Hudson Contract delivers the most accurate indications of pay trends across the construction industry, using payroll data for over 1,600 construction companiesand over 95,000 freelance builders to publish the average pay for the full spectrum of 17 different trades across five regions.

This time last year, there was deep snow on the ground, but with Christmas just around the corner, the weather has yet to make any real impact on the industry this winter. Which goes to show that November’s figures demonstrate just how much costs are again being squeezed.

In three of our five regions – the North-West, Midlands and South-East – earnings have tumbled by roughly 5% compared to three months ago. “The news is scarcely better elsewhere,” Hudson Contract Managing Director David Jackson observes.  “Earnings are also down in the South-West, which leaves only the North-East bucking the trend, with a fractional rise.”

General Construction has been hardest hit this month, with average earnings down by almost 9% across the country, closely followed by roofing, which has fallen by 8.7%.

Continues David Jackson:  “Despite the numbers, clients seem generally buoyant about the current market situation.  Although having said that, the good mood is the result of having more work than this time last year or the year before, rather than a celebration of full order books.

“Then again, the extra work brings problems of a different nature.  As a builder in London explained to me last week, the upturn means he needs to buy more materials and replace equipment.  But after two lean years, his firm’s credit rating isn’t good.  So the banks won’t lend, and equally, suppliers are not giving the same amount on credit, which makes cashflow a serious issue.

“Looking ahead to next year, the public sector spending cuts are likely to outweigh private enterprise recovery, and 2012 is likely to be tough.  Let’s just hope for a mild winter… at least our clients have the flexibility to add freelance labour to their projects as and when necessary, and respond swiftly to market fluctuations.”

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 30th November 2011.www.hudsoncontract.co.uk