campbell described how driven she was as a dancer in childhood, even when auditions ballooned to 600 people and her mother tried to manage her expectations.

More than anything, the series humanizes the supermodels through personal accounts of tougher moments, like Crawford’s brother dying of cancer as a child, Evangelista’s allegations of an abusive relationship with her ex-husband Gérald Marie, Campbell’s battle with addiction and decision to go to rehab and Turlington’s medical scare after giving birth to her daughter, Grace. All of those challenges, however, have been subsequently put to use to benefit others.

While their lives were and still are at times ultra-glamorous, the series seems to emphasize their humanness. Evangelista emphasized how she so regrets having ever made that “$10,000 to get out of bed” statement. She also details being stricken with breast cancer twice, finding the courage to leave Marie and the heartbreak she felt for the victims, who came forward in 2020 and claimed that Marie had raped or sexually assaulted them in the ’80s and ’90s. The series noted Marie has denied that and French prosecutors closed an investigation into the matter earlier this year, due to the statute of limitations. Evangelista also spelled out how becoming disfigured from CoolSculpting sessions had triggered a serious depression that had resulted in her only leaving her home for medical appointments at one point.

Each episode has a theme — “The Look,” “The Fame,” “The Power” and “The Legacy.” Although there is plenty of air-time of each supermodel addressing the camera head on, the archival footage of them on location, in a studio, out at night or on TV is what reels viewers in. They also draw back the curtain a bit about what made them so in-demand. During a visit to Arthur Elgort’s downtown studio, Evangelista asked about a 1991 shoot of her decked out in a plaid kilt and feather bonnet, following a bagpiper with one leg kicked skyward. Elgort reminded how they needed only two shots, since she had informed him, “I know what to do.”

Elgort is one of many fashion insiders who are featured in the series. Michael Kors, Marc Jacobs, John Galliano, Kim Jones, Donna Karan, Valentino, Karl Lagerfeld, Calvin Klein, Todd Oldham, Anna Sui and Isaac Mizrahi are among the designers. Fabien Baron, Tim Blanks, Robin Givhan, Michael Musto, Michael Gross, Polly Mellen, Tom Freston, Edward Enninful, Bethann Hardison, Suzy Menkes, Anna Wintour, André Leon Talley, Tonne Goodman and others help contextualize the four-part series. Sometimes their insights are fleeting.

That was also the case with flashes of such classic photos such as Arthur Elgort’s eerie shot of Turlington in New Orleans peering out of a car’s sun roof or Roxanne Lewitt’s “Three Models in a Tub” of Campbell, Turlington and Evangelista, flash within an instant, which somehow suits the catch-them-while-you-can appeal that made them so wildly popular. More recent clips, like one of Campbell riding an ATV in Kenya or another of her seemingly having a hot flash on set, may broaden viewers’ perspectives.

All in all, though, whether it’s imagery from their high-flying heyday or less faraway assignments, what stands out is movement. Far from expressionless, stand-still models, they take action, using their presence, agility or commanding runway walks. Without question, the series explores the complexity and troublesome sides of their careers — such as Evangelista’s recollection of her traveling to Japan as a teenager for a job and being freaked out after being asked to take her clothes off. More apt to imply, than spell out anything unsavory, Crawford states that the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue was “not a good experience” for her, because she “had an opinion.” No matter — she just moved on and did her own swimsuit calendar, as well as an exercise video, a signature home line and numerous other business ventures. Her business prowess is a recurring theme.

Campbell, who is often featured seated in a director’s chair speaking directly into the camera, was candid about how people in the fashion industry had largely ignored India, Africa and the Middle East. “I guess you’d call it discrimination. I was a part of that too and I feel ashamed for that,” she said, but highlighted the ways in which she is rectifying that by recognizing emerging talent and working in those places. Addressing her struggles with addiction, she mentioned helping others. Jacobs recalled how she seemed to call at a time when he was partying a little too much and Galliano spoke of how she steered him through a dark period in his life.

Interestingly, the lighter carefree moments are less of a focus, despite that being what many associate with the globetrotting supermodels. Looking at an experience through the lens of time, Crawford critiqued Oprah Winfrey for having had the model stand up to show off her physique, during a 1986 television appearance on Winfrey’s talk show.

In one of the other docuseries’ episodes, Crawford said they were made to feel that they were the physical representation of power, but where it gets tricky is many people don’t fit that. She also described how it got to the point after runway shows that hundreds of people were pouring backstage while they were in various stages of undress. Evangelista hired a bodyguard to shield her and also bought a can of spray paint that she would shake and threaten to spray photographers’ lenses if they didn’t disperse.

One area that is largely absent from the documentary was how the world’s leading models stayed in such tip-top shape. Nor were there any extensively detailed accounts of the degree to which other models at that time may have been extreme dieters or suffered from eating disorders, which remains an age-old problem among many models. One exception was Crawford recalling how as a young model working in Chicago with the physically demanding Victor Skrebneski, fainting before lunch could happen on occasion. And Turlington recalled how she was not about to feel bad for being released from a show after having put on a few pounds due to quitting smoking. The reality was she lost her father to lung cancer and appeared in anti-smoking commercials and advocated in Washington, D.C., to debunk the myth of smoking. Turlington’s global commitment to improving maternal health through Every Mother Counts is also highlighted.

Rivalry is another subject that is mentioned more in passing than in depth. Campbell and Crawford said there was no competition between them. The third episode about power brings to light such headier issues as how the fall of Communism ushered in a new era of Eastern European models, how the end of conspicuous consumption impacted the public’s view of glamour, how major designers did not like being eclipsed by the supermodels, how the rise of both hip-hop and grunge led to more relaxed dress codes, the supermodels exemplified an unattainable beauty myth and how their surging popularity led to photographers trampling on their privacy.

Campbell said that after balking in a meeting at a low-ball offer for a Revlon contract her agent at that time, John Casablancas, who cofounded Elite Model Management, was embarrassed and portrayed her as being difficult. Having been told beforehand by her peers what they were earning, she had gone into the meeting well-prepared and wasn’t about to settle for less. On another front, it was suggested that the waif look that was popularized by Kate Moss and others was almost a rejection of everything supermodels embodied at that time — although Moss is considered a supermodel by many.

Designers’ interest in Eastern European “expressionless” ultrathin models was a more affordable option, allowing them to hire 40 models versus 10 big-name ones. That strategy also placed the focus back on the collections instead of the models who were wearing the clothes. Former model and activist Bethann Hardison said, “It wasn’t so much about race as eradicating anything distracting from the clothing to put the focus on the clothing.”

The influence of the gay community and drag culture is also mapped out. Another one of the more poignant points of the series is each model’s account of where they were and how they learned that Gianni Versace had been killed in July 1997. En route to meeting Donatella Versace and her brother Santo on that fateful day, Campbell said there were so many photographers that she had to climb up a hotel laundry shaft to evade them.

Their teary recollections underscored how transformative Gianni Versace was in their lives and careers by encouraging them to be themselves on the runway. In a clip, the late designer says, “I always say, ‘Don’t be afraid of who you are, because the only fashion you can wear is to be yourself.'”

Isn’t that what being a supermodel — real or imagined — is all about?

Philip Morris considers selling stake in a recently acquired pharmaceutical business after setbacks

Philip Morris International’s PM 0.37%increase; green up pointing triangle push into healthcare is faltering, prompting the tobacco giant to consider options such as selling a stake in its biggest pharmaceuticals unit.

In 2021, the tobacco giant agreed to acquire three pharmaceutical companies for a total of more than $2 billion as part of a plan to pivot away from cigarette sales. The deals inserted the Marlboro maker into the market for inhalers and other treatments for respiratory diseases that are linked to cigarette smoking.

Philip Morris’s struggles came into view over the summer, when the company took a $680 million charge on its wellness and healthcare business and postponed its ambitious revenue goals for the business.

Now, Philip Morris is considering the possible sale of a stake in its biggest pharmaceuticals unit, as it searches for a new partner to help it make the business work. Philip Morris acquired that business, an inhaled-medication company called Vectura Group, in a $1.24 billion deal after winning a bidding war against private-equity firm Carlyle Group.

Philip Morris has had discussions with Deutsche Bank on a range of options to try to grow its wellness and healthcare division, according to people familiar with the matter. The tobacco company said it is looking to bring on a partner to help operate and grow Vectura’s drug manufacturing outsourcing business, possibly through a sale of a majority or minority stake in that business. Other options include a licensing or royalties deal or a commercial partnership, Philip Morris said.

Philip Morris didn’t anticipate how long it would take to develop pharmaceutical products—and particularly inhaled medications, according to people who have worked in Philip Morris’s health and wellness business. The tobacco giant was hit by “that realization of what a long road pharma can be,” one of those people said.

Philip Morris remains committed to developing its healthcare business and continues to see potential in several areas, including inhalable drugs, nicotine-replacement therapies and medicinal cannabis, the company’s finance chief, Emmanuel Babeau, said on a call with analysts in July.

“Our ambition to build and monetize our product pipeline are unchanged,” he said, adding that in the early days of product development, “certain headwinds are to be expected.”

In addition to the Vectura acquisition, Philip Morris in 2021 agreed to pay more than $700 million, including the assumption of debt, to buy Fertin Pharma, a Danish maker of gums and lozenges that can be used to deliver nicotine, cannabis, vitamins or cold medicine. Philip Morris also acquired OtiTopic, a U.S.-based developer of an inhalable aspirin to prevent heart attacks, for an undisclosed sum.

Philip Morris bet it could parlay its expertise in inhalation and aerosolization into a pharmaceutical business and projected that it would generate at least $1 billion dollars in annual net revenue from health and wellness products by 2025.

But two years on, the wager has been a losing one—at least so far—demonstrating the challenges big tobacco companies face trying to diversify their operations amid declining smoking rates.

In July, Philip Morris took a $680 million charge to reflect the slumping value of its healthcare and wellness business after parts of all three business units suffered setbacks.

A clinical trial for OtiTopic’s treatment was unsuccessful, and Philip Morris said it wouldn’t submit it this year to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The company also said its drug manufacturing outsourcing business, which came with the acquisitions of Vectura and Fertin, had developed slower than expected and incurred rising costs.

The healthcare division’s operating losses deepened in the second quarter, while its revenue was unchanged at $76 million.

There was widespread opposition to a cigarette maker branching out into treating respiratory diseases when a much bigger part of its business remains a major contributor to those health problems.

The Vectura deal proved particularly controversial for Philip Morris. In one letter to the U.K. government, dated Sept. 16, 2021, 35 signatories including several doctors argued the deal was “not in the public interest and that it creates perverse incentives for PMI to increase harm through smoking so they might then profit again through treating smoking related diseases.”

A Philip Morris spokesman said the letter’s assertions are “flat-out ridiculous. The company is very clear about its direction and future in products that can reduce risk.”

Concord Management invested billions of dollars on behalf of its sole client, the SEC says

New York-based investment adviser Concord Management and its owner face Securities and Exchange Commission charges for operating as an unregistered investment adviser to a single client, a wealthy Russian with connections to the Russian government.

Concord allegedly invested billions of dollars from at least 2012 through March 2022 on behalf of its sole wealthy Russian client without registering with the SEC, the agency said Tuesday. The agency didn’t name the client, but Concord Management has been linked to Roman Abramovich, a Russian oligarch with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Last year, U.S. hedge-fund firms that had investments from Abramovich were told to freeze his assets after the British government placed sanctions on him.

The charges are an unusual example of the SEC’s involvement in the expansive sanctions and export control regime that the U.S. and its allies imposed on Russia following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The SEC normally polices investment advisers to help protect the public, but Concord only managed the money of a single client.

SEC enforcement head Gurbir Grewal said that Concord Management’s failure to register as an adviser “skirted rules crucial to the commission’s ability to monitor the market for abuse.”

The SEC doesn’t have a direct role in enforcing sanctions violations, but prominently noted Concord’s work for a client who was targeted by sanctions last year in its announcement of the action.

A spokesperson for Concord Management and its owner Michael Matlin expressed disappointment with the SEC’s decision to charge, but added that “we are confident that a full and fair review of the applicable law and relevant facts will underscore that Concord Management and Michael Matlin complied with all regulatory and legal requirements.”

A spokesperson for Abramovich didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Between 2012 and at least 2022, the firm employed about 10 staffers, most of whom were serving as investment analysts, the SEC alleges, but most weren’t made aware of who the sole client was. Concord staff allegedly became aware over time of the identity of the client, but with limited visibility regarding the beneficiary of the funds being managed they typically described the firm to outside parties as a fund of funds or a family office for high-net-worth European individuals, according to the complaint.

The SEC said that while most of the investments were made in hedge funds, Concord allegedly invested in at least six private-equity funds, and provided supervision and management services, including due diligence and investment negotiations, investment execution and portfolio monitoring.

As of January 2022, Concord allegedly managed investments in 112 different private funds for the client with an estimated total value of $7.2 billion, according to the SEC.

The SEC also alleged that a month before the U.K. and European Union designated the client as a sanctioned individual in March 2022 and froze the client’s assets, Concord and Matlin aided the client in attempts to sell off his investment portfolio.

“We allege that Concord flouted the registration requirements of the federal securities laws for over a decade, earning more than $80 million for providing investment advice to its billionaire client during that time,” said Grewal.

Regulator makes unprecedented rebuke as many clients locked out of their accounts for weeks

Deutsche Bank is struggling with the fallout from the most ambitious and fraught IT integration in its history, including customers being locked out of their accounts.

The bank said in July that the migration of 12mn Postbank clients and 50bn individual data sets to a different IT system in July had unfolded without glitches but its German retail business has since been beset with problems.

Service centres have been overwhelmed by a jump in client inquiries and a number of critical internal workflows have stopped working. As a result, thousands of clients, many of them vulnerable people with few financial resources, have been locked out of their accounts, often for weeks.

Earlier this month, the disruption drew an unprecedented public rebuke from financial watchdog BaFin, which criticised Deutsche for “considerable disturbances in the handling of customer business” and reminded the country’s biggest bank that it was required to “comply with the relevant statutory deadlines for the protection of customers”.

BaFin’s reprimand led to a public apology and greater efforts to resolve the issues. It left the bank “shell-shocked”, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Fixing the issues has become a top priority for chief executive Christian Sewing, who ran the retail business between 2015 and 2018. After the BaFin criticism, he addressed staff in a town-hall meeting and receives twice-weekly progress briefings. A party to celebrate the completion of the project was called off even before BaFin’s intervention.

Deutsche has warned that it will take more than three months to fix the remaining problems and some senior managers are bracing for a formal BaFin sanction, possibly a fine. The watchdog said it might impose “supervisory measures if appropriate” and declined to comment further. 

The woes are the latest to stem from Deutsche Bank’s ill-fated takeover of domestic rival Postbank in 2010, a troubled retail lender that was once part of Germany’s state-owned postal service. Over the past decade, Deutsche failed to find a buyer for Postbank and botched an earlier IT integration effort.

In 2017, Deutsche decided it would go ahead with a full integration of Postbank, keeping only the brand and its branches. This project, dubbed “Unity”, was completed in July when the final batch of clients and contracts was moved on to Deutsche’s IT systems.

While the bank insists that no data was lost or corrupted in the process, some internal workflows have all but collapsed since then.

One example is the handling of “garnishments” — the requirement for banks in Germany to deduct funds from a customer’s account if a creditor has secured a legal warrant. Deutsche is struggling to comply with a rule that a minimum amount must be left in an account after money has been deducted for garnishments.

In the meantime, thousands of clients have been cut off from their accounts, in some cases for weeks. That has left some households dependent on just one bank account facing difficulties in paying for food, rent and other bills.

“Fixing the garnishments issue is our top priority,” said a person familiar with the matter, adding that Deutsche has recently rolled out a tool that can help.

According to people familiar with the matter, Deutsche has more than 3,000 accounts that are affected by garnishments on a daily basis. The number of such accounts has jumped by a third in recent months as the German economy has slowed.

Verbraucherzentrale NRW, a consumer protection group, called the bank’s handling of garnishments “catastrophic”. The consumer group said that the picture has not meaningfully improved since BaFin’s intervention in early September and that complaints from Postbank clients continue to mount.

In its reprimand of Deutsche, BaFin said that the number of complaints was so high that it could not respond to them individually.

People familiar with the “Unity” project told the Financial Times that Deutsche had failed to give Postbank staff enough training on its own systems. In some cases, Deutsche replaced automated Postbank workflows with its own ones that require more manual intervention — leading to backlogs.

One area that has been disrupted is the ability of Postbank customers to draw down on mortgages taken out for construction projects.

The delay has left clients unable to cover construction bills, leading in some cases to work being halted. In one instance, a family that lost their home in the Ahr valley flooding two years ago had to move into a hotel because their rebuilding project stalled, according to a person familiar with the case.

Customer services have also been overwhelmed by inquires, resulting in long waiting times. On Trustpilot, an internet site where users can rate companies, Postbank is the lowest-ranked German bank with a score of 1.2 out of 5.

Deutsche insists that the disruption facing customers will not endanger its goal of cutting annual costs in retail banking by €300mn by 2025. People familiar with the matter said the bank has not yet seen a significant rise in account closures.

Disgruntled Postbank staff have aired their frustration internally, flooding Deutsche’s intranet with scathing comments, according to people familiar with the details. One remarked that while the top management had the ambition to operate a Michelin-star restaurant, its retail clients had to put up with “the quality of a chip shop”.

Uber warns of threat to drivers in ‘hundreds’ of cities under EU gig work plan

Prices paid by consumers would also rise if Brussels enacts Platform Work Directive, says Uber’s European chief

A top Uber executive has warned that Brussels’ proposals to designate gig workers as de facto employees will force its ride-hailing service to shut down in hundreds of cities across the bloc and raise prices by as much as 40 per cent if enacted.

Anabel Díaz, head of Uber’s mobility division in Europe, urged lawmakers debating the EU’s Platform Work Directive this week to approve rules that preserve what she described as self-employed workers’ desire for flexibility.

“If Brussels forces Uber to reclassify drivers and couriers across the EU, we could expect to see a 50-70 per cent reduction in the number of work opportunities,” Díaz said. This would cause Uber to cease operating in “hundreds” of the 3,000 cities across the EU that it serves today, she added.

A new law giving drivers full working rights would also force Uber to raise the prices paid by consumers, Díaz added. “It could drive up prices by as much as 40 per cent for consumers in major cities — according to the European Commission’s own estimates — and with fewer drivers, riders could expect to experience significantly longer wait times.”

Her comments come in the week that the EU’s main institutions — the European Commission, the parliament and the Council of Ministers — have kick-started negotiations over the final text of the new law, which is aimed at improving economic conditions for gig workers in the bloc.

The law is likely to represent a significant change from the status quo in Europe, where the majority of platform workers are presumed to be self-employed, meaning they lack access to labour rights and benefits, such as paternity leave and a minimum salary.

Speaking to the Financial Times, Díaz warned of the consequences of the proposed EU legislation, which would give people who work for digital platforms — including drivers for ride-hailing services and food delivery drivers — the rights of full-time workers by default.

She said Uber is “sincerely committed to the European social model” but warned that similar rulings classifying drivers as employees in Spain and Geneva have led to “devastating” job losses.

“In order to manage the costs of employment, Uber would be forced to consolidate hours across fewer workers,” she said. “Drivers and couriers would need to apply for an open role, if one is available; show up for shifts at specific times and places; accept every trip they receive; and agree not to work on other apps.”

Díaz denied, however, that changes in the law would hit Uber’s profitability in Europe. “This isn’t about Uber’s profits,” she said. “We have already proven our ability to grow in places like Germany and Spain using a third-party employment model.”

In Germany, Uber contracts fleet management companies, who employ their drivers, in order to operate under local rules. Uber says its prices are higher in Germany as a result and its ride-hailing service is only available in major cities where it can expect a steady stream of demand.

In the UK, following a high-profile court ruling in 2021, Uber operates under a different model: its drivers are designated as “workers”, entitling them to benefits such as holiday pay and sick leave, while falling short of full employee status.

Despite the warnings from Uber and rivals in the sector such as Bolt about the proposed platform worker rules, EU officials have pushed back at what some see as the tech industry’s lobbying tactics.

At the launch of the EU’s proposal, Nicolas Schmit, EU commissioner for jobs and social rights, said: “This is about establishing clear criteria and looking at the facts. If the platform is in fact an employer, then the people working for it are entitled to the same rights and protection as workers in the ‘offline’ world.”

Failure to make and stick to plans means big projects cost far more than they should while hampering their benefits

When not writing this column, I am overseeing my own once-in-a-generation infrastructure project. As dust levels rise and bank balances fall, I am determined to relieve bedroom bottlenecks and improve cohabiting comfort while maintaining the fiscal discipline that my mortgage provider demands. 

As such, I am pioneering a world-first save on stairs programme (SoS). The value of my extra home capacity will not be compromised by near-term reliance on alternative connectivity arrangements, like ladders or perhaps a rope. Thanks to the UK government and its work on HS2 for inspiring this innovative solution.

The £100bn high-speed railway is becoming the poster child for the curse of British infrastructure. Depending on who you ask, it is too big, too expensive, or the wrong thing to be doing to start with. Even its supporters (me included) despair. After axing the eastern leg to Leeds, the government is considering scrapping the western leg to Manchester and ending the route outside central London at Old Oak Common. What benefits would remain? “Virtually none,” concludes one person involved in its lengthy inception. 

HS2’s wider benefits were never well understood or communicated. Speedier trains mean shorter journey times. But a high-speed line should also free up capacity elsewhere for more local services or freight, and act as a backbone to other improvements. Now, as political will fades, the congested capital may not have easy access to HS2 and the part of the country that should benefit most (the north) faces being cut out entirely. Yet the 2020 Oakervee review, the basis for HS2’s approval, said “the full network is needed to realise the benefits of the investment”.

Indecision is both a symptom and cause of Britain’s infrastructure plight: that everything costs so much to build. My colleague John Burn-Murdoch has looked at how sclerotic planning and nimbyist tendencies push up costs, with rail projects, road lanes or motorway bridges far more expensive than in most other countries. Another issue is the UK’s peculiar inability to write down a long-term plan for its infrastructure, debate it and stick to it.

Dithering is inherently costly in building projects. Bills tick up while everyone deliberates. Contracts must be recut. An industry rule of thumb holds that a fifth of a project’s capital cost goes to design and development. Each efficiency or change risks writing off past work and incurring more design costs, especially for something as complex as HS2. 

Political thumb-sucking, and disinclination to commit to steady spending over the medium to long term, are particular problems. The UK is a laggard in rail electrification, with costs ballooning to as much as three times over the initial budget because of a lack of consistency, argues Sam Dumitriu from campaign group Britain Remade. Germany has plodded along electrifying 200km of lines a year; the UK has bounced from nearly 600km in some years to zero in others. 

Bemoaning start-stop investment isn’t new: a 2010 Treasury report into “excessively high” infrastructure costs found that “the lack of visible and continuous pipeline of forward work flow” was one of the biggest issues to address.  

One knock-on effect is in skills, both in industry and government. Despite efforts such as the Major Projects Leadership Academy, the ability of the civil service to oversee big infrastructure development remains questionable, meaning greater reliance on consultancies. Companies have little incentive to invest in training and career development without a pipeline of work. Specialist skills, such as that taught at the welding academy set up for the nuclear construction at Hinkley Point C, dwindle when there isn’t more work to move on to. Knowhow isn’t transferred from one (preferably standardised) project to the next. 

A patchy pipeline contributes to a fragmented UK sector, again something flagged in the 2010 report. Companies don’t build bigger in-house capabilities or invest in advanced technology when their biggest client is erratic. The UK’s biggest construction group, Balfour Beatty, with about £9bn in revenues last year, is dwarfed by French or Spanish contractors such as Vinci with €62bn in revenues or ACS with €34bn. 

Large UK contractors employ only 14 per cent of the construction workforce, with 86 per cent in small and medium-sized enterprises, according to Noble Francis at the Construction Products Association. “The volatility of infrastructure demand means that the business models of contractors are not based on the most efficient ways of working but on dealing with volatility, which means subcontracting out the cost, activity and risk to smaller specialist contractors,” he says. 

If I ever embark on another personal infrastructure project, I will have learnt from current experience. It’s not obvious that the UK, over many decades, can say the same.