The reckoning that wasn't

Offered the opportunity to start over anew, the UK demolition industry squandered the chance. Not once, but twice.

We squandered a once in a lifetime opportunity. We. Us. The British public, the world, society. We had a chance, and we threw it away.

The COVID-19 pandemic and more specifically, the ensuing lockdowns, should have served as a societal reset.

Kept apart from family and friends, that period reminded us all of the importance of community, and of social interaction. When the chips were down, many of us rallied to support vulnerable neighbours. We collectively gave thanks to the medical profession; the doctors and nurses risking their lives to save ours. That surreal time also afforded us a glimpse behind the political curtain. Politicians were no more prepared for a global pandemic than we were; they were making it up as they went along; and they had no intention of following the rules that they implemented.

Through it all, we were united. We were all in the same boat - leaky and rudderless - together. That was our opportunity. We could have clung on to that feeling of community and society; we could have maintained the Dunkirk Spirit that got us all through; and we could’ve demanded better, fairer and more transparent government.

But we didn’t. With the lockdown over, we quickly went back to “every man for himself”. Rather than bringing us together, it seems that we are now more divided than ever. People, society. We are all even more self-absorbed, self-centred, selfish and loathsome that we were before.

In place of a great reset, we now have the same as before. Only worse.

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Sadly, the UK demolition industry has also squandered an opportunity to start over. In fact, it has done so not once, but twice.

Shortly after the boiler house collapse at the Didcot A Power Station that claimed the lives of four demolition workers, I suggested that - regardless of the cause - the incident should be a defining moment; a turning point. I posited that industry historians of the future would speak of the pre-Didcot and the post-Didcot eras; an industry equivalent of the Dark Ages and the Age of Enlightenment.

The industry, I hoped, would be safer. Accident investigations - when necessary - would be timely and transparent. Moreover, the families of those killed in the line of duty would be the primary concern of all involved.

We are more than nine years post-Didcot, yet we are still going about our business in a pre-Didcot manner. Accidents still happen, investigating authorities can still take their own sweet time, and bereaved families are still treated with a disrespect that is unbecoming of an industry with claims of professionalism.

That reckoning never happened. And that alone should have ensured that the industry was ready to seize the opportunity to start over, should such an opportunity ever come along again. And yet, when that opportunity did come knocking, the industry didn’t answer.

In March 2022, the Competition and Markets Authority revealed to the world that which the industry already knew: corruption within the demolition business was rife. Through a mix of bid-rigging and collusion, 10 companies had manipulated and skewed the market in their favour.

Several company directors were banned, and fines of more than £60 million were handed down.

All ten guilty companies were members of the National Federation of Demolition Contractors. In truth, this could and perhaps should have been an extinction event for the NFDC. The fact that it wasn’t merely underlines the sector’s unerring ability to remain unchanged; to cling onto things as they were, regardless of what’s happening in the present.

When the dust settled, the industry - once again - had a chance to take a long hard look in the mirror; to give its head a wobble; to draw a line in the sand that de-marked how things used to be done, and how they would be done going forward.

It did none of those things. Instead, there was a collective sigh of ”there but for the grace of God” relief, and then it was back to business as usual.

We could have started anew. We could have stripped away the old and rebuilt the industry from the ground up; a new-look demolition industry fit for the 21st Century. Instead, we clung even more tightly to the status quo.

Seriously. Does anyone believe the UK demolition industry is safer post-Didcot than it was before? Does anyone think the investigating authorities are more efficient; or that they show greater compassion to bereaved families? Does anyone think that the age of the brown envelope is over; that all demolition projects are now won purely on merit; that supposedly rival demolition companies aren’t enjoying cosy meetings amongst themselves?

Post-Didcot and post-CMA, the UK demolition industry was handed a clean sheet of paper on which to write a new chapter. On both occasions, it clung to the same dangerous and dirty piece of paper it has been using for decades.

The reform never came. The lessons went unlearned. The big red reset button went unpressed. The reckoning never happened. Twice.