Construction Market Data

Fri March 29 2024

Related Information

Sub-contractor Pay Trends April 2017

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 10 regions.

There’s been a dramatic fall in earnings since last month – down in every region and by 5% on average. And yet, appearances can be deceptive.

Hudson Contract Managing Director Ian Anfield explains: “There’s less cause for concern than you might imagine just by looking at the raw data. You have to take into account that there were only 17 traditional working days during April, compared to 23 in March and 20 in February. So the earnings dive is simply a consequence of the Easter break coupled with school holidays rather than anything else.  

“It’s also a reminder that, unlike their PAYE counterparts whose March earnings will have been unaffected, freelancers only earn when they’re at work, and there’s no entitlement to holiday pay.”

National Weekly Average Earnings April 2017:  £801

Region April 201 Average Change from March 2017
North East £690.00 -2.75%
North West £705.00 -5.11%
Yorkshire & Humber £732.00 -4.78%
East Midlands £806.00 -8.68%
West Midlands £836.00 -2.87%
Wales £708.00 -3.95%
East of England £878.00 -5.35%
London £807.00 -5.20%
South East £825.00 -6.18%
South West £746.00 -5.09%

Individual trades – winners and losers:
As far as the trades are concerned, and this is highly unusual, there are no winners this month.  Hardest hit are steel and timber frame erectors and surfacing contractors with decreases of 18% and 11% respectively.

Further evidence that the earnings decline is a temporary blip comes by way of the latest Markit/CIPS UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index, which reports growth soared to a four-month high during April.

Key reason for the continued expansion was put down to greater workloads, with civil engineering the leading sector performer, growing at its fastest rate in over a year. Housebuilding growth also hit a high for 2017. 

North East

NORTH EAST Jan-17 Feb-17 Mar-17 Apr-17
CIVIL ENGINEERING  £724  £837  £867  £773
ELECTRICAL  £619  £694  £637  £746
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE  £546  £439  £466
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION  £648  £687  £737  £732
INSULATION  £627  £708  £670  £654
PLASTERING  £636  £642  £619  £594
ROOFING  £466  £586  £501  £854
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING  £405  £411  £449  £381
SHOP FITTING  £655  £733  £696  £614
SPECIALIST TRADES  £643  £665  £661  £505

North West

NORTH WEST Jan-17 Feb-17 Mar-17 Apr-17
BRICKLAYING  £660  £690  £683  £688
CIVIL ENGINEERING  £661  £737  £721  £679
DEMOLITION & WRECKING  £783  £826  £750  £699
ELECTRICAL  £761  £791  £813  £749
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE  £708  £740  £765  £671
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION  £685  £752  £740  £780
INSULATION  £1,000  £1,307  £1,069  £1,266
JOINERY  £681  £780  £766  £727
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING  £531  £569  £607  £515
PLASTERING  £477  £733  £550  £515
PLUMBING  £688  £791  £760  £588
ROOFING  £783  £869  £830  £772
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING  £475  £524  £518  £496
SHOP FITTING  £1,009  £930  £1,040  £918
SPECIALIST TRADES  £690  £839  £760  £734
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION  £608  £671  £880  £650
SURFACING CONTRACTORS  £580  £579  £593  £548

Yorkshire & Humber

YORKSHIRE & HUMBER Jan-17 Feb-17 Mar-17 Apr-17
BRICKLAYING  £593  £612  £642  £660
CIVIL ENGINEERING  £690  £728  £725  £670
DEMOLITION & WRECKING  £497  £546  £535  £486
ELECTRICAL  £815  £850  £910  £799
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE  £735  £822  £876  £893
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION  £685  £760  £756  £707
JOINERY  £743  £932  £926  £760
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING  £811  £940  £968  £943
PLASTERING  £715  £695  £706  £692
PLUMBING  £807  £702  £706  £685
ROOFING  £609  £646  £636  £635
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING  £448  £552  £535  £513
SHOP FITTING  £890  £1,037  £1,012  £1,111
SPECIALIST TRADES  £754  £951  £915  £954
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION  £1,010  £949  £821  £927
SURFACING CONTRACTORS  £683  £821  £819  £748

East Midlands

EAST MIDLANDS Jan-17 Feb-17 Mar-17 Apr-17
CIVIL ENGINEERING  £705  £776  £771  £712
DEMOLITION & WRECKING  £567  £631  £663  £583
ELECTRICAL  £776  £973  £989  £930
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE  £953  £903  £1,093  £915
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION  £849  £1,010  £987  £969
INSULATION  £651  £728  £780  £696
JOINERY  £799  £843  £849  £752
PLASTERING  £711  £721  £738  £693
PLUMBING  £837  £886  £906  £867
ROOFING  £837  £844  £853  £756
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING  £654  £729  £757  £724
SHOP FITTING  £1,245  £1,156  £1,040  £1,465
SPECIALIST TRADES  £827  £893  £940  £887
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION  £538  £1,039  £1,269  £862
SURFACING CONTRACTORS  £677  £798  £828  £740

West Midlands

WEST MIDLANDS Jan-17 Feb-17 Mar-17 Apr-17
BRICKLAYING  £683  £699  £571  £691
CIVIL ENGINEERING  £765  £869  £854  £835
DEMOLITION & WRECKING  £603  £676  £666  £685
ELECTRICAL  £1,027  £1,153  £1,170  £1,126
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE  £779  £918  £949  £854
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION  £792  £844  £819  £818
INSULATION  £714  £738  £726  £624
JOINERY  £699  £815  £795  £804
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING  £742  £816  £723  £705
PLASTERING  £650  £710  £766  £616
PLUMBING  £1,163  £1,288  £1,223  £980
ROOFING  £594  £550  £528  £557
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING  £908  £795  £631  £696
SHOP FITTING  £1,326  £1,305  £1,405  £1,086
SPECIALIST TRADES  £702  £943  £907  £959
SURFACING CONTRACTORS  £611  £781  £811  £736

Wales

WALES Jan-17 Feb-17 Mar-17 Apr-17
CIVIL ENGINEERING  £573  £693  £706  £671
ELECTRICAL  £951  £617  £705  £697
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE  £1,322  £1,381  £1,204  £1,221
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION  £791  £808  £771  £742
JOINERY  £722  £420  £476  £341
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING  £481  £545  £539  £427
PLUMBING  £758  £824  £817  £840
ROOFING  £459  £496
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING  £516  £639  £679  £620
SPECIALIST TRADES  £743  £709  £915  £698
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION  £666  £706  £621  £596
SURFACING CONTRACTORS  £1,453  £1,329  £1,830

East of England

EAST OF ENGLAND Jan-17 Feb-17 Mar-17 Apr-17
BRICKLAYING  £620  £706  £720  £706
CIVIL ENGINEERING  £773  £838  £831  £775
DEMOLITION & WRECKING  £561  £627  £650  £653
ELECTRICAL  £1,129  £1,258  £1,286  £1,224
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE  £885  £881  £941  £910
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION  £798  £876  £870  £838
INSULATION  £870  £1,220  £1,259  £1,210
JOINERY  £1,038  £1,115  £1,152  £1,094
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING  £827  £915  £950  £886
PLASTERING  £1,025  £962  £917  £1,006
PLUMBING  £1,142  £1,428  £1,442  £1,358
ROOFING  £632  £709  £694  £703
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING  £714  £788  £807  £753
SHOP FITTING  £983  £1,149  £1,215  £1,253
SPECIALIST TRADES  £933  £970  £1,024  £950
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION  £716  £688  £659  £626
SURFACING CONTRACTORS  £623  £685  £681  £621

London

LONDON Jan-17 Feb-17 Mar-17 Apr-17
BRICKLAYING  £583  £672  £709  £673
CIVIL ENGINEERING  £727  £797  £783  £730
DEMOLITION & WRECKING  £763  £820  £655  £465
ELECTRICAL  £855  £918  £942  £912
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE  £1,301  £1,317  £1,371  £1,512
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION  £798  £925  £905  £887
INSULATION  £661  £811  £903  £830
JOINERY  £831  £928  £1,003  £918
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING  £1,058  £1,076  £1,136  £1,041
PLASTERING  £942  £932  £1,272  £1,104
PLUMBING  £841  £937  £937  £905
ROOFING  £649  £671  £744  £769
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING  £983  £1,149  £1,084  £1,098
SHOP FITTING  £913  £765  £858  £963
SPECIALIST TRADES  £860  £982  £982  £900
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION  £737  £718  £740  £639
SURFACING CONTRACTORS  £400  £425  £1,558  £1,403

South East

SOUTH EAST Jan-17 Feb-17 Mar-17 Apr-17
BRICKLAYING  £584  £720  £760  £741
CIVIL ENGINEERING  £665  £748  £738  £695
DEMOLITION & WRECKING  £879  £1,276  £1,280  £1,161
ELECTRICAL  £1,185  £1,236  £1,236  £1,186
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE  £857  £812  £838  £745
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION  £756  £829  £846  £790
INSULATION  £709  £725  £800  £692
JOINERY  £886  £1,017  £974  £978
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING  £936  £994  £1,120  £1,011
PLASTERING  £585  £687  £699  £637
PLUMBING  £979  £1,048  £1,092  £1,016
ROOFING  £609  £683  £688  £663
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING  £686  £773  £786  £746
SHOP FITTING  £788  £1,148  £1,265  £1,255
SPECIALIST TRADES  £787  £742  £776  £744
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION  £629  £789  £741  £700
SURFACING CONTRACTORS  £678  £768  £780  £716

South West

SOUTH WEST Jan-17 Feb-17 Mar-17 Apr-17
BRICKLAYING  £433  £450  £500  £300
CIVIL ENGINEERING  £621  £696  £693  £647
ELECTRICAL  £631  £666  £687  £668
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE  £562  £627  £595  £532
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION  £748  £824  £794  £774
INSULATION  £955  £1,364  £1,298  £1,198
JOINERY  £1,131  £1,131  £1,204  £1,063
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING  £822  £711  £635  £557
PLASTERING  £636  £688  £691  £756
PLUMBING  £1,159  £1,090  £1,142  £1,137
ROOFING  £699  £709  £729  £730
SHOP FITTING  £1,021  £1,428  £1,184  £1,203
SPECIALIST TRADES  £1,105  £1,017  £1,069  £1,072
SURFACING CONTRACTORS  £600  £635  £683  £613