At some point a year or two after the Didcot Disaster that killed four demolition men, I posited that there would come a time when we would all look back and see that Didcot had been a turning point; that the industry would have been changed irrevocably. I suggested that demolition’s history would be divided between pre-Didcot and post-Didcot.
I was naïve. I did not allow for the intransigence and apparent ineptitude of the authorities at Thames Valley Police and the Health and Safety Executive that have needlessly dragged out the Didcot investigation.
However, some seven years on from Didcot, the UK demolition sector faces another turning point; a defining moment that – if embraced – could set the sector on a new course. Rather than pre and post-Didcot, we might yet look back upon the history of the industry as pre and post CMA (Competition and Markets Authority).
In truth, the sector may have little choice but to change. In the wake of a four-year investigation that resulted in fines of almost £60 million, clients will surely place greater scrutiny upon any dealings with demolition companies, at least until the CMA dust settles.
Having discovered the demolition sector to be abundant with low-hanging fruit, it is likely that the CMA will continue to keep a weather eye upon the industry in the years ahead.
Those mired in the investigation will surely want to present a fresh face once fines have been settled.
And those demolition companies that were NOT part of any so-called cartel will be looking to distance themselves from those that were to avoid appearing guilty by association.
So maybe, the time is just ripe for change.
There is a new president in residence at the National Federation of Demolition Contractors. He will soon be joined by a new Federation CEO. Perhaps the phrase “out with the old and in with the new” might extend beyond just personnel changes (although the fact that the biggest elephant in the history of elephants’ presence at the recent NFDC AGM went unaddressed is somewhat surprising).
While the 10 companies named by the CMA will likely see it otherwise, the UK demolition industry has been gifted an opportunity to draw a line in the sand; to take a long hard look at itself in the mirror; to emerge cleansed and reborn; and to write a new chapter in its largely proud history staring with a bank sheet of paper.
The only thing now standing in the way is the industry’s appetite for change.
