The worst it will ever be?

August 29, 2025 Long Form

“This is the worst it will ever be”. It’s an expression used widely to describe nascent technology that has huge future potential and years or even decades of development and improvement ahead.

I used the expression myself just yesterday to convey my feelings on Artificial Intelligence as it stands today. The technology behind AI is already incredible. But this is the worst it will ever be. With each passing day, each passing year and each passing iteration, AI will get smarter, more intuitive, and more useful. As that song said: “Things can only get better.” The best is yet to come.

From the TV you watch in the evening to the car you drive to and from work. Regardless of the make, model or year of manufacture. They are the worst that they will ever be.

That is how progress works. We might get teary-eyed about excavators of yesteryear and vintage dozers from days gone by. But we know in our heart of hearts that (a) we have never had it so good; and (b) future generations will have it even better.
This is the worst it will ever be applies nicely to all things technological or engineering-based. But does it also apply to entire industries? Can we look at the demolition and construction industry of today and truly believe that things will only get better; that each new step along the path of progress will bring about only improvements?

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The Break Fast Show #989

August 29, 2025 Video

In today’s show: Priestly Demolition goes to the mall; a sneak peek at the Gehl telehandler line-up; Caterpillar goes to school in Miami; and is this the demolition and construction industry’s next favourite off-road vehicle?

PLUS in Mark’s Morning Monologue: The worst it will ever be?

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.

Will we never learn?

August 28, 2025 Accident, Comment

There was a school shooting in America yesterday. Another one, I hear you sigh.

This wasn’t the first school shooting this year. It is highly unlikely that it will be the last.

In fact, these things happen with such agonising regularity that there is now a process in place.

We send thoughts and prayers to the families of those killed and injured.

We vow that this must never happen again.

We promise that we will learn from this; that we will make sweeping changes to ensure that no other families have to endure the same thing.

Until they do.

A construction worker was killed on a site in London yesterday. Another one, I hear you sigh.

This wasn’t the first construction fatality this year. It is highly unlikely that it will be the last.

In fact, these things happen with such agonising regularity that there is now a process in place.

We send thoughts and prayers to the families of those killed and injured.

We vow that this must never happen again.

We promise that we will learn from this; that we will make sweeping changes to ensure that no other families have to endure the same thing.

Until they do.

From the relative safety of the UK, we can look at this latest school shooting as entirely predictable. The US has more guns than it has people; access to those guns is far too easy. Only a significant shift in gun control can prevent this from happening again.

But, even while those conversations are taking place, there will be those with a vested interest that will point to the Second Amendment and the part that says “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed”. And nothing changes.

From the relative safety of my office, I can look at this latest construction fatality as equally predictable. The UK demolition and construction industry is now predicated on completing work as quickly and as cheaply as is humanly possible. Only a significant shift in that mindset can prevent this from happening again.

But, even while those conversations are taking place, there will be those with a vested interest that will point to the next project deadline, the next contract negotiation, the next shareholder meeting. And nothing changes.

We are beyond thoughts and prayers; we are beyond learning lessons; and we are beyond assurances that this will never happen again.

And yet, it will. There will be another school shooting. There will be another fatal construction accident. It’s not a matter of if, but of when.

The proliferation of guns in the US is killing children. The haste associated with modern demolition and construction is killing men and women.

And unless we make some significant changes, both will continue to do so.

The Break Fast Show #988

August 28, 2025 Video

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.

August 27, 2025 Long Form

“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.

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The Break Fast Show #987

August 27, 2025 Video

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

August 26, 2025 Long Form

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.

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Careys settles over collusion claim

August 26, 2025 News

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

August 26, 2025 Video

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…

August 22, 2025 Accident, Video

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.