Fuel thefts are on the rise on demolition and construction sites. And the cost of those thefts does not end with the loss of the stolen fuel. — If criminal gangs really are as organised as investigating authorities would have us believe, then they must have recruited some of the best and most eminently employable business development heads in the country. There is, it appears, no money-spinning opportunity that can escape their steely gaze.

For an outsider looking in, just how appealing is the public face of the demolition industry? And is that a contributory factor in the sector’s inability to attract young people into the fold? Imagine you have no connection to the demolition and construction business. And imagine that your son or…

It now appears that the demolition industry will not know the fate of those embroiled in a three-year investigation into alleged collusion until this summer at the earliest. But the effects are already being felt. The Sword of Damocles that has hovered over the demolition industry’s exposed neck for the…

The collapse of Swingate House in Stevenage highlights the need for a massive and urgent rethink of demolition methodologies and the way in which clients and principal contractors dictate and steer those processes. — I have been a vocal advocate for the sharing the details of near-misses, incidents and accidents. I fully endorse the initiative started by incumbent Institute of Demolition Engineers’ president Richard Dolman to share those details as widely as we currently share best practice. …

As potentially recessionary clouds gather over the UK construction and demolition sectors, a message from 2014 offers solace and some valuable lessons from one of the longest and deepest downturns in recent history. — “Is the UK construction sector heading for a recession?” The simple answer to this question is, of course, yes. It always is. Any time the sector enjoys a peak, it pays to scan the horizon for the trough that will inevitably follow.

How the countless and fiercely independent construction trade sectors and organisations were undone by a single, common enemy. — For decades, the demolition and construction industry has carved itself into little fiefdoms; exclusive members clubs that were open to a few but closed to the many. The scaffolders are over there in their scaffolding silo; the piling contractors are over there in theirs; the groundworkers in theirs and —…

Just as Ukraine is facing the very real prospect of an uncertain future under red rule, the UK demolition and construction industries are facing an equally uncertain future as its own era of red rule comes to an end. — So the Russian bear has awoken with a sore head from its hibernation and is once again threatening those around it. For those of us that lived through the 1980s — a period in which every movie villain spoke with a thick Russian accent — this surely comes as no…

The protracted and bloated investigation into the 2016 Didcot A power station disaster has cheated the families of the four victims of explanation and closure. It has cheated the demolition industry of potentially life-saving information. And it has now lowered the bar of expectation on all future fatality investigations. — On Wednesday last week, I was invited onto a BBC South news show that marked the sixth anniversary of the Didcot Disaster. The show was recorded remotely: a TV researcher in Oxfordshire; and me at home in Surrey.

Wednesday 23 February 2022 will mark the sixth anniversary of the UK demolition industry’s darkest day. But 72 months on, we are no closer to understanding the cause of the collapse of the Didcot A Power Station boiler house collapse that claimed the life of four demolition workers. — Maybe I should have paced myself. Maybe I should have squirrelled away some meaningful words, a nifty yet profound turn of phrase. And maybe, if I had thought we might still be talking about the lack of resolution to the investigation into the Didcot Disaster that claimed the lives of…