Hudson Contract delivers the most accurate indications of pay trends across the construction industry, using payroll data for over 1,200 construction companies and 58,000 subbies to publish the average pay for the full spectrum of 17 different trades across five regions.

It’s the question everyone wants to know: Are we over the worst of the recession?

Comments Hudson Contract MD David Jackson: “I’d love to say ‘Yes, yes, yes!’ but the full picture has yet to emerge.”

• YES! Average pay is up on January levels
• YES! The number of operatives paid by Hudson Contract has been steadily increasing over the last six months
• BUT… And it is still a big but, pay levels remain down compared with three months ago

Figures just released by the Office for National Statistics show output across the industry is still struggling to recover – and compared to a year ago, construction volume is down by 11%, with an even greater reduction of 20% in private sector work.

“There seems to be something of a see-saw effect at present,” David Jackson says. “It’s not as if I can report new work compared to repair and maintenance is on the up over the last year. The fact is that when one has been on the increase in a quarter, the other has declined – and vice versa.

“Our clients are striving in every possible way to maintain their business during these tough economic times. Minimising costs wherever possible is still the prime objective – so Hudson Contract has a valuable role to play.

“We’re all hoping that as we finally move into spring, it won’t be just the plants that begin to grow and blossom.”

Hudson Contract’s ‘window on the construction industry’ gives you hard figures and data that is not available from any other source, with pay averages that reflect the amounts paid by a sample number of businesses – large and small – to specific trades over the twelve weeks to 28th February 2010. www.hudsoncontract.co.uk