Construction Market Data

Thu March 28 2024

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Sub-contractor Pay Trends December 2020

Earnings continue to recover as seasonal cycle sticks to the script

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.

Earnings for tradespeople continued to grow last month as December reverted to type as the busiest and best period for subcontractors.

Hudson Contract said average weekly pay rose by 1.1 per cent during December to £911,  the highest level since February and the fourth consecutive month of earnings growth for self-employed subcontractors.

The best-performing regions were the North West (up 9.1 per cent), the South East (up 4.1 per cent) and the North East (up 2.6 per cent).

Region December 2020 Average Month on Month % Change Year on Year % Change
North East £838 2.6% 9.1%
North West £912 9.1% 4.8%
Yorkshire and the Humber £847 -0.6% -4.3%
East Midlands £946 2.5% 0.6%
West Midlands £874 -6.3% -14.3%
Wales £870 -0.9% 4.9%
East of England £985 0.1% -2.6%
London £903 -0.4% -1.8%
South East £966 4.1% -1.7%
South West £898 0.3% 2.7%

Ian Anfield, managing director of Hudson, said: “December has always been the busiest and best month of the year for subcontractors because everyone is pushing to finish projects and earn their money for Christmas.

“In that respect, it was business as usual last month, albeit nearly ten percent down on 2019 as a lingering result of the pandemic.

“Most clients are reporting healthy order books and tenders are still coming in. The outlook is promising so far but obviously things can change quickly.

“There is some uncertainty around the supply of materials due to Brexit. There is also some disruption to the supply of labour due to a combination of Brexit and Covid as different nations apply different approaches on travel to England.”

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. 

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 Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Dec-20
CIVIL ENGINEERING £877 £888 £949 £1,042
ELECTRICAL £1,002 £1,015 £1,296 £928
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £635 £735 £631 £615
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £624 £686 £716 £766
INSULATION £1,028 £812 £809 £847
JOINERY £595 £646 £684 £733
PLASTERING £629 £694 £783 £687
ROOFING £772 £821 £901 £1,152
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £400 £428 £304 £425
SHOP FITTING £634 £658 £670 £783
SPECIALIST TRADES £495 £567 £648 £724

North West

NORTH WEST Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Dec-20
BRICKLAYING £718 £737 £711 £788
CIVIL ENGINEERING £764 £789 £783 £805
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £730 £795 £761 £790
ELECTRICAL £733 £810 £814 £844
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £710 £722 £767 £842
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £907 £939 £949 £980
INSULATION £675 £652 £721 £965
JOINERY £1,163 £1,292 £1,183 £1,302
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £979 £1,085 £840 £1,124
PLASTERING £1,078 £1,016 £585 £431
PLUMBING £1,121 £975 £823 £1,122
ROOFING £964 £860 £872 £965
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £682 £711 £739 £656
SHOP FITTING £1,110 £998 £1,018 £998
SPECIALIST TRADES £777 £816 £808 £941
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £771 £422 £638 £599
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £841 £952 £940 £1,002

Yorkshire & Humber

YORKSHIRE & HUMBER Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Dec-20
BRICKLAYING £725 £710 £712 £726
CIVIL ENGINEERING £751 £798 £811 £817
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £719 £714 £752 £696
ELECTRICAL £895 £1,178 £1,280 £1,228
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £887 £837 £767 £792
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £781 £822 £819 £858
INSULATION £690 £832 £833 £742
JOINERY £710 £726 £730 £772
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £920 £1,079 £1,024 £987
PLASTERING £699 £694 £724 £879
PLUMBING £695 £742 £799 £712
ROOFING £728 £680 £663 £707
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £597 £552 £615 £562
SHOP FITTING £1,456 £1,017 £1,018 £1,083
SPECIALIST TRADES £853 £982 £961 £773
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £1,170 £1,069 £1,040 £1,264
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £806 £890 £925 £902

East Midlands

EAST MIDLANDS Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Dec-20
CIVIL ENGINEERING £824 £885 £918 £860
ELECTRICAL £792 £985 £879 £890
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £875 £1,059 £1,023 £1,290
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £907 £1,005 £1,032 £968
INSULATION £829 £882 £786 £820
JOINERY £677 £783 £768 £766
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £1,563 £1,309 £1,397 £1,445
PLASTERING £699 £748 £785 £789
PLUMBING £1,004 £1,057 £1,311 £1,211
ROOFING £655 £718 £700 £778
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £719 £836 £831 £804
SHOP FITTING £1,005 £1,092 £1,226 £1,250
SPECIALIST TRADES £755 £826 £811 £842
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £1,050 £958 £518 £619
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £829 £890 £907 £942

West Midlands

WEST MIDLANDS Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Dec-20
BRICKLAYING £795 £885 £844 £811
CIVIL ENGINEERING £934 £998 £1,019 £994
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £642 £661 £652 £651
ELECTRICAL £1,298 £1,207 £1,225 £1,219
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £819 £872 £863 £846
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £803 £891 £917 £883
INSULATION £775 £878 £891 £847
JOINERY £1,194 £1,303 £1,204 £1,010
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £1,536 £1,518 £1,626 £1,101
PLASTERING £716 £653 £668 £659
PLUMBING £1,041 £890 £939 £876
ROOFING £475 £563 £617 £638
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £606 £634 £743 £638
SHOP FITTING £1,503 £1,064 £1,321 £1,285
SPECIALIST TRADES £903 £909 £949 £852
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £760 £812 £816 £792

Wales

WALES Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Dec-20
BRICKLAYING £1,836 £1,312 £1,199 £1,278
CIVIL ENGINEERING £758 £779 £755 £728
ELECTRICAL £824 £776 £812 £874
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £1,455 £1,394 £1,562 £1,423
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £687 £804 £750 £723
JOINERY - - - -
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £766 £685 £589 £830
PLASTERING £1,015 £1,423 £968 £915
PLUMBING £794 £869 £823 £830
ROOFING £821 £633 £1,427 £1,282
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £835 £697 £713 £718
SPECIALIST TRADES £762 £851 £760 £789
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £715 £695 £738 £647
SURFACING CONTRACTORS - - - -

East of England

EAST OF ENGLAND Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Dec-20
BRICKLAYING £732 £749 £773 £779
CIVIL ENGINEERING £893 £968 £1,011 £991
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £759 £830 £789 £730
ELECTRICAL £1,373 £1,439 £1,510 £1,515
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £953 £945 £921 £1,010
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £922 £937 £941 £924
INSULATION £865 £901 £947 £941
JOINERY £1,320 £1,336 £1,138 £1,210
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £1,123 £1,256 £1,162 £1,228
PLASTERING £1,076 £1,054 £1,084 £967
PLUMBING £1,108 £1,122 £1,131 £1,060
ROOFING £760 £802 £803 £792
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £783 £817 £775 £820
SHOP FITTING £1,485 £1,409 £1,465 £1,550
SPECIALIST TRADES £759 £807 £761 £755
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £655 £708 £745 £730
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £638 £662 £696 £710

London

LONDON Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Dec-20
BRICKLAYING £797 £830 £813 £772
CIVIL ENGINEERING £829 £851 £874 £886
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £607 £637 £856 -
ELECTRICAL £965 £1,006 £1,117 £911
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £722 £563 £788 £727
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £958 £952 £1,007 £993
INSULATION - - - -
JOINERY £827 £874 £916 £1,019
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £716 £663 £654 £768
PLASTERING - - - -
PLUMBING £1,038 £1,092 £1,156 £1,099
ROOFING £748 £774 £782 £789
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £880 £913 £903 £921
SHOP FITTING £949 £835 £864 £1,023
SPECIALIST TRADES £1,007 £1,070 £1,055 £1,113
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £534 £583 £644 £640
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £550 £600 £475 £480

South East

SOUTH EAST Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Dec-20
BRICKLAYING £933 £910 £932 £922
CIVIL ENGINEERING £774 £786 £768 £789
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £1,204 £1,256 £1,357 £1,313
ELECTRICAL £1,222 £1,220 £1,142 £1,286
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £838 £928 £858 £860
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £828 £886 £926 £890
INSULATION £734 £675 £719 £716
JOINERY £1,287 £1,036 £1,045 £1,067
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £1,175 £1,179 £1,246 £1,402
PLASTERING £782 £722 £742 £814
PLUMBING £1,010 £964 £965 £1,102
ROOFING £771 £783 £747 £848
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £821 £844 £862 £861
SHOP FITTING £1,372 £1,241 £1,297 £1,097
SPECIALIST TRADES £804 £739 £786 £806
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £687 £667 £639 £671
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £909 £1,006 £834 £876

South West

SOUTH WEST Sep-20 Oct-20 Nov-20 Dec-20
BRICKLAYING - £600 £600 £600
CIVIL ENGINEERING £789 £794 £806 £831
ELECTRICAL £929 £882 £793 £867
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE - - - -
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £864 £864 £921 £927
INSULATION £1,185 £1,406 £1,368 £1,284
JOINERY £997 £936 £941 £1,144
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £711 £706 £753 £756
PLASTERING £681 £832 £1,118 £754
PLUMBING £1,333 £1,052 £871 £916
ROOFING £738 £794 £833 £803
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £811 £802 £811 £865
SPECIALIST TRADES £777 £763 £965 £1,161
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £578 £608 £634 £666