Plumbers Top List of Most in Demand UK Trades

Plumbers are the most in-demand tradesmen according to Ratedpeople.com, the UK’s largest match making service for home improvers and recommended tradesmen.

01 July 2009

The news comes as Ratedpeople.com announces the Top Ten in demand trades from a sample of over 161,320 requests by homeowners for recommended tradesmen between April 2008 and March 2009. Across 25 trade categories, requests for plumbers peaked at 20,443, 12.7p of the total number of jobs requested. Year on year, the requests for plumbers are up 46.5per cent providing significant consolation to the plumbing trade during tough economic times.

With a 39.6per cent increase year on year and a total of 17,299 job requests, gardeners or garden designers claimed second position in the table. However, whilst the building profession came third with over 15,500 requests for work, the trade was down by almost 20per cent year on year, potentially the result of the ongoing downturn in the housing market.

Andrew Skipwith, CEO Ratedpeople.com said: "These figures serve to highlight just how in demand traditional trades are. Whilst we are seeing an increasing number of requests for a growing range of niche trade skills - from security experts to loft conversion specialists - there remains an enormous demand for core trade skills, such as plumbers, electricians and carpenters."

"Given the current economic climate and the growing number of unemployed, these figures show the real value of having learned a trade, and that demand for services from home improvers remains very high."

Ratedpeople.com matches home improvers who need quotes for home improvement projects with interested local tradesmen who have been rated by their previous customers. With over £30m in project value posted and more than 1,000 new tradesmen joining the site each month, Ratedpeople.com is the UK’s largest match making service for home improvers and recommended tradesmen.

The Top Ten Trades By Sector Apr08 – Mar09