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 across five regions.
No surprises this month . . . With relatively good weather in February, and daylight hours increasing, freelance builders across the country are reporting increased earnings, with an average rise of about 5 per cent on wet and windy January. In cash terms, that’s an extra £40 a week.
Weekly Average Earnings, February 2016: £802.53
|
Regional Averages |
||||
|
North-East |
North-West |
Midlands |
South-East |
South-West |
|
£716.33 |
£742.53 |
£880.42 |
£885.47 |
£787.92 |
Regionally, the biggest winners are in the South-East and Midlands with month-on month increases of 12% and 8% respectively.
“The impact of the weather is clear,” observes Hudson Contract Managing Director Ian Anfield. “The South-East had a month of above-average sunshine and 57mm of rain, whilst in the North-West, it was equally sunny, but much wetter, with 145mm of rain. This goes a long way to explain why earnings there are up by an average of only twelve pounds a week.”
Across the regions, twelve trade groups enter the Hudson Contract ‘Four Figure Club’ of freelance builders earning an average of over £1,000 a week:
- As always, Shopfitters remain amongst the earnings elite, with those in the South-West doing best of all trades anywhere, at £1,380.92, and only those in the North-East earning less than £1,000 per week
- In the Midlands, Bricklayers, Electricians, Plumbers and Shopfitters all earned more than £1,000 per week
- Demolition and Wrecking in the South-East and South-West also qualify – perhaps, signaling the start of a number of new projects
- The North-East lags behind: this month’s highest trade was Mechanical and Engineering on £961.58
Looking at the wider perspective, the latest Markit/CIPS survey reports a slowdown in the housebuilding sector which is echoed by new government statistics. These reveal that while the rate of expansion continues to grow – 143,000 properties were started during 2015 and a further 142,890 completed – new-build numbers remained below the pre-recession peak of 2007.
Meanwhile infrastructure projects are keeping those in the civil engineering sector busy with their highest rate of expansion for five months.
Ian Anfield comments: “While there has been an overall recent slowdown in the rate of new works, the industry as a whole remains positive. Let’s hope the good weather stays with us. It’s so important. Fine weather increases the efficiency of the industry immensely.”
This month’s key trend: Average pay in the South-East rising fast and approaching £900 a week
| NORTH-EAST | February 2016 |
| BRICKLAYING | £637.48 |
| CIVIL ENGINEERING | £688.01 |
| DEMOLITION & WRECKING | £519.47 |
| ELECTRICAL | £735.70 |
| EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE | £829.89 |
| GENERAL CONSTRUCTION | £716.27 |
| INSULATION | £703.75 |
| JOINERY | £740.45 |
| MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING | £961.58 |
| PLASTERING | £663.75 |
| PLUMBING | £636.17 |
| ROOF COVERINGS | £699.38 |
| SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING | £536.56 |
| SHOPFITTING | £733.99 |
| SPECIALIST TRADES | £814.07 |
| STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION | £813.47 |
| SURFACING CONTRACTORS | £747.69 |
| REGIONAL AVERAGE | £716.33 |
| NORTH-WEST | February 2016 |
| BRICKLAYING | £658.34 |
| CIVIL ENGINEERING | £694.43 |
| DEMOLITION & WRECKING | £745.61 |
| ELECTRICAL | £800.60 |
| EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE | £691.31 |
| GENERAL CONSTRUCTION | £777.28 |
| INSULATION | £1,065.31 |
| JOINERY | £709.17 |
| MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING | £698.23 |
| PLASTERING | £550.00 |
| PLUMBING | £626.60 |
| ROOF COVERINGS | £910.15 |
| SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING | £544.90 |
| SHOPFITTING | £1,067.51 |
| SPECIALIST TRADES | £793.28 |
| STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION | £710.15 |
| SURFACING CONTRACTORS | £580.17 |
| REGIONAL AVERAGE | £742.53 |
| MIDLANDS | February 2016 |
| BRICKLAYING | £1,002.21 |
| CIVIL ENGINEERING | £816.00 |
| DEMOLITION & WRECKING | £835.01 |
| ELECTRICAL | £1,147.94 |
| EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE | £872.17 |
| GENERAL CONSTRUCTION | £887.51 |
| INSULATION | £680.49 |
| JOINERY | £850.19 |
| MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING | £779.93 |
| PLASTERING | £828.12 |
| PLUMBING | £1,328.50 |
| ROOF COVERINGS | £702.71 |
| SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING | £697.97 |
| SHOPFITTING | £1,276.04 |
| SPECIALIST TRADES | £917.04 |
| STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION | £621.46 |
| SURFACING CONTRACTORS | £723.77 |
| REGIONAL AVERAGE | £880.42 |
| SOUTH-EAST | February 2016 |
| BRICKLAYING | £689.67 |
| CIVIL ENGINEERING | £740.96 |
| DEMOLITION & WRECKING | £1,106.95 |
| ELECTRICAL | £1,203.73 |
| EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE | £813.51 |
| GENERAL CONSTRUCTION | £819.61 |
| INSULATION | £858.67 |
| JOINERY | £924.34 |
| MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING | £931.67 |
| PLASTERING | £967.53 |
| PLUMBING | £1,033.39 |
| ROOF COVERINGS | £696.09 |
| SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING | £886.77 |
| SHOPFITTING | £1,021.86 |
| SPECIALIST TRADES | £934.24 |
| STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION | £722.91 |
| SURFACING CONTRACTORS | £701.06 |
| REGIONAL AVERAGE | £885.47 |
| SOUTH-WEST | February 2016 |
| BRICKLAYING | £651.82 |
| CIVIL ENGINEERING | £660.53 |
| DEMOLITION & WRECKING | £1,046.06 |
| ELECTRICAL | £671.59 |
| EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE | £669.09 |
| GENERAL CONSTRUCTION | £805.92 |
| INSULATION | £681.52 |
| JOINERY | £995.24 |
| MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING | £931.41 |
| PLASTERING | £594.27 |
| PLUMBING | £789.45 |
| ROOF COVERINGS | £688.28 |
| SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING | £674.97 |
| SHOPFITTING | £1,380.92 |
| SPECIALIST TRADES | £799.74 |
| STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION | £669.85 |
| SURFACING CONTRACTORS | £683.92 |
| REGIONAL AVERAGE | £787.92 |
Hudson Contract’s ‘window on the construction industry’ gives you hard figures and data that is not available from any other source, with pay averages that reflect the amounts paid by a sample number of businesses – large and small – to specific trades during February 2016.
