Jobs – Sweet positions at M&M…

July 23, 2018 Jobs

Dartford-based contractor hits recruitment trail.

Highly-experienced Kent contractor M&M Demolition has responded to an upswing in workload by hitting the recruitment trail.

The company is currently undertaking a number of new contracts and requires experienced 360 Demolition Plant Operatives & CCDO Labourers for immediate start in the London and Cambridge areas.

A competitive salary is available to the successful applicants.

If you are interested please call Tel: 01322 558422 or email your CV and details to admin@mmdemolition.co.uk.

Video – Nashville says goodbye to Sullivan Tower…

July 23, 2018 implosion, Video

Landmark building in home of country music crashes down.

Sullivan Tower, a well-known part of the Nashville skyline. was imploded on Saturday morning.

The building was the second of Lifeway’s former headquarters sold in 2015 to make way for a huge development called Nashville Yards.

Nashville Yards will include one of the largest hotel and meeting spaces in the city as well as a music venue, apartments, restaurants and a movie theatre.

Parts of the Sullivan Tower had already been demolished, but the main section at 9th Avenue North and Commerce Street was covered with cloths and taken down this weekend.

Cuddy Group offers some clarity…

July 23, 2018 Insolvency

Mike Cuddy blames ill health for collapse of Welsh contractor.

Cuddy Group has given a statement to the BBC explaining that 54-year-old Mike Cuddy had been suffering since October 2016 from neurosarcoidosis, which can lead to inflammation of tissues. He spent six months in hospital and a further 18 months at home recuperating.

The company said: “During his enforced absence from work at Cuddy Group, he had hoped that others would have stepped up to fill the gap he had left. Unfortunately this did not happen and the challenges facing the company increased month on month throughout 2017 and into 2018.”

With the company’s finances deteriorating, Mike Cuddy returned to work in April six months earlier than planned and against medical advice but despite injecting personal funds into the business he “was left no alternative but to put the company into administration”.

DemolitionNews understands that the administrator is Grant Thornton but has yet to receive confirmation.

DemolitionNews broke the news of the collapse of Cuddy Group on 11 July, several days before the story was picked up by media outlets. We were alerted by several reports from disgruntled and unpaid workers, and by the fact that Cuddy Group had failed to settle its bill with DemolitionNews’ publishing partner Chambers Media.

JBV heads for Jersey shore…

July 23, 2018 General

Ready to take on Channel Island cable car challenge.

Following a lengthy and hotly-contested tender process that attracted the interest of some of the biggest demolition names from the British mainland, a company has finally been selected to demolish the former cable car station at Fort Regent on the island of Jersey. The Channel Islands Procurement Portal has awarded the contract to demolition and plant hire company, D B Cummins Ltd which will be calling upon the expertise and experience of JBV Demolition.

That expertise will be required. In addition to being located on a cliff top, DemolitionNews understands that all in and outgoing plant and equipment will be required to pass through a tunnel that is just two metres wide and two metres high.

The awarding of the contract was delayed by the recent States of Jersey Elections which deferred some governmental business on the island. “I am glad that one of my first Ministerial Decisions will contribute towards the removal of this increasingly dangerous structure. The awarding of the contract to a local company, after several years of preparatory work, is a good example of the pooling of resources within the new Growth Housing and Environment department,” says Infrastructure Minister, Deputy Kevin Lewis. “This is the start of the work that I hope will secure a future for Fort Regent.”

The full cost of the work, including other expenses as well as the actual demolition, is estimated at £866,000.
Fort Regent was originally built as a military fortress and was completed in 1814. The States of Jersey acquired the Fort from the British Government on the 1st March 1958.

In 1967 the ‘Fort Regent Development Committee’ took the first steps in converting Fort Regent into a recreation centre for both islanders and visitors. The cable cars were opened on 1st June 1970 to provide a direct route to the Fort from Snow Hill. The last cable car ran in 1988.

Since its closure, the disused Cable Car Station has stood empty and is becoming dilapidated. There have also been reported break-ins, vandalism and unauthorised access.

“I am pleased to have finally resolved the issue of the cable car station. This decision is the culmination of several years of hard work and will remove a building that is no longer needed and that has become unsafe,” says Assistant Minister for Economic Development, Tourism Sport and Culture, Senator Steve Pallett. “I hope we can now move forward to consider the future of the wider site.”

British Demolition Awards…

July 23, 2018 General

The inaugural British Demolition Awards has taken place. And it was a roaring success.

It was 14 months in the making. But on Friday 20 July, all our plans and aspirations aligned as the first-ever British Demolition Awards took place at the world-famous Belfry Hotel and Resort in Sutton Coldfield.

Almost 300 of the industry’s biggest names and finest minds gathered for a glittering and wholly-independent inaugural event that recognised many companies and disciplines overlooked by other so-called industry awards.

If you couldn’t make it, you can see what you missed in the exclusive video (below). And if you were there, see if you can spot yourself amongst the great and the good featured in this film.

Here is the list of all the winners:

• Environmental Innovation of the Year – Red Knight 6
• Tender Submission of the Year – Metro Deconstruction
• Training Innovation of the Year – AR Demolition
• Risk Assessment/Method Statement of the Year – Downwell Demolition
• Safety Innovation of the Year – Pirtek
• Trainee/Apprentice of the Year – Patrick Crighley, Rye Demolition
• Demolition Innovation of the Year – Arden Equipment
• Demolition Contract of the Year – R Collard Ltd, GSK facility in Greenford
• Demolition Contractor of the Year – Erith Contractors

We will be producing a full report on the first-ever British Demolition Awards in the next edition of the Demolition magazine. But please also take a moment to check out our exclusive video from the event AND an audio reflection on what proved to be a bigger and better event than any of us dared hope.

Cuddy crisis deepens…

July 19, 2018 Insolvency

Work stopped on major site as administration bites.

It is just over a week since DemolitionNews broke the story that long-established Welsh contractor Cuddy Group had appointed an as-yet-unnamed administrator. Sadly, it appears that the crisis at the company is deepening.

Industry news portal Construction News is reporting that work has been halted on at least one major project. Furthermore, calls by Construction News, Demolition News and – no doubt – a large number of concerned creditors continue to go unanswered across Cuddy Group offices.

According to Construction News, the ongoing administration has resulted in work being halted on the demolition of the former Pontrilas factory in Llanelli. Carmarthenshire Council confirmed that the project was now “on stop”, and that it was in discussions with Cuddy operatives.

“Should Cuddy not be in a position to complete the remaining site works, we will engage with alternative contractors to complete what is required,” says the council’s executive board member for resources, David Jenkins. “No decision will be made until we are fully informed of the Cuddy situation.”

At the time of writing, Cuddy Group continues to appear as “compliant” on the website of the National Federation of Demolition Contractors.

Jobs – AOC Demolition seeking key staff…

July 19, 2018 General

New job opportunities with respected North West contractor.

Whitefield, Manchester-based demolition contractor AOC demolition has hit the recruitment trail and is seeking personnel across a broad spectrum of disciplines for work primarily in Yorkshire and the North West of England.

The company is seeking:

  • Demolition Machine Operators
  • CCDO Labourers
  • CCDO Gold Card Supervisors

All applicants must have demolition experience

Please contact AOC Demolition by email: info@anthonyoconnor.co.uk or telephone: 0161 766 4749

Another accident, another massive fine…

July 18, 2018 Accident, Prosecution

Two companies fined half a million pounds after worker left paralysed

Fines of more than half a million pounds have been handed down to two companies involved in an accident in which a worker was left permanently paralysed, losing the use of his legs.

Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard how, on 5 November 2015, Mr Marcel Păduraru, a Romanian construction worker, fell onto and then through a fragile plastic skylight into a basement over three metres below. He suffered a severed spine injury and will not regain the use of his legs. He was 30 years old at the time of the incident.

Grangewood Builders Limited had been appointed as the principal contractor to carry out a £5,000,000 refurbishment at a large house near Buckingham Palace on Chapel Road, London. Grangewood had engaged Trenchco Limited of to carry out specialised demolition work at the site.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that, despite work being carried out directly by the site skylight, neither company checked if it was fragile or took action to stop people falling through it.

Neither company ensured the work was adequately planned and, as a result, safe systems of work were not identified and implemented. Workers had been put at risk from construction activities at the site ranging from demolishing a roof without edge protection to manually handling wood beams weighing an estimated 200kg.

The investigation also found that the Trenchco supervisor directly controlling the work had no formal training relating to supervision and some of the workers, including the Romanian victim, had to rely on unofficial interpreters to pass on instructions and tell them what the health and safety records contained.

Grangewood Builders Limited of Lionel Road, Canvey Island, Essex pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 13(1) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 and was fined £270,000 and ordered to pay £7,025.98 in costs.

Trenchco Limited of Clewer Crescent, Harrow Weald, Middlesex pleaded guilty to breaching Regulation 15(2) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 and was fined £270,000 and ordered to pay £7,025.98 in costs.

“The risks relating to fragile skylights being fallen through and the simple solutions to avoid this are well known. The failings at the site were not limited to the unprotected plastic skylight. Other activities such as the demolishing of a roof without edge protection could also have resulted in a serious incident,” says HSE inspector Andrew Verrall-Withers. “While these companies may have wanted health and safety compliance, their failure to pay enough attention to their actual performance at the site resulted in a tragedy occurring. No one should go to work and return unable to walk again”

Video – The Chuck Norris of smartphones…

July 18, 2018 Video

Tired of destroying valuable smartphones on site? We may have the answer:

Contained within a military-grade case, the T400s smartphone is water and dustproof.; drop and shock resistant at heights of up to 1.5 metres, and might just be the first truly demolition-proof smartphone.

DemolitionNews took it for a test drive during the Hillhead 2018 exhibition, and returned suitably impressed.

If you like what you see, you can buy one from TuffPhones.co.uk and take advantage of a 10% discount by using discount code: DemolitionNews10.

Comment – Temporary fix is not the answer…

July 18, 2018 Comment

David Keane might steady the NFDC ship; but can he fix the holes below the waterline?

In the period from its formation in 1941 to its 70th anniversary in 2001, the National Federation of Demolition Contractors had 31 presidents. Although the figures are queered slightly by the fact that Sidney Hunt Snr returned for a second stint in the role, that equates to roughly a president every two years.

Since the beginning 2017, the Federation has had two presidents, a pair of caretaker presidents, and now an acting president who will attempt to steady the ship until the scheduled annual general meeting in March 2019.

During that time, the Federation has seen its membership dwindle to an all-time low, a process that could gain pace with recent company acquisitions and closures. And its influence has waned amidst prolonged and protracted in-fighting and political jostling.

That jostling ousted one passionate but divisive president – Paul Brown – earlier this year. And now in a case of “hoist by their own petard” writ large, it now seems to have robbed an eminently qualified and committed man – Martin O’Donnell – of the chance to take up a role he has earned over the past decade.

The return of David Keane as acting president is not entirely surprising. Keane’s name – together with that of another former president David Clarke – was bandied about as a potential temporary stand-in when Paul Brown was unceremoniously handed a sword upon which to fall earlier this year. And, in many ways, he is the ideal candidate.

Keane is widely respected and he is seen as one of the Federation’s last true diplomats and statesmen. He will need all those powers and a good deal more if he is to steady a ship tossed by waves of self-inflicted disorder and rocked by adversity.

But for all his qualities, the odds are stacked against Keane being able to turn around the Federation’s fortunes in the nine or so months he is expected to hold the role. Because while the focus has been on the revolving door to the president’s office, the real malaise runs considerably deeper and will be significantly more difficult to fix.

In recent years, the Federation – together with its training arm the NDTG – has pursued profit over influence. It has used weasel-worded advertising to suggest that NFDC members are – universally – the industry elite, even though evidence proves that they are every bit as prone to accidents and every bit as predisposed to financial troubles as the rest of the industry. It has attempted to shore up a dwindling corporate membership with more associate members and an erosion of the rules that had formerly seen drilling and sawing companies and plant hirers as possible competitors rather than fellow members. And it has pursued, largely in vain, an attempt to encourage members of Build UK – an association of the UK’s largest and most influential main contractors – to work only with Federation members.

Most unforgiveable of all, the National Federation of Demolition Contractors has failed to provide value to its members, the very people it was created to help and whose needs are the very reason for the Federation’s very existence.

I sincerely hope that Martin O’Donnell is granted the opportunity to become president. He has earned the right. I sincerely hope that David Keane’s acting presidency is successful. Accepting such a potentially thankless task is the mark of a true Federation man.

But the president is not the problem. The members are not the problem. The industry, which is enjoying a period of almost unprecedented stability, is not the problem either.

And until the wider membership recognises that, the problems that have seen the Federation have a decades’ worth of presidents in less than two years will persist.