2-879-218 - Historic England Archive/Heritage Images

London Metropole Hotel, Edgware Road, City of Westminster, London, November - December 1989. Laing's winning entry to the Financial Times Christmas Crane Competition at the Metropole Hotel, London. The team were given short notice that the crane at the Metropole site had been selected as Laing's entry for the competition, only finding out on 21st November. EPL, Laing Plc's plant operation, came up with a design and it was fabricated by Jack Casey's group in St. Neots. Bill MacDermott, EPL's Electrical Design Manager, designed the electrical circuitry at his dining room table in an afternoon. The reindeers' legs and Father Christmas' arm was made to appear to move and the whole display took more than 2,400 bulbs. Laing won the competition again the following year with a crane at the Vauxhall Cross site. A date of 4th November is given on the negative register but the story in the Jan 1990 issue of Team Spirit, Laing's company newsletter, suggests this is too early.