Hudson Contract said average weekly earnings for plumbing subcontractors fell by 9.8%  to £1,028 in April. Despite the fall, the earnings were 11.1% ahead of the same month in 2021.

Ian Anfield, Managing Director of Hudson Contract, said: “As expected, earnings for April were affected across all trades as freelancers took their families away for a long-awaited holiday with the lifting of COVID-19 travel restrictions across many European short-haul destinations and plenty of good package deals on offer.

"The well-publicised queues at Manchester airport and tailbacks outside Dover will have been full of self-employed tradespeople heading off for some early season sunshine. Well-paid plumbers took a well-earned break after doing so much to keep the wider economy going over the last two years.”

Weekly earnings for plumbing subcontractors reached a post-pandemic high of £1,139 in March, and have averaged at £1,059 this year.