Demolition News Radio

An investigation into bid-rigging, price-fixing and collusion within the UK demolition industry has finally delivered its findings after more than three years. Three company directors have been disqualified and ten companies have received fines that total almost £60 billion.

But while this marks the closing of the Competition and Markets Authority investigation, at least for now, the story may be far from over.

Developers in the City of London will henceforth be asked to consider alternatives to demolition at the earliest stage of the planning process.    

Meanwhile, a Labour peer has tabled an amendment to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill currently before Parliament that could make it mandatory for ALL demolitions to require planning permission.  

You can read more below:

City of London:  https://tinyurl.com/ymz87ebp

Bill amendment:  https://tinyurl.com/44frads2

I recently produced a film on the impending removal of Grandfather Rights under the CSCS Card Scheme.  

That video prompted groundworker Ollie Gunns to produce his own film for his growing social media audience.  

Given that we both had such strong feelings on the subject, I reached out to Ollie with a view to recording a podcast together.  

I have picked the highlights of that conversation in the episode that is about to begin.  

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the key to machine learning and to machine autonomy.   But just how good is it?  

In this latest episode of Tech 4 Sites, we put it to the test and find it to be staggeringly good.  

So make sure you stick around for the big reveal at the six minute mark.

A wave of projects being halted or cancelled due to embodied carbon concerns is sweeping through the UK construction industry and threatens to wash away at least part of the demolition industry workload.  

And, all the while, the demolition sector remains silent.

Depending on your viewpoint, robots are the keys to man’s freedom from labour or a mass unemployment event just waiting to happen; the inevitable next step in human development or the first step towards a dystopian future.  

Regardless of your viewpoint, there can be little doubt that the robots are coming.   And one of the key areas they’re targeting is demolition and construction.  

The New Year is just a few weeks old and it already looks set to be a challenging 12 months filled with financial woes and workload lows.  But there will be highlights too.   

In this special one-off LIVE show, Mystic Mark Anthony breaks out his crystal ball in an attempt to see the future for the demolition and construction sector.

The demolition and construction industry is facing its biggest change since mechanisation - The switch from traditional diesel fuel to a new and largely unproven future fuel.  Quite what that fuel might be is still open to discussion.   

But, having experimented with electric and hydrogen fuel cell technology, construction equipment giant JCB looks set to pioneer and pursue a hydrogen combustion path.

Please consider subscribing to this podcast.

Are you concerned about the threat from the environmental lobby over embodied carbon?   You should be.

In this new series, we will be looking at an issue that has been described as the greatest single threat to the demolition industry status quo.

Please consider subscribing to this podcast.

The demolition and construction industry is developing at a faster pace than ever before.   New equipment, new technology and new forms of fuel are revolutionising the sector and changing the very landscape of the industry.  

We have created an entirely new audio and video podcast series to chart that progress, and to help keep you abreast of these rapid and revolutionary changes.   

This is Tech 4 Sites.

The mental health crisis that has gripped the UK demolition and construction industry has divided the sector into two distinct camps.

There are those that speak of their awareness; who post well-meaning social media posts on World Mental Health Day; and who appoint mental health first aiders to place a big tick on the mental health checksheet.

And then there are those that take actual, tangible action.   Steve Kerslake is of the latter category.

A groundworker by trade and a survivor of PTSD, Kerslake has taken up the fight against the construction industry’s mental health and suicide epidemic.   And his weapon of choice is sport.

In the rail sector, an accident has been thoroughly investigated, findings published and recommendations announced in under a year.  

In the demolition industry, we have been waiting almost seven years to learn the cause of an accident that claimed the lives of four men.  

Why is there such a disparity?

In the third and final instalment of "The Boudoir Trilogy", we look back at why I was late for dinner at Gleneagles, why elderly Americans don't do black pudding, and how canny Scots hang on to their cash.

You might think the question "has the National Federation of Demolition Contractors quit Build UK" would require a simple yes or no answer.  Apparently not.

In the second episode of "The Boudoir Trilogy", I recount how a trip to Cornwall almost ended with me owning a second boxer dog and being charged with assault; and how all that led to me owning my first mobile (car) phone.

This is the story of how - with a sprinkling of good fortune and thanks to a teacher that could see what I could not - I became a journalist.

This is the latest instalment from Beyond the reporter's notebook.   And this is the first instalment in what I am calling "The Boudoir Trilogy".

Demolition and construction competence cards are on sale illegally across a variety of social media platforms.   And they're not even hiding in plain sight - They are blatantly advertising a fraudulent short-cut to card holder status.

With the rise in the cost of living, it is likely that more and more industry operators and operatives will be driven towards the scammers in pursuit of the competence cards they require in order to work.

So what are the card providers doing about it?

In this exclusive interview, DemolitionNews caught up with J2R Demolition managing director Jonathan Williams to trace the origins of his company and to analyse the specific challenges facing a regional demolition contractor in the modern age.

Books about heavy equipment are – unfortunately - few and far between.  And good books about heavy equipment are about as common as hen’s teeth.  

But a new book is about to be added to the industry pantheon.  

It is written by David Wylie, an author who already has two previous equipment-related books under his belt.  The new book – Earthmovers in Europe and Australia – comprises 72,000 words and almost 500 photos.  And it covers iconic machines including the Komatsu PC700-11; the Liebherr R 9800 excavator; the Terex TR100 rigid hauler; and the Demag H485.  

With the limited-edition book now on sale, Demolition News Radio caught up with author David Wylie to find out more.  

Gaz Evans is a former demolition equipment operator who clearly has a passion for machines and attachments.  

So much so that he now works full-time producing some of the most detailed and desirable plant and attachments in the world.

On the evening of 29 September 1913, a 55-year old man boarded the SS Dresden steamship in Antwerp, Belgium bound for London.

He took dinner on board the ship and then retired to his cabin at about 10 pm, leaving word to be called the next morning at 6:15 am.

But in the morning his cabin was empty.   The man was never seen alive again.

That man was Rudolf Diesel, inventor of the engine that still bears his name to this day.

How the greed, stupidity and short-sightedness of the demolition and construction industry's training regime is potentially costing the sector experienced workers.

"...If the demolition and construction industry creates a climate of fear in which experienced workers are afraid to speak out lest it impact upon their career prospects, then we will have surrounded ourselves with “yes men” that will gloss over genuine safety concerns in return for ongoing employment, access to the next rung on the career ladder, and a future pay rise..."

In the aftermath of the Competition and Markets Authority probe into bid rigging, could the demolition industry's top companies find it harder to retain and attract top talent?    

Could forward-thinking and ambitious demolition workers start to choose their next employer - at least in part - according to the companies best avoided?  

And could that lead to a "Manchester United effect" within the sector?

In the field of demolition, the term "compliant" can apparently cover (or cover up) a multitude of sins.

The National Federation of Demolition Contractors' failure to act over the bid rigging scandal that has named 10 of its members could (and, perhaps, should) make it harder for the NFDC to attract sponsorship from industry suppliers that are protective of their brand and reputation.

And that could, in turn, limit the Federation's ability to do some (or all) the things that used to make it great.

It has been a week that eight (or possibly ten) members of the National Federation of Demolition Contractors will want to forget: a week in which the three-year investigation into bid-rigging and price-fixing in the UK demolition industry came home to roost and found those companies wanting; a week in which the "voice of the demolition industry" feel silent as the magnitude of the collusion became clear.

DemolitionNews and The Break Fast Show has been covering this (pretty much alone) throughout.

And in this very special episode of The CMA Files, we look back at a week of almost endless revelations; revelations that have brought the demolition industry and the NFDC into disrepute.

The saying says:  "Cometh the hour, cometh the man".  But what if the hour cometh and the wrong man cometh with it?

It is highly likely that the worst of the CMA shit-storm will land in the lap not of the incumbent NFDC President William Crooks but in the lap of his successor, Gary Bishop.

When Crooks’ tenure comes to an end, what the NFDC will need is a President with the ability to unite members and engage with them.