Where do we go from here?

There is no question that the global demolition industry must change if it is to find its place in the modern world. But what will that change look like?

I would love to say that I manifested some great insight; that I foresaw the future; and that I was blessed with second sight.   But, in truth, when I wrote the book Demolition 2051, I cheated.

Well, that’s not strictly true.   The fact is that I took the technology available on sites today and merely extrapolated out to a future 30+ years hence (when the book was published).   I featured drone surveys, entire equipment fleets managed and operated remotely, alternative fuels, and I even predicted that the industry would retain some nostalgia for the equipment of the past.

There were two things I failed to predict, however.   The first of those was the COVID-19 pandemic that ripped the concept of remote working from the pages of science fiction and thrust it into reality.   And while I am not currently aware of anyone operating demolition equipment from a dedicated remote station miles from the project itself, that remains, very much, a possibility.

The other thing that I failed to predict (and which, seemingly, no-one saw coming) was demolition falling so swiftly out of fashion and spectacularly out of favour.

For the longest time, demolition has been the pre-cursor to construction; an enabler; a vital link in the supply chain and the very beginning of the construction process.

Now, however, it appears that many believe that construction no longer needs that pre-cursor or enabler.   In fact, with an eye towards carbon reduction and sustainability, the entire construction landscape is being redrawn.    And, if some academics and environmentalists get their way, demolition could find itself side-lined or even outlawed in all but a few selected cases.

Setting aside the fact that the anti-demolition lobby has failed to recognise the vital environmental role played by the demolition sector in its pursuit of some “RetroFirst” nirvana, where would such a move actually leave the demolition sector?

Whether because they saw the writing on the wall or because they needed to diversify to keep their project pipelines sufficiently topped up, some of the UK’s biggest and best-known have already begun to shape themselves for a “DemolitionSecond” future.   Indeed, some of the UK’s biggest demolition companies have now diversified to such a degree that some are now multi-disciplined and “demolition companies” by name alone.

Is that the future?   If demolition contractors are to prevail in the future, will they do so by sticking to their demolition guns?   Will they have no choice but to deliver engineering, earthworks and remediation capabilities?   Will there be any such thing as a “pure demolition company” in years to come?

In Demolition 2051, the central character becomes teary-eyed at the sight, sound and smell of an old diesel-powered machine; a relic of the past.  

That, of course, was a work of fiction.   But there could come a time when grown men (and women) shed a quiet tear as they reminisce about an industry that once was but that – in its truest sense – is no longer.