Hudson Contract delivers the most accurate indications of pay trends across the construction industry, using payroll data for over 2,200 construction companies and over 125,000 freelance builders to publish the average pay for the full spectrum of 17 different trades across five regions.

This month’s pay trends are something of a mixed bag.  While we expected to see the effect of the bad weather reflected in February’s earnings, this has not materialised on a regional basis.

In particular, we anticipated that the South-West would take a big hit but, in fact, it is one of two regions showing an increase on three months ago.  The biggest regional loser this month is the South-East, where earnings have fallen by 2.25%.

This month’s winners

• Roofers in the Midlands:  +19%
• Joiners in the North-East:  +18%
• Shopfitters in the South-West: +14% (bouncing back from a 19% drop last month)

This month’s losers

• Joiners in the South-East: -15%
• Bricklayers in the South-West: -14%
• Plumbers in the Midlands: -12%

The latest Markit/CIPS report shows a slight downturn in February, with weather-related disruptions contributing to a slight decline, especially in house-building activity.  This is borne out by our own data, with bricklayers’ earnings falling across all five regions.

Overall, the mood of optimism continues.

• The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors says its members in the construction industry have reported the biggest increase in workloads since the quarterly survey began in 1994.
• Numbers on construction sites have taken a steep rise over the last three months, especially on commercial building and civil engineering projects.
• Hudson Contract clients echo the positive outlook, reporting a definite increase in workloads.