Revealed: The towns and cities most in need of tradies

October 2, 2023 Editor

The Tradespeople HotSpot Index from MoneySuperMarket Van Insurance has looked at the number of registered tradespeople in major towns and cities in order to find the places most in need of tradespeople and which trades are in the lowest supply.

According to the analysis, Sunderland is the city most in need of tradespeople, with just 18.6 registered tradespeople per 10,000 residents.

Looking at the types of trades in lowest supply, builders and plumbers were the most scarce with only around three companies per 10,000 residents. Other areas most in need of tradespeople included Belfast, Birkenhead, Southern-on-Sea and Hastings, which all scored significantly below the national average of 51 per 10,000.

In comparison, the market town of Bedford scored the highest on the tradespeople index, with approximately 108 registered trades per 10,000 residents. The town also boasts the largest number of builders per capita, at 26 per 10,000 people, more than any other area of the UK.

Closely following Bedford were Colchester, Manchester, Barnsley, and Bolton, making up the top five places with the most registered trade businesses per capita.

Top 20 towns and cities most in need of tradies

Rank	City/Town	Region	Tradespeople per 10,000 people
1	Sunderland	North East	18.6
2	Belfast	Northern Ireland	21.3
3	Birkenhead	North West	21.6
4	Southend-on-Sea	East	21.9
5	Hastings	South East	22.1
6	Crawley	South East	24.3
7	Swansea	Wales	25.5
8	Newport	Wales	26.2
9	Sheffield	Yorkshire Humber	26.3
10	Hartlepool	North East	27.2
11	Edinburgh	Scotland	27.4
12	Aberdeen	Scotland	30.1
13	Blackburn	North West	30.3
14	Blackpool	North West	30.3
15	Liverpool	North West	31.0
16	Cardiff	Wales	31.2
17	Reading	South East	31.3
18	Coventry	West Midlands	31.7
19	Birmingham	West Midlands	32.9
20	Kingston upon Hull	Yorkshire Humber	33.0

The most in-demand trades

Based on business to resident ratio, plasterers are the most in-demand trade in the UK, with just 1.8 registered plastering businesses for every 10,000 people.

In fact, our study found plasterers to be in such short supply that in 12 towns and cities this number dropped to less than one per 10,000, with South Wales (Newport, Swansea and Cardiff), having a particular shortage across the region. However, with just 0.5 plasterers per 10,000 people, Woking had the most need overall.

Following plasterers were roofers (2.6), gardeners (3.1), and painters and decorators (3.6), while builders, electricians, and plumbers were in the highest supply.