The Break Fast Show #966

July 14, 2025 Video

In today’s show: We’re taking a walk around the hot new mini excavators from Bobcat; you’ll be green with envy over the new electric mini from LiuGong; we’re taking a closer look at the latest grader from Caterpillar; and this self-loading concrete truck has redefined efficiency.

PLUS in Mark’s Morning Monologue: Construction – Where freedom of speech is turned upside down.

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.

Construction’s crimewave

July 11, 2025 Long Form

A potential whistleblower on LinkedIn is apparently planning a tell-all book that will name names and expose the dark underbelly of the UK’s asbestos industry.

If even half of what he is saying is true, the revelations contained within his book will cause a storm of unprecedented magnitude within the sector.

Yet, in many ways, any such book will merely reinforce that which we already know. Corruption and criminality are rife within the UK demolition and construction industry. From plant and fuel theft to major fraud, this is an industry in which illegality is as ever-present as diesel fuel and plastic hard hats.

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

The Break Fast Show #965

July 11, 2025 Video

In today’s show: Checking out the Bobcat L285 wheel loader; we’re taking an in-depth look at the Develon D100 dozer; Venieri targets utilities; and brute force gets the job done with the Hurricane drop hammer.

PLUS in Mark’s Morning Monologue: Construction’s crime wave.

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.

I have a dream

July 10, 2025 General, Long Form

I have a dream.

I have a dream that one day, in every town and city, from the muddy trench to the tallest tower crane, no worker shall fear for their life just by turning up to work.

That no mother shall receive a call saying her son isn’t coming home.

That no child shall grow up remembering their father not by his voice or his laugh, but by is presence at the dinner table every evening.

I have a dream of a world where safety isn’t a slogan; where it isn’t a poster gathering dust in the site office; but a sacred pact.
Where risk is managed, not tolerated. Where a near miss is a lesson, not a statistic to be buried in a report. Where safety isn’t just a goal, it’s a guarantee.

I have a dream of an industry where a worker’s value is measured not by the colour of the card in their wallet, but by the dedication in their heart and the knowledge in their heads.

Where competence is earned, not assumed. Where experience is not measured by a piece of paper, and that piece of paper is not mistaken for wisdom.

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

The Break Fast Show #964

July 10, 2025 Video

In today’s show: Caterpillar takes a tilt at the rotator business; Envirotec makes an impact with Bobcat; building hope with Hyundai; and deconstruction, Egyptian-style.

PLUS in Mark’s Morning Monologue: I have a dream.

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.

House of Cards

July 9, 2025 Long Form

The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only one of the original Seven Wonders of the Ancient World that is still standing. Although there is great speculation about how it was built and by whom, the pyramid stands as a testament to the skill of those that erected it.

For millennia, that pyramid has stood sentinel. It has seen empires rise and fall; countless sunrises and sunsets. And through it all, it has remained resilient. And for good reason.

Regardless whether you believe it was built by thousands of slaves or by alien beings from another galaxy, The Great Pyramid of Giza is the blueprint for strong, stable construction. It is broadest and, therefore, strongest at its base; spreading and carrying the load for the levels above that slowly diminish in size until it reaches its peak 137 metres above. Four and a half thousand years after it was built, it stands strong to this very day.

Despite advances in machinery, methods and materials, that same principle of “strongest at the base” still guides modern construction practices. In fact, it actually guides the composition of the industry and the make-up of each individual project.

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

The Break Fast Show #963

July 9, 2025 Video

In today’s show: Keep on trucking – How Liebherr keeps the wheels turning on its TA 230 articulated hauler; rebuilding the Roya Valley by embracing tech; is this Hyundai wheel loader the perfect production machine; and the tiny robot with the big brain.

PLUS in Mark’s Morning Monologue: Construction’s house of cards.

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.

Vicious Circles

July 8, 2025 Long Form

Do you ever get the feeling we’re going round in circles; that we’re trapped in an endless loop, doomed to repeat the same mistakes over and over again? If so, you are not alone. Ours is a sector in which everyone from the prospective employee and industry rookie to the managing director and entire companies are trapped in a never-ending spiral; a Groundhog Day in which we all do the same things over and over for all eternity.

Let’s imagine, for example, that you find yourself homeless. You are not the type to just throw yourself upon the mercy of the state, and you intend to dig yourself out of this hopefully temporary hole.

You apply for a job in demolition or construction. The wages will be more than enough to cover the rent on a small place you have picked out. But you can’t rent the house because, as it stands today, you don’t have a job. But your would-be employer refuses to offer you the job because you are currently of no fixed abode. You also don’t have a bank account. You’d like one, but you need some money to pay into the account to get it started. But you have no money because you have no job. And you have no job because you have nowhere to live. And you have nowhere to live because you have no job.

And that is just one of many endless and negative loops that can trap and enslave the unsuspecting.

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

The Break Fast Show #962

July 8, 2025 Video

In today’s show: How FM Conway is pioneering low emission construction in London; the Liebherr T 264 goes to work; the all-new Cat Command system for its Next Gen excavators is here; and we’re completing our tour of Italy with a visit to attachment specialist, TreviBenne.

PLUS in Mark’s Morning Monologue: Demolition and construction – Where it is Groundhog Day every day?

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.

Thompsons acquired

July 7, 2025 News

One of the UK’s best-known and most-respected demolition contractors has been acquired. Industry magazine Construction News is reporting that Thompsons of Prudhoe has become part of construction materials firm Ashcourt Group.

Thompsons was founded in 1948 by Bill and Madge Thompson and remained in the family, being run by their grandchildren John Thompson and Helen Hillary until earlier this month.

Companies House documentation shows the pair ceased to be the controlling parties of the company on 1 July 2025; Ashcourt Group was announced as being the entity of significant control in the company at the same time.

Thompsons of Prudhoe was named Demolition Contractor of the Year at the World Demolition Awards in 2023.

The company turned over £55 million in the year to 31 March 2024, down from £82.6 million in its prior year. Pre-tax profit stood at just £24,000 in its latest accounts, down from £18 million in its prior year.

Read the full story here.