Freelance Builder Pay Trends: November 2018

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 ten regions.

It’s good news again this month: October’s record-breaking earnings have been sustained as we head towards winter. Seven of our ten regions even show very small increases, and across the board, average weekly earnings are up by £4.

West Midlands leads the way – outstripping even London – on £969, and Hudson Contract’s Ian Anfield observes: “Compared to this time last year, freelance earnings are up by over £70 a week. If the trend continues at the same rate, then by this time next year, and probably before then, earnings will be over £1,000 a week.”

To view our interactive pay trends map click here

Individual Trades:  National Winners and Losers:

Winners:

• Shopfitting: +2.06%
  Retail optimism in London & East Midlands

• Electrical: +1.76%
  Shining bright in the West Midlands

• Surfacing Contractors: +1.54%
  Making inroads in South East and London

Losers:

• Steel & Timber Frame Erection: -6.44%
  East Midlands and Wales struggling to keep up

• Equipment & Operator Hire: -5.47%
  Fewer projects in East Midlands

• Mechanical & Engineering: -2.79%
  London freelancers losing out

Nationally, the latest IHS Markit/CIPS UK statistics show further growth in November with housebuilding, commercial, and civil engineering all on the up.

“Business confidence is gradually returning, although Brexit inevitably continues to cause uncertainty, especially in London and the South-East,” Ian Anfield observes. “I think that goes some way to explain why freelancers there have been overtaken by those working on projects further north. And interestingly enough, construction has won praise from no less an authority than the Bank of England for being amongst the best prepared sectors for our departure from the EU.

“From a client perspective, the general feeling is that this has been a good year – and smaller clients are reporting a really good year. As we head towards Christmas everyone is making a final push to get projects finished and hoping for a mild winter.”

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 November 2018.