There was a steep drop in trade jobs over the past year, with a 20% drop in the value of jobs given the go ahead, according to data analysis. Data, from field management software specialist Workever, shows that the average quote value dropped by 6.5% in 2023 compared to 2022’s data, with the value of quotes given the green light by homeowners dropping by nearly £500, an average of 20%.
Data analysed from more than 500 companies and sole traders also showed that average invoice values have dropped by nearly 10% too, with invoices for tradespeople such as plumbers, heating engineers and electricians averaging £748 in 2023, compared to £829 a year earlier, despite rising costs and overheads.
Worryingly, invoices are also being paid more slowly with tradespeople waiting an average of 31 days to get paid compared to 29 days in 2022, as well as a nearly 2% increase in unpaid invoices.
Damien Knight, CEO and founder of Workever, says; “These statistics are concerning as we go into 2024. Whilst there’s been a dip in the housing market due to mortgage rates, the expected resulting boost in ‘don’t move, improve’ work for tradespeople doesn’t seem to have translated.
“Having worked in the trade myself, we tend to work largely on the go, and it’s easy to lose track of jobs quoted or even those completed without a centralised log of everything. This is where utilising software that can track jobs, log quotes and manage all elements of the workload can prove invaluable.
“Missing even one job could mean a significant loss of earnings, as can forgetting to invoice for the extra work done on a job; not ideal when tradespeople are already seeing a decline in the value and number of jobs.”
“I designed the Workever software to meet the needs that I had when working in property maintenance. I needed to be able to track jobs, log costs, send invoices and chase payment, but to do that I’d need to essentially stop working and sit at a desk to go through it all. Workever has all the capabilities needed for businesses, but as a web-based app, it can all be done from the works van, on-site or on the sofa at the end of the working day.”
Workever is web-based software that helps organise service and maintenance jobs and centralises data such as quotes, invoices and job logs all in one place.
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