Demolition News Radio

Six years ago, Katie Kelleher was an apprentice crane operator who was questioning the life choices that brought her to the male-dominated world of construction. Today, she is a vocal advocate for women in construction and construction apprenticeships.   She has been named as one of the "top voices" on the LinkedIn social media platform, has built up a substantial social media following,...

Straight-talking demolition veteran Roy Gibbons lived and worked through the golden age of the UK demolition industry. He rubbed shoulders with some of the biggest names in the sector, crossed paths with some of its biggest personalities, and considered many of them friends. Now, as he hangs up his hard hat, Roy looks back over half a century at the cutting edge of the UK demolition business and t...

The UK construction industry has hit the ground running at the beginning of the New Year.  And while it failed to replicate the anomalous highs of December 2020, the latest set of monthly figures from BCLive.co.uk speak to a sector enjoying a period of prolonged positivity.  Builders’ Conference CEO Neil Edwards looks over some pleasing figures.

C&D Consultancy's Mike Kehoe has crowned a lifetime in the demolition industry by earning a Masters Degree in Demolition Management.   In this exclusive interview, we look back at how Kehoe came to be in the demolition industry, the impact of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the gender imbalance within the demolition sector, and the future of the global demolition industry.

A few days ago, DemolitionNews brought you details of the report into an incident in which an excavator fell partially into an unseen underground void. Well that report has already become our most-viewed story of the past 18 months or so, even though it was published on a Saturday when things are usually quiet. So we decided to follow up with AR Demolition’s Richard Dolman to find out why he chose...

"...There's 250 power plants left here in the US.   There's 300 in Canada.   There's 300+ in Europe.   If we're going just by sheer averages on the 1,500 or so power plants that are going to be decommissioned and taken down, you're looking at another 150 [demolition worker] deaths..."  Following a spate of fatal accidents on both sides of the Atlantic during the...

The term hero is bandied about a little too much these days.   All too often, it is used to describe sports stars and celebrities. But heroes and heroines DO live among us. And not al of them wear uniforms OR capes. Some of them wear hard hats.

Despite my concerns over the Brexit fallout; despite my fears for a continuation of the Coronavirus crisis; despite my trepidation over the findings of the CMA investigation; and despite my growing frustration and anger over the endless Didcot investigation, I start 2021 with a surprising degree of excitement and optimism.

2020 was the year in which forecasts became futile; when predictions became pointless; when the runes were rendered redundant.  So, in a year in which the unprecedented became the norm, the fact that the UK construction industry recorded more than £12.2 billion (against a monthly average of £4.0 billion) in new contract awards really was the most 2020 way in which to see out an erratic and un...

The global demolition industry officially returns to work today after the festive break.   And t returns to find a special gift waiting for it in the shape of a new book by industry veteran and former president of the Institute of Demolition Engineers, Terry Quarmby. In this exclusive audio presentation, we speak to Quarmby about the new book which you can buy here:  https://amzn.to...

For some, 2020 will be the first year in which they are unable to spend time with their loved ones.   For many in the demolition industry, being separated from family and friends over the festive period is merely business as usual.

With the news of the collapse of a power station undergoing demolition in Ohio, industry minds will turn immediately to the Didcot disaster back in 2016. This episode was originally broadcast as a live video stream.

After 12 years, John Woodward is stepping down as a World Demolition Awards judge.   During his time as a judge, the former Institute of Demolition Engineers' (IDE) president has seen many changes as the awards have gone global. In this exclusive interview, we look back at more than a decade of World Demolition Awards, and he is full of praise for companies including Erith Contractors, L...

Six high profile demolition company acquisitions is NOT a trend.   But six out of less than 600 UK demolition firms represents better odds than a winning lottery ticket; and could prove to be the demolition company owner's ideal exit strategy.

Faced with a slowing in workload, demolition companies generally seek to cut costs by reducing their spend on both training and technology.    Yet we cut these things at our peril.   And cuts made today could impact negatively tomorrow and for months and even years to come.

Some UK demolition firms are flying high while others are clinging to survival; some are recruiting and investing while others are begging for work; and some companies are doubling down on demolition while others see diversification as the path to salvation.   This is the demolition dichotomy.

This show was originally broadcast as a video LiveStream on the evening of Tuesday 10 November 2020. It tells the story behind a story about a UK demolition company that may or may not have gone into receivership. At the time of recording this podcast version of the show, we still don’t know the outcome. And so, while we cling to the vague hope that the story will prove to be untrue, the name of t...

According to a recent survey, more than half of all UK construction workers have concerns around drink and drugs in the workplace and more than a third of those surveyed have witnessed colleagues working under the influence of drink or drugs. At the same time, a report on the professions most likely to be caught drink driving revealed that the Top 10 professions are all within or allied to constru...

With our focus upon innovation, technology and the need to attract young people, we all too often dismiss the contribution made by the older generation and the experience, knowledge and wisdom they are still ale to impart.

Just in time for the second lockdown, here's an allegorical tale on why we ignore a valuable commodity at our peril.

The days of the sexist and misogynist dinosaurs of the construction and demolition industry are drawing to a close.   And not a moment too soon.

At the height of the previous recession, against a backdrop of company collapses and closures, I suggested that we were in danger of heralding in a two-tier demolition system here in the UK in which the bigger companies set the agenda and the smaller companies were forced to comply. Some nine years later, history is repeating; and that two-tier sector feels ever more real with each passing day.

Back in April this year,  I broadcast a LiveStream video in which I complained about the never-ending delays in the HSE investigation into the Didcot disaster. At the time of that LiveStream, 1,521 days had elapsed since the power station boiler house had collapsed, killing four demolition men. Today, exactly six months after that LiveStream show aired, 1,704 days have passed with no prelimin...

From high reach excavators and demolition robots, the demolition industry has been quick to adopt technology.    But, in evolutionary terms, the demolition sector has just discovered the pointed stick.   Emerging technologies will provide the industry with tools, fire and the wheel. In this exclusive episode of Demolition News Radio, presenter Mark Anthony looks ahead to a tech...

Chris McFletch of McFletch Demolition chose to walk away from an industry that he once loved but for which that love has gone.    What does that say about the modern demolition industry, and why are his negative views of the sector seemingly shared by so many?