The Break Fast Show #988

In today’s show: We bring you an exclusive look at a brand new compact wheel loader from a manufacturer you might not know; Kemroc’s trench warfare; AMI Attachments has a new, super durable tilt bucket; and we’re up close with the Caterpillar grader range.

PLUS in Mark’s Morning Monologue: Should we even care?

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.

Divided. Distracted. Compliant.

“If you keep people exhausted and distracted, they won’t organise. If you keep them struggling and divided, they won’t resist. The system isn’t broken, it’s working as designed.”

I saw those words posted as a rallying cry to fight back against the increasing authoritarianism of the Trump government.

It was posted on the Substack social media platform, where anti-Trump rhetoric is not just widespread but encouraged. Anyone reading those words on Substack would know precisely why it was posted and precisely who and what it was aimed at.

But context, as they say, is everything. If I took those words and posted them for a demolition and construction industry audience, the words would still resonate The intended target would have changed; but anyone reading those words within the demolition and construction sector would instantly relate to the message.

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

The Break Fast Show #987

In today’s show: The Volvo A30 electric ADT. Is this the future of hauling? From Tonka Toys to big boys’ toys – The digger journey of a Develon customer; Fendt Tractors and K-TEC scrapers – a perfect partnership; and we’re going old school with Fuchs.

PLUS in Mark’s Morning Monologue: Divided. Distracted. Compliant.

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 sticker collectors

When I was a child, I loved stickers. I had stickers on my bicycle, stickers on my skateboard, stickers on my schoolbooks. One time, I put stickers on my bedroom wall, only to discover that they pulled off the wallpaper if you tried to remove them. My mother was not impressed.

But the stickers I loved the most were football (soccer) stickers. This was long before the advent of those fancy sticker books from the likes of Panini. In fact, my stickers and the books into which they were stuck often came from a petrol station.

I had one to coincide with a World Cup in the mid 1970s. But the one I remember most vividly was a navy blue sticker book which, if memory serves me correctly, came from Esso. Within that book was a space for stickers representing the English first and second division, together with the old Scottish first division. I remember the Scottish element particularly well because it took literally months of sticker collecting and swapping before I finally added the badge of the final club – Falkirk.

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

Careys settles over collusion claim

Industry news portal Construction Enquirer is reporting that a claim by a developer against Carey Group that it was overcharged £2.4 million for demolition work has been withdrawn after both sides reached a settlement.

Hong Kong based developer Circadian Limited launched the action in March claiming it was overcharged for demolition work caught up in the industry’s bid rigging scandal.

Carey owned Scudder was one of ten firms fined a total of nearly £60 million in 2023 for illegally colluding to rig bids for demolition and asbestos removal contracts.

According to Construction Enquirer, an application has been made to withdraw the claim following a confidential settlement between both parties.

As we reported back in April this year, there are fears that this settlement might spark a feeding frenzy among developers and clients that were overcharged in a similar manner.

Read the full story here.

The Break Fast Show #986

In today’s show: The dragline of yesteryear reimagined for today; is this Chinese mining truck the shape of things to come? Down Under with a Caterpillar dealer; and Bobcat’s hydraulic hitch simplifies attachment changes.

PLUS in Mark’s Morning Monologue: The sticker collectors

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.

Nine years ago today…

On 22 August 2016, nine years ago today, I walked onto a UK demolition site; something I had done hundreds of times before, and have repeated hundreds of times since.

That visit took place exactly six months after the Didcot Disaster claimed the lives of four demolition workers. Safety was at the forefront of my mind, and the mind of the site supervisor that gave me my site induction.

As we walked from the site office to the vantage point from which I was intending to film the demolition operation, we spoke about the tragedy of Didcot; about the lives lost; about the bodies that still lay unrecovered.

With hindsight, that now feels like a foreshadowing. Because half an hour later, I was leaving that site in an ambulance; the victim of a freak accident.

The video below shows the aftermath (and is probably not for the squeamish). But, if you’d like to hear more about that fateful day, you can check out the audio podcast here.

The Break Fast Show #985

In today’s show: We’re going inside the Liebherr telescopic handlers; preparing the next generation of operators with dozer training; behind the scenes with Yanmar; and rental fleet management, Caterpillar-style.

PLUS in Mark’s Morning Monologue: Nine years ago today, I walked onto a demolition site. I left in an ambulance.

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.

Can open, worms everywhere

Is that it then? Are we all just going to move on and pretend that didn’t happen? Are we OK with that?

Over the course of a month or so, a self-styled and self-appointed whistleblower made a series of serious and often lurid accusations against some within the UK demolition industry. There were accusations of wrongdoing within the industry’s corridors of power, among some of its best-known companies, and fraudulent behaviour among named individuals.

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

The Break Fast Show #984

In today’s show: JCB delivers for Collins Earthworks; Priestly Demolition goes shopping; we get the low-down on the full Bell range of graders; and Volvo Construction Equipment is on track.

PLUS in Mark’s Morning Monologue: Shouting into the void. When all your fears and concerns are met with silence, sooner or later you too will fall silent.

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.