The highest-earning month for plumbing subcontractors was March 2022 when they were paid  £1,139 per week in the run up to the end of the financial year. January 2022 was the lowest at £956, in keeping with the seasonal slow start to the new year.

However, the effect of the high inflation experienced by the UK in 2022 would likely have been to negate this increase in earning. 

Ian Anfield, Managing Director at Hudson Contract, said: “Our figures show the increasingly attractive earnings on offer for people who are prepared to put in the time and effort to learn the skills needed to succeed in the plumbing trade.”

Commenting on the wider construction industry, Anfield added: “During the last calendar year, our clients have been telling us that tender opportunities are slowing down but they have full order books, which they are struggling to fulfil.

“The labour market is still feeling the effects of former Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s coronavirus support schemes, which paid people a lot of money to sit at home. At the same time, huge infrastructure schemes like Hinkley Point and HS2 entered new phases and created extra demand for skilled labour.

“Housebuilders pushed ahead to get homes out of the ground before big changes to building regulations in summer 2022, and consumers have been spending savings built up during lockdowns on home improvement projects.

“With Brexit, we have said the impact would be felt gradually over time and now we are seeing the supply of skilled tradespeople from Europe wither on the vine. Europeans would always come here to work and then go home again but now nobody is replacing them. The routes for working visas are not practical for most construction companies and smaller businesses.

“These are the forces driving up labour rates. They are creating plenty of opportunities for the self-employed to earn a handsome living as the most productive and flexible part of the labour market.”