There has been a significant dampening of trade and considerable economic hardship felt by the UK roofing sector in 2025.
Shockwaves from US trade tariffs and resulting global economic uncertainty have led to increasing inflationary costs.
Coupled with the rising cost of labour with the improvement of the UK minimum wage – roofing contractor companies are having profit margins squeezed, projects delayed and survival threatened.
Here’s what James Talman, Chief Executive Officer of the National Federation of Roofing Contractors, had to say on this in the organisation’s latest industrial report:
“The start of 2025 has been turbulent, not least with President Trump’s introduction of trade tariffs and the economic uncertainty this has caused around the world. Closer to home, UK inflation unexpectedly rose in January. It has since fallen, but it is perhaps not surprising that the construction industry as a whole has seen projects and important decisions delayed.
This has been further exacerbated by increases in both employers’ National Insurance contributions and the minimum wage, which began in April. This is placing additional pressure on companies at a time when construction remains the worst-hit sector for insolvencies. It has recently been reported that, in January, 305 firms in the construction industry became insolvent.” – James Talman NFRC CEO (The State of UK Roofing Industry Report Spring 2025)
Here are the key roofing sector business metrics that indicate the economic health of the industry in 2024-25:
Overall, there has been a slight contraction in industry activity with a decrease in new projects, enquiry pipeline and employed headcount.
And consequently, more subcontracting is taking place as a more affordable, short-term solution for manpower in an uncertain economic climate.
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