Earnings for freelance 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.
