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鈥淓very single person鈥檚 phone in the room lit up.鈥� Duncan Rudall, the new chief executive of industry trade body the National Federation of Demolition Contractors, is recalling the morning when the group, in the middle of a pre-arranged board meeting at its Hemel Hempstead head office, received the long-awaited news of the fines handed out to 10 firms in the sector by the Competition and Markets Authority.

The penalties were the culmination of a years-long investigation by the agency into allegations of bid-rigging and compensation payments in the demolition industry. 鈥淭he fines kept being pushed back and back and it was on the morning of our meeting [23 March] that we heard they were coming,鈥� Rudall says.

That Thursday board meeting was followed by the federation鈥檚 AGM the very next day, so there was a lot for Rudall, who formally took up his role at the start of June 鈥� replacing Howard Button, who was in post for two decades 鈥� to take on. 鈥淚t certainly pushed the board meeting on by a couple of hours,鈥� he remembers.

But in the time since, he says, the fallout from the CMA probe has not been dominating his working days at a group which boasts nearly 140 contractor members and a further 100 industry service provider members, such as plant manufacturers.

鈥淚鈥檓 not going to keep recapping over the CMA,鈥� he adds. 鈥淚鈥檓 a new CEO and I will draw a line in the sand [on the issue] at some point.鈥�

The fines are massive 鈥� corporate-changing amounts. Some will survive it and, maybe, some won鈥檛

For now, though, he is having to deal with an issue that has cast a pall over the sector and seen the fines imposed range from more than 拢17m to less than 拢500,000. Directors were banned, too, including a previous NFDC president, former Erith director David Darsey.

In the past few months, the CMA has detailed some of the things that went on. It has proved to be eye-watering stuff.

鈥淭he fines are massive,鈥� Rudall concedes. 鈥淐orporate-changing amounts. Some will survive it and, maybe, some won鈥檛.鈥�

He adds: 鈥淭he CMA have dealt their hand and they鈥檝e done quite a hefty job in doing it. Is it deserved? Well, yes, it is. They鈥檝e [the 10 firms] done what they鈥檝e done and the CMA has caught them. It鈥檚 as simple as that.鈥�

He thinks those firms will, eventually, see their workloads suffer. 鈥淚t will happen, 100%, but we don鈥檛 know by how much right now. They do understand it will have an impact on them, they鈥檙e not being blas茅 about it.

鈥淚t has been an eye-opener for clients as well. I鈥檓 sure they will look at the way they procure contracts.鈥�

For Rudall, the issue he is dealing with could not be further from those facing the young man who, by his own admission, fell into the industry 30 years ago. Before demolition, he worked in construction, plastering and driving plant. And before that, he was a hairdresser.

His mum had a couple of salons in Totnes, the market town in south Devon where he grew up. As someone who left school with very few qualifications 鈥� 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 like to turn up,鈥� he admits 鈥� becoming a hairdresser was an obvious thing to do.

So, he swept up, washed hair and made cups of tea before becoming a trainee hairdresser on a YTS scheme, earning in the region of 拢28 a week.

YTS was the name given to on-the-job training for school leavers aged 16 and 17 back in the 1980s. It famously never paid well and Rudall, keen to top up his meagre wage, ended up working for a demolition contractor at weekends for some spare cash.

鈥淚 fell into it and I haven鈥檛 escaped,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 love it. It has given me a good living and enough to support my family.鈥�

The name of that demolition contractor he worked for at weekends in between blow-dries and perms was Gilpin, a firm based in Newton Abbot, Devon, where he now lives.

We have to work hard to get rid of the stigma, but I won鈥檛 be rubbishing companies

He spent a total of nearly two decades at Gilpin before stints at Bristol-based  Wring and then Hertfordshire contractor Rye, the firm which knocked down West Ham鈥檚 Upton Park football ground several years ago. 鈥淚 love rugby, so knocking down a football stadium was great,鈥� he laughs.

All three contractors are members of the NFDC 鈥� as are the 10 fined in March. Some firms, he says, have complained to him that what has happened has tarred everyone with the same brush 鈥� and that mud sticks.

鈥淲e have to work hard to get rid of the stigma, but I won鈥檛 be rubbishing companies. These things have happened and we won鈥檛 cover anything up.

鈥淲e鈥檝e asked those companies to sort themselves out and tell us what they鈥檝e been doing. A very harsh lesson has been learnt and, hopefully, the same things will not reoccur.鈥�

Rudall says he has been reassured by what he has seen. He has been invited by some firms to look for himself at the changes they have made to governance and personnel in an effort to ensure the CMA does not come calling again.

But, for the 128 members not caught up in the scandal, he says the NFDC needs to make sure that it concentrates on them as well. 鈥淎 lot of demolition businesses are run by really good people, who do a great job and have been caught up in it all just because they do that job.鈥�

Some of his members only specialise in demolition, unlike some of the larger firms fined who operate in several sectors untouched by the scandal.

鈥淥ne [demolition firm] said to me, 鈥榠t鈥檚 unfair, we鈥檙e all being tarnished and my business is going to be affected鈥�.鈥�

We don鈥檛 choose to knock buildings down, we get asked to knock buildings down 鈥� there is a massive difference

Rudall, who is also boss of the NFDC鈥檚 training arm called National Demolition Training Group, which manages its training card scheme, is hoping the headlines don鈥檛 take some of the gloss off other changes that he says the sector is already embracing.

Originally set up in 1941, as a response to the thousands and thousands of buildings blitzed during the Second World War, the initial premise of the NFDC was for the reuse of the materials in homes, offices and factories that had been bombed out.

All rather apt, then, give the current mood and the discourse over demolition and reuse. He says the industry will have to diversify and some, by dint of their size, are doing that more quickly than others. But it is wrong, he adds, to say that demolition firms simply want to knock buildings down rather than refurbish or reuse.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 choose to knock buildings down, we get asked to knock buildings down 鈥� there is a massive difference,鈥� he points out.

For him, demolition is not being involved enough by clients and firms further up the chain in the whole of the construction process. 鈥淧lans go in for the construction but it鈥檚 all a bit last minute for demolition. Get us involved at the beginning, the industry has always wanted to be involved at the planning stage. Include us and we can work together.鈥�

He says demolition is too often, unfairly, seen as a dirty industry. Rudall says that is wrong. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a great industry to be in, you can get very well educated, we invest in employees.鈥�

The sector鈥檚 intake ranges from graduates to former prisoners. 鈥淧eople make mistakes,鈥� he says of ex-offenders and adds firms in the sector are working with the Ministry of Justice to get them into the industry.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e as employable as the next person. Why aren鈥檛 people allowed second chances? It鈥檚 irrelevant what background you鈥檙e from. Are you capable of doing the work?鈥�

Sector workloads are currently holding up, although he is concerned that demolition contractors are still prepared to take on all-risk deals 鈥� as the term implies, all the risk is loaded onto those signing up, which seems extraordinary in this day and age.

鈥淚t鈥檚 very scary,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 legal, we鈥檝e had barristers look at it it. You could lose your profit, even the business.

鈥淵ou don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 in the ground for starter鈥檚. Sometimes people sign up for all risk on asbestos [removal], which is something I would advise nobody to do. People sign up more often when workloads are low.鈥�

We鈥檙e not construction, we work in line with them. We鈥檙e more akin to the waste industry

Like others right now, demolition firms are in danger of catching a cold from housebuilding鈥檚 woes. 鈥淗ousebuilding will have a big impact and normally we would be demolishing now for next year.

鈥淔irms have seen a slight downturn but they are not too despondent in terms of doom and gloom. We鈥檙e not in the same position as we were in 2009/10.鈥�

He has a final point to make. Those that think the demolition sector is part of the construction industry, think again. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not construction, we work in line with them.

鈥淲e鈥檙e more akin to the waste industry. We deal with waste and waste structures. We鈥檙e the binmen of the construction industry.鈥�