Trade Direct Insurance has urged the UK Government to reduce cost pressures and implement targeted relief to help tradespeople capitalise on surging business demand ahead of the Autumn Budget
It comes after the trade insurance provider polled tradespeople to find out how their business has performed in 2026, as well as what the biggest pressures they face are.
Patricia Gardiner, Trades Expert at Trade Direct Insurance, says that even though tradespeople are fulfilling increasing business demand, ongoing cost pressures are proving to be a significant barrier to growth.
She adds: “Tradespeople are facing a huge amount of pressure at the moment. Soaring prices for materials and labour add tremendous cost pressures, while the high cost of living is putting some customers off from pursuing non-essential work.
“Despite this, many tradies are actually busier than they were last year. A third (33%) of tradespeople told us that business is stronger year-on-year, compared to 32% who said it was weaker. What’s more, over three fifths (61%) of tradespeople said they considered themselves to be busy now, compared to only 15% who said business was quiet.
“This highlights the resilient foundations of the sector, with tradespeople withstanding the current pressures, but not able to thrive.”
‘Reducing cost pressures will help tradies thrive’, Gardiner urges ahead of Autumn Budget
Gardiner believes cost pressures are “by far” the greatest challenge tradespeople are facing. Cost pressures were named as the biggest challenge by nearly half of respondents (48%), including fuel and running costs (25%) and rising material and equipment costs (23%). In comparison, only 4% named not having enough work as their biggest pressure.
“This highlights an opportunity for the Budget to provide a boost to the trade sector. Business demand exists, and tradespeople are fulfilling it, but ongoing cost demands are proving to be challenging and are a significant barrier to growth,” Gardiner continues.
“Reducing these cost pressures, through targeted relief will help tradies to thrive, allowing them to invest in their businesses and take on more work. In an ideal world, reducing business rates, and offering VAT rebates on volatile construction materials and fuel for registered tradespeople, would help to reduce the financial burden of unavoidable expenses that tradespeople face.
“More likely options, given the limited fiscal headroom that the government has, include possible changes to the tax-free personal allowance, an increase to the VAT threshold to £100,000, or reduction of fuel duty. Small changes in these areas could make a real difference for tradespeople, and help to reduce the pressure that they face in the current economic climate.”
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