Construction Market Data

Thu March 28 2024

Related Information

Sub-contractor Pay Trends June 2020

Demand for groundworkers points to v-shaped recovery

Hudson Contract delivers the most accurate indications of pay trends across the construction industry, using monthly payroll data for more than 2,500 construction companies to publish the average pay for a spectrum of 17 different trades now split across ten regions.

Demand for groundworkers, a leading indicator of housebuilding activity, has passed the pre-lockdown peak, suggesting a V-shaped recovery is on the cards for the UK construction sector.

As the industry’s biggest payer of subcontractors, our data shows the number of groundworks operatives paid last week reached 6,467.

This compares to the previous high of 6,261 in the week commencing March 16 and the low of 1,735 in the week commencing April 20.

Groundworkers typically prepare construction sites for the shallow foundations of new homes.

Ian Anfield, managing director, said: “Every trade follows the groundworkers so they are the best indicator of what is happening.

“We are quite surprised at these findings because a number of our large clients have not yet returned to full capacity with their labour needs.

“But many smaller construction firms are very busy as a result of pent-up demand to complete smaller housing developments.

“Our field agents tell us that housebuilding activity is recovering strongly in places like Greater Manchester but more slowly in the East Midlands.

“Interestingly, we paid more operatives with Leicester postcodes after the second lockdown was announced than we did before the measures were reintroduced.”

Overall, labour demand dropped to 30 per cent of capacity during April but has now recovered to 74 per cent, according to Hudson.

Meanwhile, earnings for subcontractors continued to recover last month.

Analysis of Hudson payroll data for more than 2,500 construction companies shows average weekly earnings of £848 for freelancers in June, compared to £827 in May and £734 in April.

The best-performing regions for earnings growth were the South West (+12 per cent), London (+7.4 per cent) and the North East (+4.4 per cent).

Region June 2020 Average Month on Month % Change Year on Year % Change
North East £760 4.4% -1.3%
North West £807 1.5% -4.8%
Yorkshire and the Humber £761 1.1% -9.6%
East Midlands £816 0.2% -7.6%
West Midlands £887 -2.2% -4.7%
Wales £817 0.1% 0.6%
East of England £896 2.3% -3.7%
London £925 7.4% 1.2%
South East £889 1.5% -1.7%
South West £878 12.0% 9.6%

North East

NORTH EAST Nov-19 Dec-19 Jan-20 Feb-20 Mar-20 Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20
CIVIL ENGINEERING £798 £1,416 £827 £798 £708 £636 £682 £786
ELECTRICAL £854 - £1,427 £909 £774 £583 £788 £766
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £739 £986 £1,121 £656 £618 - £628 £667
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £834 £1,081 £723 £737 £707 £583 £633 £665
INSULATION £732 £1,123 £768 £817 £780 £503 £801 £768
JOINERY £732 £750 £717 £619 £281 £557 £666
PLASTERING £747 £600 £702 £739 £696 £680 £627 £621
ROOFING £964 £677 £748 £773 £855 £463 £1,085 £943
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £405 £569 £217 £392 £398 £430 £422
SHOP FITTING £689 - £680 £723 £683 £662 £893 £1,019
SPECIALIST TRADES £872 £754 £588 £604 £669 £560 £602 £737

North West

NORTH WEST Nov-19 Dec-19 Jan-20 Feb-20 Mar-20 Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20
BRICKLAYING £762 £908 £741 £809 £720 £684 £731 £714
CIVIL ENGINEERING £786 £1,038 £803 £794 £775 £582 £780 £793
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £765 £808 £799 £795 £777 £563 £748 £671
ELECTRICAL £935 £1,082 £868 £891 £931 £695 £779 £846
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £689 £667 £931 £731 £739 £701 £783 £755
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £1,032 £917 £992 £1,076 £1,022 £920 £910 £977
INSULATION £700 £1,156 £614 £802 £684 £423 £544 £758
JOINERY £1,191 £571 £1,121 £1,184 £1,154 £799 £1,178 £1,218
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £1,175 £979 £1,270 £1,067 £1,037 £878 £669 £813
PLASTERING £681 £770 £653 £596 £724 £713 £533 £410
PLUMBING £986 £857 £729 £893 £861 £1,329 £890 £808
ROOFING £967 £874 £882 £860 £918 £719 £883 £846
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £708 £1,140 £700 £673 £590 £531 £618 £648
SHOP FITTING £1,177 £987 £1,065 £1,190 £1,053 £451 £1,103 £914
SPECIALIST TRADES £795 £1,018 £768 £813 £772 £711 £764 £732
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £645 £558 £614 £613 £678 £273 £635 £528
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £1,012 £802 £788 £969 £943 £705 £816 £894

Yorkshire & Humber

YORKSHIRE & HUMBER Nov-19 Dec-19 Jan-20 Feb-20 Mar-20 Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20
BRICKLAYING £740 £948 £690 £715 £820 £621 £709 £708
CIVIL ENGINEERING £828 £1,114 £834 £833 £990 £674 £749 £743
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £810 £865 £886 £815 £589 £646 £609 £754
ELECTRICAL £988 £868 £899 £920 £1,385 £799 £732 £823
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £890 £883 £808 £846 £779 £707 £809 £808
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £832 £888 £822 £830 £920 £707 £768 £765
INSULATION £762 £976 £653 £790 £869 £559 £710 £685
JOINERY £738 £802 £754 £779 £1,161 £497 £694 £709
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £1,100 £690 £939 £972 £1,343 £572 £787 £829
PLASTERING £809 £1,241 £815 £831 £669 £696 £890 £787
PLUMBING £782 £839 £876 £831 £992 £566 £592 £685
ROOFING £673 £906 £699 £679 £577 £527 £597 £567
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £550 £921 £524 £512 £700 £543 £596 £559
SHOP FITTING £1,378 £718 £1,236 £1,433 £1,623 £439 £915 £1,021
SPECIALIST TRADES £854 £880 £1,038 £777 £898 £736 £759 £677
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £956 £432 £964 £1,195 - £845 £1,062 £1,026
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £869 £865 £692 £797 £844 £675 £688 £761

East Midlands

EAST MIDLANDS Nov-19 Dec-19 Jan-20 Feb-20 Mar-20 Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20
CIVIL ENGINEERING £849 £1,238 £895 £905 £859 £615 £699 £737
ELECTRICAL £977 £640 £880 £970 £749 £831 £875 £827
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £1,120 £1,067 £1,010 £1,114 £1,042 £928 £833 £759
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £1,037 £1,064 £1,038 £1,023 £1,001 £842 £987 £934
INSULATION £927 £1,300 £848 £901 £840 £980 £721 £790
JOINERY £801 - £810 £775 £836 £635 £681 £763
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £1,824 £1,061 £1,855 £1,826 £1,558 £1,532 £1,334 £1,378
PLASTERING £827 £829 £939 £848 £760 £639 £723 £751
PLUMBING £882 £978 £1,240 £1,339 £1,072 £956 £968 £973
ROOFING £934 £1,125 £937 £932 £844 £642 £729 £695
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £860 £1,052 £778 £848 £785 £518 £678 £728
SHOP FITTING £692 - £1,763 £1,011 £1,171 £982 £823 £662
SPECIALIST TRADES £828 £1,048 £980 £853 £902 £795 £817 £811
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £968 - £617 £890 £673 £678 £537 £645
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £948 £1,261 £975 £982 £894 £714 £805 £806

West Midlands

WEST MIDLANDS Nov-19 Dec-19 Jan-20 Feb-20 Mar-20 Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20
BRICKLAYING £975 £1,210 £879 £866 £716 £728 £969 £884
CIVIL ENGINEERING £987 £1,096 £925 £1,003 £821 £652 £866 £858
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £657 £1,009 £676 £681 £779 £758 £599 £642
ELECTRICAL £1,245 £927 £1,423 £1,279 £1,120 £1,143 £1,126 £1,217
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £948 £1,238 £920 £952 £761 £764 £811 £828
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £915 £1,115 £1,125 £957 £789 £620 £809 £813
INSULATION £845 £1,859 £762 £861 £733 £888 £1,034 £775
JOINERY £1,124 £689 £1,256 £1,070 £644 £706 £1,026 £1,114
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £1,574 £649 £1,540 £1,863 £992 £1,074 £1,960 £1,306
PLASTERING £635 £699 £745 £629 £747 £636 £711 £700
PLUMBING £1,183 £699 £1,484 £1,151 £789 £945 £1,043 £748
ROOFING £578 £1,076 £596 £578 £677 £439 £531 £539
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £634 £1,233 £720 £673 £544 £608 £653 £646
SHOP FITTING £1,239 £630 £1,597 £1,223 £1,132 £493 £1,262 £1,611
SPECIALIST TRADES £1,022 £1,062 £733 £1,012 £787 £744 £799 £926
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £853 £1,009 £697 £790 £961 £685 £677 £708

Wales

WALES Nov-19 Dec-19 Jan-20 Feb-20 Mar-20 Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20
CIVIL ENGINEERING £767 £957 £769 £781 £766 £682 £759 £778
ELECTRICAL £918 £882 £894 £991 £990 - £966 £406
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £1,263 £766 £1,760 £1,193 £1,578 £1,300 £1,308 £1,300
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £907 £905 £875 £915 £892 £712 £825 £800
JOINERY £953 - £569 £429 £530 £638 - -
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING - - £662 £689 £762 £411 £580 £427
PLASTERING £1,505 £585 £1,260 £1,365 £1,225 - £1,400 £1,260
PLUMBING £914 £1,445 £870 £986 £971 £720 £592 £859
ROOFING £551 £836 £467 £550 £509 £366 £607 -
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £730 £814 £688 £691 £621 £477 £520 £556
SPECIALIST TRADES £812 £959 £810 £867 £910 £583 £791 £795
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £1,002 £705 £749 £659 £909 £436 £980 £840
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £1,185 £982 £1,320 £733 £1,392 £795 £600 -

East of England

EAST OF ENGLAND Nov-19 Dec-19 Jan-20 Feb-20 Mar-20 Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20
BRICKLAYING £804 £1,435 £783 £791 £737 £666 £738 £680
CIVIL ENGINEERING £959 £1,307 £979 £978 £912 £575 £829 £784
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £781 £942 £831 £836 £790 £715 £714 £713
ELECTRICAL £1,451 £709 £1,476 £1,465 £1,492 £1,174 £1,295 £1,344
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £908 £953 £1,032 £985 £966 £744 £928 £931
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £962 £848 £943 £973 £911 £765 £857 £851
INSULATION £1,012 £905 £936 £997 £937 £684 £1,047 £952
JOINERY £1,200 £955 £1,363 £1,264 £1,247 £1,527 £884 £1,168
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £1,181 £829 £1,155 £1,067 £1,063 £787 £920 £1,102
PLASTERING £872 £943 £887 £879 £969 £853 £1,013 £815
PLUMBING £1,324 £1,120 £1,420 £1,306 £1,298 £1,079 £979 £1,039
ROOFING £806 £970 £777 £814 £851 £740 £755 £796
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £918 £977 £903 £914 £793 £711 £730 £745
SHOP FITTING £1,192 £708 £1,095 £1,698 £1,492 £1,486 £1,133 £1,424
SPECIALIST TRADES £819 £1,055 £832 £843 £775 £584 £736 £754
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £686 - £639 £728 £697 £392 £780 £641
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £735 £907 £706 £741 £670 £459 £623 £626

London

LONDON Nov-19 Dec-19 Jan-20 Feb-20 Mar-20 Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20
BRICKLAYING £750 £1,042 £714 £750 £704 £643 £741 £746
CIVIL ENGINEERING £840 £1,121 £821 £838 £830 £635 £798 £806
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £808 £885 - - - - - £651
ELECTRICAL £1,023 £929 £1,297 £1,075 £966 £730 £807 £1,037
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £765 £978 £867 £812 £894 £531 £671 £681
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £1,068 £868 £1,229 £1,104 £1,105 £935 £924 £1,012
INSULATION £896 £517 £1,710 £765 £806 £1,370 £711 £872
JOINERY £1,158 £1,763 £1,173 £1,170 £963 £789 £643 £767
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £991 £1,024 £1,290 £942 £918 £925 £1,040 £1,185
PLASTERING £695 £878 £643 £779 £743 - - -
PLUMBING £1,117 £914 £1,489 £1,204 £1,158 £914 £1,161 £1,158
ROOFING £916 £1,001 £838 £937 £879 £766 £722 £858
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £1,033 £1,107 £1,012 £961 £836 £727 £820 £908
SHOP FITTING £838 £1,549 £1,984 £809 £766 £947 £1,244 £1,101
SPECIALIST TRADES £1,122 £1,124 £1,079 £1,100 £973 £934 £924 £973
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £582 - £823 £669 £662 £776 £700 £1,047
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £575 £817 £467 £525 £500 - - £566

South East

SOUTH EAST Nov-19 Dec-19 Jan-20 Feb-20 Mar-20 Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20
BRICKLAYING £820 £1,234 £778 £798 £726 £650 £846 £943
CIVIL ENGINEERING £828 £1,192 £841 £836 £816 £589 £753 £785
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £1,241 £905 £1,031 £1,221 £1,207 £1,012 £1,070 £1,188
ELECTRICAL £1,318 £1,138 £1,481 £1,337 £1,447 £950 £1,191 £1,220
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £870 £869 £891 £933 £908 £722 £803 £777
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £889 £1,014 £925 £899 £835 £767 £831 £842
INSULATION - £369 £950 £950 £997 £712 £902 £902
JOINERY £1,042 £693 £1,120 £1,028 £950 £929 £1,065 £1,206
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £1,061 £842 £1,497 £1,099 £1,058 £654 £1,193 £1,051
PLASTERING £683 £970 £777 £775 £739 £325 £673 £727
PLUMBING £1,111 £861 £1,286 £1,118 £918 £1,004 £781 £940
ROOFING £799 £1,011 £786 £775 £719 £614 £708 £751
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £834 £949 £810 £844 £796 £625 £666 £674
SHOP FITTING £1,357 £676 £1,171 £1,264 £1,321 £827 £1,972 £1,096
SPECIALIST TRADES £872 £1,067 £867 £881 £820 £1,068 £742 £747
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £766 £1,210 £782 £807 £786 £664 £723 £762
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £946 £997 £804 £960 £879 £768 £594 £609

South West

SOUTH WEST Nov-19 Dec-19 Jan-20 Feb-20 Mar-20 Apr-20 May-20 Jun-20
BRICKLAYING £1,474 £949 £1,289 £1,735 £1,615 £726 £540 -
CIVIL ENGINEERING £808 £832 £757 £800 £768 £608 £775 £722
ELECTRICAL £750 £720 £822 £779 £744 £585 £655 £719
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £676 £820 £891 £938 £937 £862 - -
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £862 £871 £978 £876 £829 £744 £854 £848
INSULATION £1,243 £848 £1,260 £1,300 £1,262 £1,125 £1,201 £1,442
JOINERY £1,076 £1,386 £1,321 £1,155 £1,036 £723 £898 £1,018
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £687 £934 £657 £723 £713 £437 £678 £726
PLASTERING £809 £1,138 £677 £682 £591 £531 £687 £703
PLUMBING £1,764 £932 £1,335 £1,750 £1,650 £699 - £1,729
ROOFING £856 £798 £760 £847 £787 £527 £772 £784
SPECIALIST TRADES £740 £996 £1,253 £424 £999 £656 £774 £1,096
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £654 £913 £683 £676 £664 £574 £607 £591