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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Regular viewers will know that I have no fear of addressing controversial subjects on this show. But today, we are entering exceptionally dangerous territory; we are going to be wading into treacherous waters filled not with sharks and crocodiles but by talk of immigration and flags.

But before you lash a Union flag to your nearest lamp-post, paint a cross of St George on a zebra crossing, or call upon Government to intercept a flotilla of small boats in the English Channel, let me be clear.

The immigrants I would like to talk about are the legal ones. The ones we need. The ones that come through the front door during the day and not on a small inflatable during the dead of night. And the flag I’d like to talk about is the big red one that should be flying over the UK demolition and construction sector right now as our ailing Government plans tighter migration controls that could have a massive and negative impact upon the industry’s workforce.

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It’s weird how inspiration strikes. There I was, minding my own business, music playing in the background, when a song came on that instantly transported me back to the mid-1980s while simultaneously providing me with a useful and timely metaphor.

That song, “If I was” by former Ultravox frontman Midge Ure, was released almost 40 years ago. I hadn’t heard it in decades. Those that are old enough might recall the premise of the song in which Ure imagines himself in various roles – sailor, painter, poet – and how each might declare and demonstrate their undying love for an unnamed woman. “If I was a soldier, captive arms I’d lay before her”.

I was 21 when that came out, so when I heard it again my initial response was one of nostalgia tinged with sadness at my lost youth.

But then I was struck that the song would be a perfect backdrop for a look at the demolition and construction industry of today.

So stick with me while me (and Midge Ure) imagine the demolition and construction industry as other things and in different scenarios. I will start with the issue of recruitment. And to highlight the problem that demolition and construction faces, let’s imagine the industry as an actor at a Hollywood casting call.

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