Break Out to Help Out

Demolition and construction's unspoken contribution to local economies.

According to a study by the Confederation of British Industry and Oxford Economics, every £1 spent on construction creates £2.92 of value for the UK economy.

You might think that the opportunity to triple your investment would have been enough to convince Rishi Sunak to press ahead with the Birmingham to Manchester leg of HS2. Unfortunately, we currently have a trans(port)-phobic Prime Minister who is focused entirely upon stopping small boats and cock-blocking high speed trains.

The problem, I think, is that the UK economy is an intangible, amorphous thing. What is it? Where does it reside. Is it merely a huge spreadsheet? Is there a building where thousands of people crank the handles on old-fashioned calculators to log each pound and penny spent within these isles? Or is there a massive piggy-bank that can be broken only by a top secret hammer wielded by the incumbent Chancellor the Exchequer?

Faced with so many unanswered and unanswerable questions, I decided to focus not on the national economy but upon a local economy; I chose to follow the money by observing a low-level demolition and construction project taking place right on my doorstep. I will add at this juncture that what follows is not a study carried out under scientific conditions. I am neither a scientist nor an economist. Furthermore, my observations have been at once sporadic and erratic - I do have a day job, you know. However, I think you might find my observations interesting.