When it all falls down

May 20, 2025 Long Form

The article you’re about to read is part essay; part confession. It is a story about how, amidst tragedy, I/we default all too easily to cliche. When a person dies, we immediately dig out the phrase “our thoughts are with their friends and family”. In the event of a company collapse, we dredge up the equally trite “our thoughts are with the employees and the supply chain”. In both instances, we have a strange tendency to overlook the primary victim; to shift our focus; and to look away too soon.

I hope this article goes some way toward setting the record straight.

This article continues on Demolition Insider. Please use the link below to access this article FOR FREE.

The Break Fast Show #937

May 20, 2025 Video

In today’s show: Steelwrist turns 20; a JCB 4CX goes to work; block paving made easy; and in our latest look back at Bauma 2025, we’re savouring the Wacker Neuson razzmatazz.

PLUS in Mark’s Morning Monologue: Beyond Fuel Part 2.

Join host Mark Anthony LIVE for The Break Fast Show – the ONLY daily LiveStream built exclusively for demolition, construction, and equipment fanatics worldwide.

Breaking news. Expert views. Unmissable videos. Raw opinions. If it matters in the industry, we’re talking about it – LIVE.

Test your knowledge with the Mystery Machine, have your say in the Question of the Day, and don’t miss Mark’s Morning Monologue – a no-holds-barred take on the hottest topics.

And when the show’s done, the conversation’s just getting started. Stick around for The Craic, our legendary after-show chat!

Set your alarm. Grab your coffee. It’s time to break fast, and to break new ground.

Is the CMA probing Scottish demolition?

May 19, 2025 Collusion

It feels like deja vu all over again.

I was at the Bauma exhibition in 2019 when I first heard that several UK demolition companies had been raided by officers from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). That news, when it came, was a collection of rumour, speculation and gossip. Even though I asked the CMA to confirm that (a) the raids had taken place and that (b) it was investigating the UK demolition industry for evidence of collusion, it would be several months before those initial rumours were confirmed.

It would be four years more until those rumours resulted in the handing down of £60 million in fines to 10 members of the National Federation of Demolition Contractors.

Fast forward six years to Bauma 2025 which took place in Munich a few weeks ago. During my time there, I was told that the CMA had once again turned its investigative magnifying glass upon the UK demolition sector. But this time, rather than focusing upon London and the Midlands, it was looking further North – much further North – to Scotland.

This article continues on Demolition Insider. Please use the link below to access this article FOR FREE.

The Break Fast Show #936

May 19, 2025 Video

In today’s show: We take a longer look at Volvo’s latest articulated haulers; we’re on site with Caterpillar excavators; Dynaset, and the law of attraction; and in out latest look back to Bauma 2025, we have a mini epic for you.

PLUS in Mark’s Morning Monologue: Beyond Fuel Part 1.

Join host Mark Anthony LIVE for The Break Fast Show – the ONLY daily LiveStream built exclusively for demolition, construction, and equipment fanatics worldwide.

Breaking news. Expert views. Unmissable videos. Raw opinions. If it matters in the industry, we’re talking about it – LIVE.

Test your knowledge with the Mystery Machine, have your say in the Question of the Day, and don’t miss Mark’s Morning Monologue – a no-holds-barred take on the hottest topics.

And when the show’s done, the conversation’s just getting started. Stick around for The Craic, our legendary after-show chat!

Set your alarm. Grab your coffee. It’s time to break fast, and to break new ground.

The Break Fast Show #935

May 16, 2025 Video

In today’s show: Moving mountains with Thiess Mining and Caterpillar; Dynaset is set to clean up; John Deere – If the hat fits…And in our latest look back to Bauma 2025, we will be on the outside area of Komatsu with the biggest machine at the show.

PLUS in Mark’s Morning Monologue: The Illusion of Competence

Join host Mark Anthony LIVE for The Break Fast Show – the ONLY daily LiveStream built exclusively for demolition, construction, and equipment fanatics worldwide.

Breaking news. Expert views. Unmissable videos. Raw opinions. If it matters in the industry, we’re talking about it – LIVE.

Test your knowledge with the Mystery Machine, have your say in the Question of the Day, and don’t miss Mark’s Morning Monologue – a no-holds-barred take on the hottest topics.

And when the show’s done, the conversation’s just getting started. Stick around for The Craic, our legendary after-show chat!

Set your alarm. Grab your coffee. It’s time to break fast, and to break new ground.

Mentors on Demand

May 15, 2025 General

Remember when you were studying maths at school? The teacher was never satisfied that you’d got the correct answer without cheating. They insisted that you “show your workings.”

As a writer, I don’t normally do that; often because there are no workings; just a flash of inspiration and some furious typing.

But today, I’m going to make an exception. The story I’m about to lay before you pulls together several familiar threads: mentorship, driver aids, artificial intelligence, autonomous equipment, and the construction sites of the future.

I’m not going to address these factors in alphabetical or chronological order. Instead, I’ll explore them all as we go along, and do my best to weave them into a single, simple idea.

This article continues on Demolition Insider. Please use the link below to access this article FOR FREE.

The Break Fast Show #934

May 15, 2025 Video

In today’s show: We’re getting up close with the very latest wheel loader from Kramer; Caterpillar’s mining division celebrates its centenary; we’re sticking with mining, this time with Manitou; and in our latest trip back to the Messe Munchen exhibition centre, balletic Bobcat at Bauma.

PLUS in Mark’s Morning Monologue: AI mentors on demand.

Join host Mark Anthony LIVE for The Break Fast Show – the ONLY daily LiveStream built exclusively for demolition, construction, and equipment fanatics worldwide.

Breaking news. Expert views. Unmissable videos. Raw opinions. If it matters in the industry, we’re talking about it – LIVE.

Test your knowledge with the Mystery Machine, have your say in the Question of the Day, and don’t miss Mark’s Morning Monologue – a no-holds-barred take on the hottest topics.

And when the show’s done, the conversation’s just getting started. Stick around for The Craic, our legendary after-show chat!

Set your alarm. Grab your coffee. It’s time to break fast, and to break new ground.

Conspiracy. More than a theory?

May 15, 2025 Insider

Let me be clear. I am not one for conspiracy theories. Don’t get me wrong—I find them entertaining, and I’m often amused when someone shares such a theory, convinced that it’s authentic when anyone with half a brain can clearly see that it isn’t.

But I do not believe there are little green men on ice at the Roswell facility in New Mexico. I don’t believe there is a prehistoric dinosaur lurking in the depths of Loch Ness; nor is there a giant half-man, half-ape roaming the American wilderness. Furthermore, I do not believe that there is a secret cabal of lizard people controlling the global economy.

With all that being said, let’s imagine – just for fun – that we in demolition and construction were to get together and, amongst ourselves, figure out how to control the industry; to skew it in a direction favourable to us; to stack the odds in favour of the few rather than the many. How would you go about that?

This article continues on Demolition Insider. Please use the link below to access this article FOR FREE.

The Break Fast Show #933

May 14, 2025 Video

In today’s show: CASE and the Evolution of the backhoe loader; Manitou embraces the hydrogen revolution; we’re recycling in France with Montabert; and we’re heading back to Bauma for a bit of a round-up of what’s hit, and what’s not.

PLUS in Mark’s Morning Monologue: Conspiracy? More than a theory.

Join host Mark Anthony LIVE for The Break Fast Show – the ONLY daily LiveStream built exclusively for demolition, construction, and equipment fanatics worldwide.

Breaking news. Expert views. Unmissable videos. Raw opinions. If it matters in the industry, we’re talking about it – LIVE.

Test your knowledge with the Mystery Machine, have your say in the Question of the Day, and don’t miss Mark’s Morning Monologue – a no-holds-barred take on the hottest topics.

And when the show’s done, the conversation’s just getting started. Stick around for The Craic, our legendary after-show chat!

Set your alarm. Grab your coffee. It’s time to break fast, and to break new ground.

The definition of insanity…

May 13, 2025 General

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

According to a large number of inspirational mugs and posters, this famous quote comes from none other than Albert Einstein, although that’s actually disputed.

Regardless of who actually said it, the basic premise is correct.

And yet, here in the field of demolition and construction, it is a lesson we have failed to heed. In fact, it is a lesson we continue to ignore, which kind of proves my initial point.

This article continues on Demolition Insider. Please use the link below to access this article FOR FREE.