Trade Rates Hit Record High, Protect Your Margin

Self-employed tradespeople are now earning more than ever. According to payroll firm Hudson Contract, average weekly pay hit £1,110 in August, up 3.1% on July and 4.5% on the same month last year. Plumbing led the rises, up 10.4% month-on-month to £1,348, with joinery up 8.9% to £1,247.

What this means for your margin

If you run subcontracted trades, this is not a headline, it is a wage bill. Say you have ten subbies on the current average rate of £1,110 a week. That is £11,100 in wages this week. A year ago, before the 4.5% rise, the same crew cost roughly £10,622 a week. Over 52 weeks, that difference alone adds up to about £24,856 a year, before you have won a single extra job.

Most owners cannot pass that straight on to clients, competitors are quoting the old rates for a few more months yet. So the margin has to come from somewhere else, fewer wasted hours on your side of the business, not theirs.

The office work around a job, quoting, chasing invoices, scheduling subbies, rarely gets costed properly. It is the first place to find the hours that pay rises just took off your bottom line.

What to do this month

• Check your current subcontractor rates against the Hudson Contract figures, plumbing and joinery are moving fastest.
• Work out what the wage rise actually costs you over a year, using your own headcount, not a national average.
• Pick one admin task, quoting or invoice chasing, and time how many hours it eats each week.
• Automate or streamline that one task before you touch your prices. Protect margin with hours saved, not just rates raised.