On The Tools: Budget Commentary

• “This budget loads more risk onto trades – but it also hands us a once‑in‑a‑generation skills opportunity”

Lee Wilcox, Co-Founder and CEO of On The Tools, gives his thoughts on the Chancellor's Autumn Budget: 

“As the UK’s largest construction community, we hear from trades on site every day. This Budget is asking them to shoulder more risk at the very moment they need stability the most. Higher wage bills, increased National Insurance, and frozen tax thresholds all squeeze the brickies, sparkies and plumbers who already run on wafer‑thin margins, and many will feel they are being taxed for simply keeping Britain’s infrastructure standing. 

There are, however, some important green shoots, particularly the £13bn of flexible funding going to seven mayors across England. If those pots are used to back housing, retrofit, regeneration and local infrastructure, it could mean more work, faster decisions and a stronger skills pipeline for trades in every region. I’m pleased to see places like Birmingham and the wider Midlands right at the front of that queue. 

Another area of optimism is the £820m youth guarantee and the wider focus on skills and apprenticeships. If that money genuinely reaches small firms and sole traders, not just the big players, it could finally help rebuild the talent pipeline and bring thousands of young people into sustainable careers in the trades. Couple that with ongoing demand in housing, repair, retrofit and energy efficiency, and there is a real opportunity to grow the industry, but only if the government stops treating tradespeople as an afterthought and starts designing policy around what actually happens on site. 

What this Budget still fails to confront is that tradespeople are people first, in a sector with some of the highest suicide rates in the country. That’s why we’ve launched Project 7k: The Lost City-to fund free therapy and smash the stigma around getting help, and why we will keep pushing for mental health, late payment and security of work to sit alongside tax and skills in every national conversation about construction. If the country wants growth, it has to start by backing the trades properly. Not just in the Budget, but in the reality of life in every yard, every van and every site across the UK.”

About Lee Wilcox:
Lee Wilcox is the Co-Founder and CEO of On The Tools, the UK’s largest online construction community. Millions of people watch, read, and engage with On The Tools’ content across social, digital, and traditional media every day. Guided by the vision of connecting construction to improve the lives of all tradespeople in the UK, Lee leads the creation of content, campaigns, and products that drive meaningful change across the industry.

He is at the forefront of industry reform, championing better support and representation for the trades. On The Tools recently launched 'Project 7k: The Lost City', a major mental-health initiative tackling the construction sector’s suicide crisis by raising funds for free therapy and breaking the stigma around seeking help.

Alongside his advocacy work, Lee contributes to shaping the future skills landscape across construction as a member of the CSMB RMI Skills Working Group, helping address the sector’s widening skills gap and improve long-term opportunities for tradespeople.

Source : On The Tools

Image : On The Tools

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