Research reveals the best places in the UK to be a tradesperson
New research from comparethemarket.com has analysed various figures relating to the trade industry around the UK to find out where the best cities and towns are to be a tradesperson, based on factors such as:
- Annual business survivals*
- Number of jobs available in the trade industry*
- Relevant higher education courses*
- Median salary**
- Average online advertising cost
- An overall weighted ranking
* per 10,000 people / ** Based on the term “construction worker”
Using this data, the UK’s most tradesperson friendly cities were revealed.
Five Best Cities for Tradespeople
Taking into account the above factors, the following cities have been found to be the most tradesperson friendly in the UK:
- Reading
- Portsmouth
- Middlesbrough
- Peterborough
- Oxford
Five Worst Cities for Tradespeople
Tradespeople might want to reconsider setting up or basing themselves in the following five cities – from low median salaries to high online advertising costs, would working in these areas make for a comfortable living for a tradesperson?
- Belfast
- Glasgow
- Plymouth
- Cardiff
- Edinburgh
Manchester – The Best Place to Set Up a Trade Business
For those looking to delve into the world of business and set up their own trade business, Manchester has been revealed to be the best place to base yourself, where there were 154 new start-ups per 10,000 people, but only 76 business closures.
It doesn’t stop there either – higher education opportunities are aplenty, with 5.7 available per 10,000, and a decent median salary of £25,640 means that there are plenty of reasons to make Manchester the perfect base for a tradeperson business.
Luton – The Worst Place to Set Up a Trade Business
If you’re looking to set up a successful trade business, you may want to look a little further afield than Luton, which has been found to be the worst place for trade businesses.
However, despite the 96.7 business failures per 10,000, there are plenty of higher education opportunities for trade, with 10.2 per 10,000 people and a more than decent median salary of £26,411.
It might be a good place to skill up and get a few jobs, but for setting up your own business, you’re better heading up North.
Top Five Cities for Trade Job Opportunities
Where are all the tradesperson jobs? If you’re looking for the best job opportunities per 10,000 people, you’ll want to see what the following cities have to offer:
- Reading – 30.6 jobs
- Warrington – 19.5 jobs
- Bolton – 13.4 jobs
- Wolverhampton – 12.2 jobs
- Oxford – 10.9 jobs
Top Five Cities for Trade-Based Higher Education Opportunities
Looking to train and skill up in a trade? These cities have the most higher education courses available per 10,000 people, meaning they’re great areas for those looking to get their foot in the door of the trade industry to get the right training and qualifications:
- Middlesbrough – 17.1 courses
- Norwich – 16.7 courses
- Oxford – 15.4 courses
- Reading – 13.6 courses
- Aberdeen – 13.0 courses
Cities with the Best Median Tradesperson Salary
For those looking for where the money is, you’re probably not shocked that London came out top, but where else is the median salary decent?
- London – £27,626
- Oxford / Reading / Portsmouth / Southampton – £27,191
Cheapest Places to Advertise Online
Want to advertise your business online? You’ll get the best deal in these cities, with the cheapest cost per click on Google:
- London £0.99
- Middlesbrough £1.05
- Portsmouth £1.05
- Peterborough £1.12
- Swansea £1.14
