15% of tradespeople experience highest client demand ever

Figures from July found that nearly half of UK tradespeople (46%) had seen their workload increase since the loosening of lockdown in June. Early indications thought this would help fuel optimism for a recovery in the trade sectors. Today, new figures from Powered Now have unveiled that after the initial lockdown period, a significant number of tradespeople are experiencing their highest client demand ever.

Powered Now, a mobile-based billing, invoicing and quotation application which specialises in trades, has unveiled new representative research dissecting the productivity of the UK’s trade workforce, emphasising that 15% of tradespeople are the busiest they have ever been, with a further 16% saying that the threat of a second wave would not deter them from commencing with jobs that they had lined up.

The construction sectors in the UK have very much been experiencing a V-shaped recovery, with economic forecasts so far provided a more optimistic outlook. Latest PMI Construction Index figures have shown that construction output in August was 54.6%, which while being a decrease from the 58.1% recorded in July, it has shown that firms are indeed growing, with figures over 50% highlighting this. The research from Powered Now provides an indication that the productivity of tradespeople is very much stabilising the recovery experienced in the trade sectors.

Key Statistics

15% of tradespeople have seen their client demand reach their highest levels ever, post-COVID
16% of tradespeople agree that the threat of a second wave of COVID has influenced them to commence work on home improvements sooner rather than later
17% of tradespeople regularly work over 10 hours a day
16% of tradespeople agree that they lose out on business due to extensive administrative tasks, such as chasing invoices
18% of tradespeople don’t have the time or motivation for new business development due to the sheer backlog of work they have
16% of tradespeople agree that a potential second wave of COVID has made them more motivated to work, and therefore won’t be taking a holiday in 2020
Ben Dyer, CEO of Powered Now, has commented on the research and how this revival in business has caused a welcome increase in productivity and growth for the sector.

“It’s incredibly encouraging to see the UK construction market continuing to recover from the shutdown. The PMI data mirrors what we are seeing at Powered Now, a continued demand for services fuelled by a record housing market. This is great news, and it just goes to show how important these sectors are when it comes to recovering from the problems caused by COVID-19.

The whole industry is still in catch up mode and the various projects that were delayed by the lockdown, are now taking priority. This has helped to spike demand and we expect it to continue in the short term. Our research has entirely confirmed that tradespeople and consumers alike are very much eager to sustain this growth.

Our SME customers are also talking about the pressure to complete jobs as people worry about a second wave. As we have seen from the sentiments established in this research, tradespeople are more motivated to work and are commencing their work on home improvements even sooner. These concerns are also sure to help the sector bounce back even quicker as people will rush to hire a tradesperson for their desired work.”