Earlier today, I hosted the 1,000th episode of my daily LiveStream, The Break Fast Show.

Before we get into the why and how I became a LiveStreamer at the (then) ripe old age of 55, let me put that into some context.

My favourite band of all time is Ultravox. I was introduced to them while I was still at school. I own every album and compilation they have ever produced; and I own them in multiple formats including vinyl, cassette, CD and download. I have seen them perform live maybe a dozen times in 45 years.

My favourite movie is Jaws. I can’t watch it with others because I annoy them by reciting the script and telling them inane facts about the production of the movie (the dummy shark was called Bruce, by the way). I have probably watched Jaws 100 times over the years.

I am a West Ham supporter. I have been since I was about six years old. Over the course of half a century, I have seen them play live maybe a few hundred times.

These are all things I love; things I adore; things that in some way define me.

And yet I have hosted a daily LiveStream way more than I have done any of those things. Which tells you a lot.

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Get a bunch of men in the same room and, sooner or later, the conversation will turn to the all-important matter of sport. Whether they’re football, rugby or cricket fans, they will quickly divide themselves along tribal lines, each vouching for their own sport or their own team.

If those men happen to work in the demolition and construction industry, those tribal lines are often drawn between preferred brands of equipment. There will be the die-hard Caterpillar fans in one corner, the Komatsu fans in another.

In each instance, they will believe that their choice was the right choice, and that their machine is somehow superior. They will advocate for their preferred brand and for the dealer supplying it with an almost religious fervour.

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It’s weird, isn’t it? For decades – centuries even – the demolition and construction industry has shaped the built environment. But now, in 2025, the tables have turned. The demolition and construction industry is being shaped by the environment.

The need to safeguard and protect the planet is the single, most powerful force driving the sector. That desire has already given us electric machines, even if we have been slow to adopt them.

That same desire has also shifted us from a build, demolish, build cycle to a build, refurbish, refit and only demolish if absolutely necessary cycle.

It has forced us to develop homes and buildings that are more energy and thermally efficient than anything we could have previously imagined.

It has pushed us to develop systems to monitor and manage equipment to squeeze every last ounce of performance out of every last litre of fuel.

It has forced us to reconsider what we once viewed as waste; and how it might be repurposed, recycled and resold.

Stewardship of the environment and the planet is now the starting point of every construction project; it is the benchmark that must be achieved throughout the construction; and it is the standard by which the finished structure will be judged, managed and maintained.

All of that has happened in a relatively short space of time. That is not an evolution. We have each lived through a revolution. And that revolution is far from over.

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Do you know what today is? Yes, it is a Wednesday. It is also the day before the 24th anniversary of 911. It is the birthday of golfer Arnold Palmer, actor Colin Firth, and of Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry. But, beyond that, today is World Suicide Prevention Day.

In truth, the name of the day is a misnomer. There will be no prevention. No-one will be confiscating handfuls of pills from those struggling with mental health issues. None of us will be expected to talk our friends, family members and colleagues down from a ledge. World Suicide Prevention Day is, first and foremost, a day to raise awareness.

Now, of course, many companies in the demolition and construction industry will likely co-opt the day to shout about their commitment to mental health awareness. LinkedIn will be awash with virtue signalling about mental health first aiders and other such initiatives.

Whether those claims will be matched by any genuine action, no-one knows, though – personally – I doubt it. So ultimately, this comes down purely to awareness.

But my question is this. Who in this industry needs greater awareness of an issue that is claiming the lives of more than 500 of our working men and women each year?

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