Conspiracy? More than a theory

Imagine you wanted to manipulate the demolition and construction sector to benefit the few to the detriment of the many. How would you go about it; and is there already a playbook in place?

Let me be clear. I am not one for conspiracy theories. Don’t get me wrong—I find them entertaining, and I’m often amused when someone shares such a theory, convinced that it’s authentic when anyone with half a brain can clearly see that it isn’t.

But I do not believe there are little green men on ice at the Roswell facility in New Mexico. I don’t believe there is a prehistoric dinosaur lurking in the depths of Loch Ness; nor is there a giant half-man, half-ape roaming the American wilderness. Furthermore, I do not believe that there is a secret cabal of lizard people controlling the global economy.

With all that being said, let’s imagine - just for fun - that we in demolition and construction were to get together and, amongst ourselves, figure out how to control the industry; to skew it in a direction favourable to us; to stack the odds in favour of the few rather than the many. How would you go about that?

Well, if it were me, I’d start by gathering some like-minded individuals; individuals who shared my desire for power and wealth.

There might be resistance at first. Accusations of collusion and monopolisation. But you could spin it as the industry “unifying for the greater good”.

Having assembled that group, what would I do next?

Well, perhaps I’d start to compile a set of rules and regulations; rules and regulations that would be onerous for smaller companies. Perhaps compliance with those regulations would be difficult, or expensive, or both. And when those smaller companies couldn’t or wouldn’t comply, perhaps I’d start buying up the better ones. And maybe I’d allow the lesser ones to wither and die.

Again, this might require some careful marketing. But who is going to complain when the stated aim of your new organisation is to raise standards?

Now, some smaller and specialist contractors might have a strong, local, and loyal customer base; they might survive the initial regulation purge. So how do you skew the market just a little further; make their lives just a little more uncomfortable?

Well, what if you and your cohort got together to create some new training standards? Maybe you’d back those standards with a competence card scheme—a scheme in which the cards required regular and expensive replacement. And maybe, every once in a while, you’d shift the goalposts—make the training standards just a little less attainable, a little more expensive to accomplish and maintain.

But hey, you’re providing training. Who could possibly object to that?

As a smart, power-hungry businessman, I’d be aware that staff can be deeply problematic. They want holidays, sick pay, maternity and paternity leave. Some even require health care. And if those staff are a problem when times are good, they’re an even bigger problem when workloads take a dive. Nobody needs the hassle or cost of redundancy payments, do they?

So how about offloading all those staff? Banish them into self-employment so they can be picked up and put down at will. No sick pay, no health cover, and no pesky redundancy payments when the market goes tits up. Of course, that would take away their job security and could, quite possibly, have a negative impact on their mental health. But getting them off the books makes the bottom line look better, protects you from market fluctuations, and negates any dealings with bothersome unions.

On the face of it, this might like see to be a difficult sell to begin with, particularly to the employed staff that are being pushed out the door. But you remind them of all the freedom they will enjoy once they are no longer trapped in the 9-5 rat race, and just gloss over the fact that their position is now, at best, tenuous.

Now, what if you then worked with your clients and convinced them that only a certain type of contractor was capable of achieving the standards they require? You might suggest they instigate some form of pre-qualification; a costly and time-consuming system in which contractors must commit potentially hundreds of man-hours merely to be admitted onto a tender list or framework. Maybe you’d recommend environmental, safety, and employment standards that only the industry elite could conceivably provide. And maybe you’d also suggest that your clients insist upon working only with contractors with massive financial clout, with industry accreditations held by only a handful of firms—and with insurance up the wazoo.

What client would not want to be associated with the cream of the industry?

And then imagine how you and your secret cohort might react if, say, the Government were to propose legislative changes that might prove expensive. Maybe they’re planning to hike the price of waste disposal. Or maybe they’re threatening to remove the subsidy on red diesel.

Now, you and your industry elite pride yourselves on having the ear of Government, so you could potentially lean on a few ministers and get them to think again. Together with your co-conspirators, you also have enormous financial clout. All together, you account for a nice chunk of the nation’s GDP. If the Government refuses to play ball, you might threaten them; bend them to your will.

Alternatively, you could also just sit on your hands. You could stand idly by while the cost of doing business takes a sharp upward turn. Yes, that price hike might sting you for a bit, but it’ll also remove a few more of your competitors; tidy up the marketplace just a little bit more.

And then, when you’ve done all this - when you’ve manipulated, bent and twisted the market and shaped it to your will - you’ll sit atop an industry where only the massive survive; where all the biggest construction, civil engineering, and infrastructure projects are shared amongst a relatively small handful of firms. And you’ll be doing all this in the second most expensive construction sector in the entire world.

But, as I said at the outset, I don’t believe in conspiracy theories. None of this could happen in the real world, could it?