Money talks
Knowing how to price your services is key for any trade at any stage of your business journey. To help you figure out how to set your prices fairly, CapitalOnTap analysed the hourly rates for 16 trades in the UK along with how pricing differs in various cities.
Highest earning trades
Locksmiths (with an average hourly wage of £44.65), heating engineers and gas fitters (with average earnings of £41 per hour), and plumbers (with an average hourly wage of £39.25) are the highest earners in the trade.
Lowest earning trades
Plasterers and screeding contractors are revealed as the lowest-earning tradespeople: being paid just £23.45 an hour on average. Tilers follow in second, with average hourly earnings of £24.50, followed by double-glazing installers with £26.60.
With relatively low barriers to entry, there is a large pool of plasterers, tilers, and double-glazing installers which can drive down wages due to more competition for work. Additionally, plumbing is usually required year-round, whereas demand for plastering, tiling, and double-glazing installation can vary depending on the season.
Highest earning cities
Glasgow leads the way for earnings in the UK, with tradespeople in this Scottish city taking home an average wage of £50 per hour. That works out at an average gross salary of £7,961 per month, which is three times higher than Glasgow’s average monthly net salary of £2,479.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the UK capital comes in next. Those working in trades in London earn £41.31 per hour on average, adding up to a gross salary of £6,577 per month. That’s over double the average monthly net salary of £3,244.
Reading places third, with tradespeople earning an average of £40.63 per hour — roughly £6,468 per month — followed by Preston (£32.31 per hour) and Birmingham (£32.13 per hour).
Lowest earning cities
Kingston-upon-Hull is at the bottom of the table, offering the lowest average hourly wage for trade workers (£25.56). This translates to an average monthly gross salary of £4,070, which — although lower than in other cities — is still much higher than the city’s average monthly net salary for all jobs (£2,772).
Swansea is the second lowest-earning city for tradespeople, with a marginally higher hourly wage of £25.88. At a monthly average of £4,120, this still places them far above the average net salary across all jobs, which is just £1,662 per month.
In third is Leicester with average earnings of £26.19 per hour, followed by Coventry (£28.25) and Sheffield (£28.31).
Price your services for growth
Here are 5 top tips on how to set the right prices for your services:
- Know your costs (including rent, utilities, employee salaries, marketing, and any hidden costs, such as insurance and professional fees) so you can make informed decisions about pricing and resource allocation.
- Research your market to help you figure out how much your customers are willing to pay for your services and look at what your competitors are charging.
- Get feedback from friends and family before you set your final prices. What would they be willing to pay for your services?
- Aim to make a profit. You need to charge enough to cover your costs and make a profit. If you’re not making a profit, your business isn’t sustainable.
- Be flexible. Pricing can be a tricky business. You need to be flexible and willing to adjust your prices based on market conditions and customer demand.
Read the full article from CapitalOnTap here.
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2 years ago 
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