Storm Warning

If the weather forecasters are to be believed - and, frankly, that’s a big IF - the UK will be battered by high winds on Friday this week.? Those winds will gust at up to 60 mph inland and as high as 80 mph in more exposed coastal areas.

That means that, as of the writing of this article, those in the heavy lifting business have about two days to stand down their mobile cranes and to weathervane their tower cranes, releasing the slew brake so the crane can rotate 360 degrees in the same direction the wind is blowing.? Meanwhile, our cousins in the scaffolding sector have about 60 hours in which to make safe any scaffolding that might be vulnerable.?

Plenty of warning, you’d think.? But I am still expecting to report on a scaffold collapse somewhere in the UK before the week is out: not because the coming storm will be worse than anything we have experienced before; but because the UK construction industry is notoriously poor at heeding warnings.

But this extends way beyond remembering what happened the last time it got a bit breezy.? It is symptomatic across the entire sector.

The moment the industry emerges blinking into a post-recession sunshine, everyone trots out the phrase:? “Fix the roof while the sun is shining”.? But do they?

We know that each upturn is followed by a downturn; that every high is followed by a low; every peak beats a trough.? And yet, every downturn, low and trough takes the entire sector by surprise EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

Companies that were shouting about their new equipment fleet on social media just a few months before are now in serious financial straits because they can no longer afford the finance.? Companies that were welcoming new staff members in LinkedIn posts are quietly laying off staff and hoping that social media doesn’t hear about it.? And when that recession does hit - as it always ALWAYS does - those company bosses that splashed the cash on a Bentley when times were good are left to lick their wounds even as they’re telling staff that the financial cupboard is bare.

This is not hard.? This is not quantum mechanics.? If times are good, enjoy it by all means.? But know that it will not CANNOT last.? It never does.

All the signs suggest that we are about to enter a period of recession and austerity (although quite how we will tell the difference I’m not entirely sure).? That’s bad, obviously.? We have already seen way too many companies collapse and too many men and women left unemployed.

But, if there is a positive to be taken from yet more economic hardship, it is this.? A downturn will give us all time to take stock; to reflect; and to plan.? We can batten down the hatches and prepare for when the good times finally roll back around; strip back the unnecessary and focus on the essential.

It is an opportunity to mend and to heal; to refocus and reset.? But will we?

I am not hopeful.? The industry was afforded precisely the same opportunity in 2020 when the world stopped for COVID.? That opportunity was squandered.? The moment the lockdown ended, we reverted to our usual peak and trough mentality.? My guess is that we will do so again.

So whether it’s the high winds this week or the economic storm front following on behind, we’re about to get a buffeting.? Will we heed the amber warnings?? I doubt it.? Will we make it through the coming storm?? Who knows.

But don’t say you weren’t warned.

This article was written by Mark Anthony, founder and editor of DemolitionNews.com.

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