UK Tradespeople Business Confidence Stays Strong

2022 BUSINESS CONFIDENCE amongst UK tradespeople has more than quadrupled in the last 12 months, according to the latest industry insights from Screwfix, the omnichannel retailer.

Screwfix’s Business Confidence Index is part of its monthly Trade Pulse survey, which includes a range of measures.  All these measures rose in December 2021 when compared to December 2020 figures.

The overall confidence score saw a dramatic increase from +8 in December 2020 to +35 in December 2021. This has held steady since June 2021.

This is not surprising given that 38% of tradespeople reported increased business activity in the last 12 months – comparing to -8% in December 2020 and 21% in June 2021.

Business Confidence

There was also increased optimism around future business activity, with 41% expecting business to ramp up over the next 12 months – recovering after a slight decrease from June 2021 (52%), with the rise in the Omicron variant of COVID-19 a possible factor.

The proportion of trades without work remained low at 4%, with 82% of the trade now working with further work lined up.

Business measures

John Mewett, CEO of Screwfix, said: “The latest Trade Pulse figures show a stark contrast to the year before, and it’s really encouraging to see UK tradespeople are feeling confident about the future of their business. Despite the challenges of the last couple of years, our index shows most UK tradespeople are not only busy, but also lining-up future projects.”

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