Construction Market Data

22 December 2024

Related Information

Sub-contractor Pay Trends July 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.

 “Make hay while the sun shines!” – The old farmers’ motto has been well and truly  hijacked by freelance builders during July.  Our blazing hot summer has resulted in a significant across-the-board earnings hike. 

“National average earnings are now £882, which means they have reached a new, all-time high,” says Hudson Contract Managing Director Ian Anfield.  “Compared to last month, the average subbie is nearly £30 a week better off, with all regions experiencing at least 2% growth on June.”

National Weekly Average Earnings July 2018:  £882

Region July 2018 Average Change from June 2018
North East £798.00 +2.63%
North West £782.00 +3.58%
Yorkshire & Humber £833.00 +3.72%
East Midlands £876.00 +2.97%
West Midlands £941.00 +2.76%
Wales £794.00 +2.02%
East of England £937.00 +3.20%
London £879.00 +3.30%
South East £902.00 +3.33%
South West £801.00 +3.62%

Individual Trades:  Winners and Losers:

Nationally this month’s winners are:

  • Insulation: +8.58%

Heating engineers keeping people cool

  • Plastering: +6.09%

South-East leads the way

  • Specialist Trades: +4.92%

A lucrative month for Wales and the South-West

In terms of losers, only electricians are worse off – and then only by a marginal decrease 0.34%, which works out at £4 a week.

Looking at the wider perspective, the construction industry as a whole is entering the second half of the year with renewed optimism. 

The latest IHS Markit/CIPS UK Construction Purchasing Managers’ Index reports the fastest rise in output since Many 2017. The housebuilding sector put in its strongest performance since December 2015, and commercial work also grew at its fastest for over thirty months.

“This is good to see, considering the year got off to a slow start,” Ian Anfield observes.  “There’s undoubtedly been some catch-up from the ice and windy weather at the start of the year, and the Carillion collapse means some large projects have been put on hold at least until next year.  But even when you take that into consideration, there is plenty of work and underlying demand seems to be heading in the right direction.  Housebuilding, in particular, doesn’t look like slowing down any time soon so this should continue to stimulate growth across the sector as a whole.”

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 July 2018.

North East

NORTH EAST Apr-18 May-18 Jun-18 Jul-18
CIVIL ENGINEERING £790 £814 £801 £850
ELECTRICAL £601 £536 £639 £655
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £555 £533 £546 £555
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £672 £787 £776 £801
INSULATION £671 £693 £662 £659
PLASTERING £596 £702 £734 £703
ROOFING £1,110 £1,028 £1,067 £1,091
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £406 £417 £447 £451
SHOP FITTING £677 £658 £778 £684
SPECIALIST TRADES £517 £523 £632 £676
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £612 £955 £1,087 £1,255

North West

NORTH WEST Apr-18 May-18 Jun-18 Jul-18
BRICKLAYING £688 £697 £711 £728
CIVIL ENGINEERING £689 £718 £735 £751
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £644 £744 £727 £772
ELECTRICAL £771 £792 £857 £928
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £672 £757 £740 £759
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £726 £782 £758 £777
INSULATION £808 £1,270 £1,111 £1,272
JOINERY £773 £803 £839 £1,125
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £1,212 £1,228 £1,183 £1,191
PLASTERING £581 £555 £566 £565
PLUMBING £695 £722 £709 £796
ROOFING £782 £805 £745 £806
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £550 £609 £600 £621
SHOP FITTING £949 £1,111 £1,028 £1,115
SPECIALIST TRADES £784 £780 £844 £813
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £794 £629 £600 £704
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £641 £663 £707 £719

Yorkshire & Humber

YORKSHIRE & HUMBER Apr-18 May-18 Jun-18 Jul-18
BRICKLAYING £689 £721 £674 £730
CIVIL ENGINEERING £742 £761 £766 £793
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £421 £470 £526 £561
ELECTRICAL £813 £837 £810 £874
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £927 £988 £931 £957
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £744 £783 £784 £815
JOINERY £681 £727 £772 £668
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £942 £938 £880 £924
PLASTERING £713 £729 £741 £780
PLUMBING £613 £573 £594 £586
ROOFING £702 £698 £673 £713
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £557 £519 £564 £604
SHOP FITTING £1,334 £1,408 £1,421 £1,392
SPECIALIST TRADES £942 £973 £948 £996
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £1,010 £1,078 £884 £925
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £781 £810 £844 £819

East Midlands

EAST MIDLANDS Apr-18 May-18 Jun-18 Jul-18
CIVIL ENGINEERING £750 £770 £781 £806
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £699 £744 £731 £746
ELECTRICAL £1,008 £1,019 £1,045 £1,026
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £828 £858 £859 £919
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £950 £994 £959 £992
INSULATION £723 £812 £750 £772
JOINERY £821 £780 £805 £823
PLASTERING £656 £618 £737 £729
PLUMBING £929 £1,073 £1,055 £1,169
ROOFING £837 £879 £867 £876
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £784 £814 £820 £838
SHOP FITTING £1,104 £1,125 £1,173 £920
SPECIALIST TRADES £772 £842 £793 £857
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £896 £1,120 £999 £836
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £781 £824 £821 £864

West Midlands

WEST MIDLANDS Apr-18 May-18 Jun-18 Jul-18
BRICKLAYING £421 £422 £351 £363
CIVIL ENGINEERING £873 £905 £923 £953
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £556 £600 £669 £656
ELECTRICAL £1,120 £1,135 £1,162 £1,145
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £809 £829 £827 £883
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £804 £808 £853 £878
INSULATION £672 £778 £786 £789
JOINERY £1,109 £1,163 £1,154 £1,179
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £1,438 £1,554 £1,489 £1,404
PLASTERING £738 £637 £667 £764
PLUMBING £1,171 £1,248 £1,187 £1,235
ROOFING £584 £514 £541 £594
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £955 £1,091 £833 £687
SHOP FITTING £1,317 £1,226 £1,310 £1,115
SPECIALIST TRADES £913 £936 £891 £896
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £787 £765 £765 £796

Wales

WALES Apr-18 May-18 Jun-18 Jul-18
CIVIL ENGINEERING £692 £720 £729 £747
ELECTRICAL £985 £948 £852 £755
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £1,312 £1,276 £1,257 £1,407
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £803 £878 £917 £855
JOINERY £530 £415 £422 £431
PLASTERING £1,110 £960 £1,140 £1,110
PLUMBING £752 £818 £816 £830
ROOFING £443 £410 £413 £454
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £670 £678 £710 £682
SPECIALIST TRADES £695 £729 £724 £844
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £735 £652 £571 £720
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £1,097 £1,031 £1,104 £1,118

East of England

EAST OF ENGLAND Apr-18 May-18 Jun-18 Jul-18
BRICKLAYING £685 £750 £777 £813
CIVIL ENGINEERING £790 £842 £858 £878
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £651 £662 £661 £673
ELECTRICAL £1,242 £1,361 £1,315 £1,311
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £937 £954 £938 £933
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £858 £924 £898 £930
INSULATION £1,113 £912 £911 £1,032
JOINERY £1,051 £1,252 £1,159 £1,187
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £996 £1,144 £1,167 £1,166
PLASTERING £917 £824 £856 £914
PLUMBING £1,207 £1,246 £1,251 £1,291
ROOFING £728 £702 £753 £778
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £805 £825 £842 £856
SHOP FITTING £1,117 £1,279 £1,283 £1,394
SPECIALIST TRADES £800 £844 £833 £853
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £686 £734 £685 £773
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £655 £680 £696 £749

London

LONDON Apr-18 May-18 Jun-18 Jul-18
BRICKLAYING £745 £740 £752 £768
CIVIL ENGINEERING £732 £770 £785 £806
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £1,012 £1,033 £596 £637
ELECTRICAL £1,049 £970 £999 £1,033
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £857 £826 £875 £1,064
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £889 £897 £899 £943
INSULATION £995 £824 £1,005 £1,158
JOINERY £1,042 £1,110 £1,027 £1,101
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £1,116 £1,301 £1,249 £1,180
PLASTERING £1,378 £1,458 £1,423 £1,341
PLUMBING £989 £957 £938 £958
ROOFING £719 £765 £773 £784
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £1,065 £1,137 £1,111 £1,166
SHOP FITTING £872 £865 £810 £956
SPECIALIST TRADES £957 £989 £1,044 £1,130
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £578 £649 £655 £669
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £425 £450 £480 £647

South East

SOUTH EAST Apr-18 May-18 Jun-18 Jul-18
BRICKLAYING £682 £729 £792 £805
CIVIL ENGINEERING £715 £742 £759 £798
DEMOLITION & WRECKING £1,099 £1,154 £1,209 £1,280
ELECTRICAL £1,143 £1,138 £1,235 £1,115
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £749 £758 £789 £842
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £774 £823 £824 £861
INSULATION £713 £838 £963 £849
JOINERY £956 £1,006 £1,048 £1,018
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £1,150 £1,060 £1,126 £1,127
PLASTERING £773 £773 £804 £956
PLUMBING £999 £991 £1,048 £1,052
ROOFING £674 £710 £739 £752
SCAFFOLDING & LIFTING £768 £805 £803 £842
SHOP FITTING £1,205 £1,198 £1,222 £1,298
SPECIALIST TRADES £723 £826 £791 £820
STEEL & TIMBER FRAME ERECTION £721 £743 £780 £761
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £750 £791 £756 £780

South West

SOUTH WEST Apr-18 May-18 Jun-18 Jul-18
BRICKLAYING £1,552 £1,574 £1,169 £600
CIVIL ENGINEERING £649 £677 £663 £691
ELECTRICAL £754 £736 £697 £659
EQUIPMENT & OPERATOR HIRE £530 £553 £755 £612
GENERAL CONSTRUCTION £830 £904 £878 £886
INSULATION £1,215 £1,231 £1,334 £1,501
JOINERY £1,074 £1,058 £1,089 £1,073
MECHANICAL & ENGINEERING £589 £635 £634 £679
PLASTERING £741 £875 £647 £713
PLUMBING £1,133 £1,177 £1,270 £1,734
ROOFING £785 £760 £811 £829
SPECIALIST TRADES £1,052 £858 £807 £968
SURFACING CONTRACTORS £574 £602 £618 £630