Construction Market Data

Fri March 29 2024

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Sub-contractor Pay Trends February 2020

Record February for freelancers before pandemic hit economy

Hudson Contract delivers the most accurate indications of pay trends across the construction industry, using payroll data for over 2,200 construction companies to publish the average pay for a spectrum of 17 different trades now split across ten regions.

Freelancers enjoyed the strongest February earnings on record, according to our latest figures.

Analysis of payroll data for more than 2,200 construction companies in England and Wales shows a weekly average of £924 for tradespeople, a 0.3 per cent increase on January. This represents growth of 3.9 per cent on February 2019 and continued the strong start to 2020, as revealed in January.

The West Midlands was the best-performing region with average earnings rising by 3.7 per cent to £991.The North West also saw strong growth, with average earnings rising by 2.9 per cent to £880.

Ian Anfield, managing director of Hudson Contract, said: “Of course, we have now entered uncharted waters with the coronavirus epidemic and are already seeing a slowdown in activity.

“Before the virus reared its ugly head, builders were benefiting from the post-election improvement in business confidence and pent-up demand for new projects.

“This was echoed by last month’s purchasing managers index which suggested a return to growth in the sector.

“We will be keeping a close eye on the impact of the pandemic, are well prepared for the inevitable disruption and can only hope it is over quickly.”

Region February 2020 Average Month on Month % Change Year on Year % Change
North East £766 -1.0% 0.1%
North West £880 2.9% 12.2%
Yorkshire and the Humber £828 0.1% -1.4%
East Midlands £950 -0.2% 4.0%
West Midlands £991 3.7% 4.6%
Wales £802 -2.7% -1.7%
East of England £966 -0.2% 2.2%
London £914 -3.7% 0.1%
South East £932 -1.6% 6.1%
South West £858 -0.9% 9.0%

North East

NORTH EAST Nov-19 Dec-19 Jan-20 Feb-20
CIVIL ENGINEERING £798 £1,416 £827 £798
ELECTRICAL £854 - £1,427 £909
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £739 £986 £1,121 £656
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £834 £1,081 £723 £737
INSULATION £732 £1,123 £768 £817
JOINERY £732 £750 £717
PLASTERING £747 £600 £702 £739
ROOFING £964 £677 £748 £773
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £405 £569 £217 £392
SHOP FITTING £689 - £680 £723
SPECIALIST TRADES £872 £754 £588 £604

North West

NORTH WEST Nov-19 Dec-19 Jan-20 Feb-20
BRICKLAYING £762 £908 £741 £809
CIVIL ENGINEERING £786 £1,038 £803 £794
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £765 £808 £799 £795
ELECTRICAL £935 £1,082 £868 £891
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £689 £667 £931 £731
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £1,032 £917 £992 £1,076
INSULATION £700 £1,156 £614 £802
JOINERY £1,191 £571 £1,121 £1,184
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £1,175 £979 £1,270 £1,067
PLASTERING £681 £770 £653 £596
PLUMBING £986 £857 £729 £893
ROOFING £967 £874 £882 £860
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £708 £1,140 £700 £673
SHOP FITTING £1,177 £987 £1,065 £1,190
SPECIALIST TRADES £795 £1,018 £768 £813
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £645 £558 £614 £613
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £1,012 £802 £788 £969

Yorkshire & Humber

YORKSHIRE & HUMBER Nov-19 Dec-19 Jan-20 Feb-20
BRICKLAYING £740 £948 £690 £715
CIVIL ENGINEERING £828 £1,114 £834 £833
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £810 £865 £886 £815
ELECTRICAL £988 £868 £899 £920
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £890 £883 £808 £846
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £832 £888 £822 £830
INSULATION £762 £976 £653 £790
JOINERY £738 £802 £754 £779
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £1,100 £690 £939 £972
PLASTERING £809 £1,241 £815 £831
PLUMBING £782 £839 £876 £831
ROOFING £673 £906 £699 £679
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £550 £921 £524 £512
SHOP FITTING £1,378 £718 £1,236 £1,433
SPECIALIST TRADES £854 £880 £1,038 £777
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £956 £432 £964 £1,195
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £869 £865 £692 £797

East Midlands

EAST MIDLANDS Nov-19 Dec-19 Jan-20 Feb-20
CIVIL ENGINEERING £849 £1,238 £895 £905
ELECTRICAL £977 £640 £880 £970
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £1,120 £1,067 £1,010 £1,114
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £1,037 £1,064 £1,038 £1,023
INSULATION £927 £1,300 £848 £901
JOINERY £801 - £810 £775
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £1,824 £1,061 £1,855 £1,826
PLASTERING £827 £829 £939 £848
PLUMBING £882 £978 £1,240 £1,339
ROOFING £934 £1,125 £937 £932
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £860 £1,052 £778 £848
SHOP FITTING £692 - £1,763 £1,011
SPECIALIST TRADES £828 £1,048 £980 £853
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £968 - £617 £890
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £948 £1,261 £975 £982

West Midlands

WEST MIDLANDS Nov-19 Dec-19 Jan-20 Feb-20
BRICKLAYING £975 £1,210 £879 £866
CIVIL ENGINEERING £987 £1,096 £925 £1,003
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £657 £1,009 £676 £681
ELECTRICAL £1,245 £927 £1,423 £1,279
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £948 £1,238 £920 £952
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £915 £1,115 £1,125 £957
INSULATION £845 £1,859 £762 £861
JOINERY £1,124 £689 £1,256 £1,070
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £1,574 £649 £1,540 £1,863
PLASTERING £635 £699 £745 £629
PLUMBING £1,183 £699 £1,484 £1,151
ROOFING £578 £1,076 £596 £578
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £634 £1,233 £720 £673
SHOP FITTING £1,239 £630 £1,597 £1,223
SPECIALIST TRADES £1,022 £1,062 £733 £1,012
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £853 £1,009 £697 £790

Wales

WALES Nov-19 Dec-19 Jan-20 Feb-20
CIVIL ENGINEERING £767 £957 £769 £781
ELECTRICAL £918 £882 £894 £991
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £1,263 £766 £1,760 £1,193
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £907 £905 £875 £915
JOINERY £953 - £569 £429
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING - - £662 £689
PLASTERING £1,505 £585 £1,260 £1,365
PLUMBING £914 £1,445 £870 £986
ROOFING £551 £836 £467 £550
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £730 £814 £688 £691
SPECIALIST TRADES £812 £959 £810 £867
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £1,002 £705 £749 £659
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £1,185 £982 £1,320 £733

East of England

EAST OF ENGLAND Nov-19 Dec-19 Jan-20 Feb-20
BRICKLAYING £804 £1,435 £783 £791
CIVIL ENGINEERING £959 £1,307 £979 £978
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £781 £942 £831 £836
ELECTRICAL £1,451 £709 £1,476 £1,465
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £908 £953 £1,032 £985
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £962 £848 £943 £973
INSULATION £1,012 £905 £936 £997
JOINERY £1,200 £955 £1,363 £1,264
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £1,181 £829 £1,155 £1,067
PLASTERING £872 £943 £887 £879
PLUMBING £1,324 £1,120 £1,420 £1,306
ROOFING £806 £970 £777 £814
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £918 £977 £903 £914
SHOP FITTING £1,192 £708 £1,095 £1,698
SPECIALIST TRADES £819 £1,055 £832 £843
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £686 - £639 £728
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £735 £907 £706 £741

London

LONDON Nov-19 Dec-19 Jan-20 Feb-20
BRICKLAYING £750 £1,042 £714 £750
CIVIL ENGINEERING £840 £1,121 £821 £838
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £808 £885 - -
ELECTRICAL £1,023 £929 £1,297 £1,075
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £765 £978 £867 £812
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £1,068 £868 £1,229 £1,104
INSULATION £896 £517 £1,710 £765
JOINERY £1,158 £1,763 £1,173 £1,170
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £991 £1,024 £1,290 £942
PLASTERING £695 £878 £643 £779
PLUMBING £1,117 £914 £1,489 £1,204
ROOFING £916 £1,001 £838 £937
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £1,033 £1,107 £1,012 £961
SHOP FITTING £838 £1,549 £1,984 £809
SPECIALIST TRADES £1,122 £1,124 £1,079 £1,100
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £582 - £823 £669
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £575 £817 £467 £525

South East

SOUTH EAST Nov-19 Dec-19 Jan-20 Feb-20
BRICKLAYING £820 £1,234 £778 £798
CIVIL ENGINEERING £828 £1,192 £841 £836
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £1,241 £905 £1,031 £1,221
ELECTRICAL £1,318 £1,138 £1,481 £1,337
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £870 £869 £891 £933
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £889 £1,014 £925 £899
INSULATION - £369 £950 £950
JOINERY £1,042 £693 £1,120 £1,028
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £1,061 £842 £1,497 £1,099
PLASTERING £683 £970 £777 £775
PLUMBING £1,111 £861 £1,286 £1,118
ROOFING £799 £1,011 £786 £775
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £834 £949 £810 £844
SHOP FITTING £1,357 £676 £1,171 £1,264
SPECIALIST TRADES £872 £1,067 £867 £881
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £766 £1,210 £782 £807
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £946 £997 £804 £960

South West

SOUTH WEST Nov-19 Dec-19 Jan-20 Feb-20
BRICKLAYING £1,474 £949 £1,289 £1,735
CIVIL ENGINEERING £808 £832 £757 £800
ELECTRICAL £750 £720 £822 £779
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £676 £820 £891 £938
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £862 £871 £978 £876
INSULATION £1,243 £848 £1,260 £1,300
JOINERY £1,076 £1,386 £1,321 £1,155
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £687 £934 £657 £723
PLASTERING £809 £1,138 £677 £682
PLUMBING £1,764 £932 £1,335 £1,750
ROOFING £856 £798 £760 £847
SPECIALIST TRADES £740 £996 £1,253 £424
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £654 £913 £683 £676