Self-employed plumbers saw strong annual growth in earnings despite expected seasonal declines in January, according to data from Hudson Contract.
Hudson said average weekly earnings for plumbing subcontractors reached £1,142 in January 2025, marking an 11% increase compared to January 2024’s figure of £1,029. However, in line with typical seasonal patterns due to holidays and bad weather, it found that January 2025 earnings saw a 3.8% month-on-month decrease from December 2024.
The January slowdown varied significantly across trades, it noted. Surfacing contractors saw the steepest decline at 14.7%, followed by bricklaying at 13.2%, mostly due to “adverse weather conditions” including heavy rain, snow and a named storm that affected outdoor work and cement-based activities. Other trades proved “more resilient” to the seasonal dip, it said, as equipment and operator hire saw a 2% reduction, while insulation, alongside plumbing, limited its decrease to 3.8%.
Ian Anfield, managing director, said: “January is historically slower due to a staggered return to work. Tradespeople typically maximise their hours in December to boost earnings before Christmas, knowing they’ll have a couple of weeks off afterward. This year’s challenging weather conditions particularly hit outdoor trades – you can’t work with anything that’s got water in it when you’ve got heavy rain, snow and low temperatures, which is why bricklayers were hit harder than plumbers who can work inside or are busy fixing boilers.
“We’re also seeing that tight household budgets mean tradespeople are less likely to take extended breaks during bad weather – they’re keen to get back to earning. And importantly, order books have proven more resilient than media headlines might suggest with the housing sector still building, albeit with phased plot releases on some schemes that a couple of years ago would have been sold out off-plan.”