NFDC CEO “very worried” about potential impact of collusion investigation.
National Federation of Demolition Contractors CEO Howard Button has admitted that he is “very worried” about the possible impact of the ongoing Competition & Markets Authority investigation into possible collusion within the UK demolition industry.
Speaking exclusively to DemolitionNews, Button says the investigation could “jeopardise the whole Federation and the whole industry,” he confides. “I am dreading it.”
Asked if a successful prosecution of an NFDC member over financial impropriety could see a company kicked out of the Federation, Button says that this remains a possibility. “In our history, we have banned only one or two companies that I can remember, but never for anything like this,” he continues. “This is not even in our current rules and articles of association. It is a learning curve for us.”
Amidst rumours that the companies of some NFDC officers are among those under the CMA microscope, Button says that could have “serious implications”. “We may have to take it to a members’ vote,” he says. “This is such unprecedented ground that I genuinely don’t know.”
With the Competition & Markets Authority refusing to clarify just who is currently under investigation, Button and the NFDC officers are having to work on the basis of hypothetical outcomes.
But Button is under no illusions of the potential damage that a successful prosecution of as many as six NFDC members might have. “It would look very bad,” he admits. “I don’t think it would break us but it would put us on very dodgy ground.”
