Construction Market Data

Thu March 28 2024

Related Information

Sub-contractor Pay Trends October 2020

Hudson Contract: ‘Business as usual’ for construction despite national lockdown

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.

Construction activity continued to expand last month, according to the industry’s biggest payer of subcontractors.

Hudson Contract said it believed it would be “business as usual” for the majority of its clients during the second national lockdown.

The audit and payroll company made 146,700 payments to freelance tradespeople in October, an increase of 6.6 per cent on September.

Average earnings also increased month on month by 1.7 per cent to £890 per week.

Ian Anfield, managing director of Hudson, said: “Our clients are telling us they have full order books and that demand for skilled trades continues to outstrip supply. Our clients say it will be business as usual up to Christmas in spite of the new lockdown.

“Some clients report the extension of the self-employed support scheme could encourage people to stay at home, but that the vast majority of tradespeople are working and don’t want to be sitting at home on support schemes.

“We welcome the extra clarity from ministers that construction workplaces should stay open during the next four weeks.

“They have confirmed that builders merchants and estate agents will continue to trade and tradespeople will be able to enter homes.

“There is plenty of work around. The Government has committed to a lot of infrastructure spending and new projects are being announced every day.

“Measures such as Help to Buy, the stamp duty holiday and relaxed planning laws are supporting a buoyant housebuilding sector.

“Looking to next year, the end of free movement will cause disruption but countering that is reduced demand in January and February. Construction could struggle as stimulus packages like help to buy and the stamp duty holiday come to an end around March/April.”

The best-performing regions for earnings growth last month were the East Midlands (up 8.9 per cent), the East of England (up 4 per cent) and the North East (up 1.1 per cent).

Hudson delivers the most accurate indication of subcontractor pay trends across the construction industry, publishing the average pay for a spectrum of 17 different trades split across 10 regions in England and Wales.

Region October 2020 Average Month on Month % Change Year on Year % Change
North East £754 1.1% -3.2%
North West £875 0.3% 1.5%
Yorkshire and the Humber £838 2.4% -1.4%
East Midlands £928 8.9% -0.3%
West Midlands £915 1.0% -6.7%
Wales £892 1.0% 11.6%
East of England £987 4.0% 4.4%
London £849 -0.4% -4.4%
South East £927 -1.8% 0.8%
South West £850 1.7% 1.8%

It supplies statistics to the Bank of England to keep policymakers updated with real-time insights on demand for skilled labour.

North East

NORTH EAST Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20
CIVIL ENGINEERING £871 £940 £877 £888
ELECTRICAL £774 £739 £1,002 £1,015
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £541 £699 £635 £735
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £669 £640 £624 £686
INSULATION £795 £807 £1,028 £812
JOINERY £669 £692 £595 £646
PLASTERING £595 £620 £629 £694
ROOFING £1,114 £1,030 £772 £821
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £472 £447 £400 £428
SHOP FITTING £834 £947 £634 £658
SPECIALIST TRADES £564 £533 £495 £567

North West

NORTH WEST Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20
BRICKLAYING £776 £753 £718 £737
CIVIL ENGINEERING £815 £819 £764 £789
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £692 £741 £730 £795
ELECTRICAL £788 £804 £733 £810
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £780 £809 £710 £722
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £959 £952 £907 £939
INSULATION £590 £885 £675 £652
JOINERY £1,092 £1,283 £1,163 £1,292
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £995 £900 £979 £1,085
PLASTERING £646 £754 £1,078 £1,016
PLUMBING £965 £1,308 £1,121 £975
ROOFING £892 £783 £964 £860
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £637 £711 £682 £711
SHOP FITTING £830 £755 £1,110 £998
SPECIALIST TRADES £787 £866 £777 £816
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £558 £608 £771 £422
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £876 £889 £841 £952

Yorkshire & Humber

YORKSHIRE & HUMBER Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20
BRICKLAYING £792 £742 £725 £710
CIVIL ENGINEERING £819 £805 £751 £798
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £742 £708 £719 £714
ELECTRICAL £981 £983 £895 £1,178
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £829 £885 £887 £837
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £830 £794 £781 £822
INSULATION £666 £717 £690 £832
JOINERY £755 £717 £710 £726
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £1,012 £932 £920 £1,079
PLASTERING £777 £712 £699 £694
PLUMBING £695 £731 £695 £742
ROOFING £693 £660 £728 £680
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £586 £582 £597 £552
SHOP FITTING £1,175 £984 £1,456 £1,017
SPECIALIST TRADES £821 £794 £853 £982
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £1,099 £1,187 £1,170 £1,069
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £841 £949 £806 £890

East Midlands

EAST MIDLANDS Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20
CIVIL ENGINEERING £817 £813 £824 £885
ELECTRICAL £841 £921 £792 £985
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £885 £1,037 £875 £1,059
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £948 £925 £907 £1,005
INSULATION £919 £805 £829 £882
JOINERY £648 £641 £677 £783
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £1,480 £1,649 £1,563 £1,309
PLASTERING £764 £835 £699 £748
PLUMBING £1,039 £840 £1,004 £1,057
ROOFING £786 £759 £655 £718
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £752 £669 £719 £836
SHOP FITTING £763 £690 £1,005 £1,092
SPECIALIST TRADES £801 £734 £755 £826
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £898 £790 £1,050 £958
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £899 £836 £829 £890

West Midlands

WEST MIDLANDS Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20
BRICKLAYING £881 £741 £795 £885
CIVIL ENGINEERING £919 £906 £934 £998
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £692 £643 £642 £661
ELECTRICAL £1,322 £1,430 £1,298 £1,207
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £873 £750 £819 £872
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £872 £848 £803 £891
INSULATION £849 £894 £775 £878
JOINERY £1,052 £1,098 £1,194 £1,303
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £795 £865 £1,536 £1,518
PLASTERING £666 £620 £716 £653
PLUMBING £935 £925 £1,041 £890
ROOFING £588 £544 £475 £563
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £696 £670 £606 £634
SHOP FITTING £1,749 £1,865 £1,503 £1,064
SPECIALIST TRADES £973 £912 £903 £909
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £728 £735 £760 £812

Wales

WALES Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20
CIVIL ENGINEERING £829 £764 £758 £779
ELECTRICAL £1,201 £1,812 £824 £776
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £1,431 £1,538 £1,455 £1,394
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £872 £755 £687 £804
JOINERY - - - -
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £462 £489 £766 £685
PLASTERING £1,260 £1,225 £1,015 £1,423
PLUMBING £911 £716 £794 £869
ROOFING £923 £924 £821 £633
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £555 £574 £835 £697
SPECIALIST TRADES £863 £820 £762 £851
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £878 £809 £715 £695
SURFACING CONTRACTORS - - - -

East of England

EAST OF ENGLAND Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20
BRICKLAYING £764 £724 £732 £749
CIVIL ENGINEERING £889 £874 £893 £968
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £792 £725 £759 £830
ELECTRICAL £1,528 £1,462 £1,373 £1,439
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £893 £947 £953 £945
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £894 £893 £922 £937
INSULATION £915 £898 £865 £901
JOINERY £1,208 £1,305 £1,320 £1,336
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £1,028 £1,079 £1,123 £1,256
PLASTERING £1,250 £1,094 £1,076 £1,054
PLUMBING £1,104 £1,085 £1,108 £1,122
ROOFING £862 £769 £760 £802
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £801 £721 £783 £817
SHOP FITTING £1,356 £1,370 £1,485 £1,409
SPECIALIST TRADES £755 £733 £759 £807
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £830 £702 £655 £708
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £609 £595 £638 £662

London

LONDON Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20
BRICKLAYING £789 £787 £797 £830
CIVIL ENGINEERING £808 £814 £829 £851
DEMOLITION & WRECKING - £594 £607 £637
ELECTRICAL £919 £968 £965 £1,006
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £601 £817 £722 £563
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £958 £951 £958 £952
INSULATION £784 - - -
JOINERY £802 £802 £827 £874
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £998 £776 £716 £663
PLASTERING - - - -
PLUMBING £1,109 £1,175 £1,038 £1,092
ROOFING £884 £851 £748 £774
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £896 £853 £880 £913
SHOP FITTING £1,114 £1,122 £949 £835
SPECIALIST TRADES £1,078 £1,012 £1,007 £1,070
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £816 £738 £534 £583
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £600 - £550 £600

South East

SOUTH EAST Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20
BRICKLAYING £984 £907 £933 £910
CIVIL ENGINEERING £837 £834 £774 £786
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £1,153 £1,269 £1,204 £1,256
ELECTRICAL £1,307 £1,368 £1,222 £1,220
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £834 £856 £838 £928
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £870 £847 £828 £886
INSULATION £950 £597 £734 £675
JOINERY £1,097 £1,086 £1,287 £1,036
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £1,128 £1,245 £1,175 £1,179
PLASTERING £745 £645 £782 £722
PLUMBING £999 £981 £1,010 £964
ROOFING £785 £763 £771 £783
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £849 £836 £821 £844
SHOP FITTING £1,288 £1,190 £1,372 £1,241
SPECIALIST TRADES £791 £692 £804 £739
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £772 £698 £687 £667
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £957 £944 £909 £1,006

South West

SOUTH WEST Jul-20 Aug-20 Sep-20 Oct-20
BRICKLAYING - - - £600
CIVIL ENGINEERING £774 £790 £789 £794
ELECTRICAL £779 £788 £929 £882
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE - - - -
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £910 £870 £864 £864
INSULATION £1,455 £1,222 £1,185 £1,406
JOINERY £983 £1,012 £997 £936
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £712 £683 £711 £706
PLASTERING £904 £596 £681 £832
PLUMBING £1,702 £465 £1,333 £1,052
ROOFING £720 £765 £738 £794
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING - £1,135 £811 £802
SPECIALIST TRADES £812 £1,027 £777 £763
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £614 £619 £578 £608