New industry insights from Screwfix, the omnichannel retailer, has revealed that business confidence amongst UK tradespeople has more than quadrupled in the last 12 months.

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.

In addition, the December 2021 insights show that 38% of tradespeople reported increased business activity in the last 12 months compared with -8% in December 2020 and 21% in June 2021. There was also increased optimism around future business activity, with 41% expecting business to ramp up over the next 12 months.

This was 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.

Reference – King Fisher.