The report by the insurer claimed roofers experienced a 30% drop in turnover.

The top earning tradespeople were general tradespeople with an average turnover of over £110,000 a year, although this figure had dropped by 4% on the previous year.

Chichester was the top earning town for tradies, with an average turnover of nearly £200 grand.

Julie Fisher, UK CEO, Simply Business, said that tradespeople had faced a challenging year with rising costs, tool theft and material shortages impacting business.

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UK brick deliveries were up over 21% in February, indicating the housing market is slowly getting back on track.

Nobel Francis, economics director with the Construction Products Association (CPA), said on LinkedIn, that the improvement in delivery, suggest a 10-to-12% growth in house building starts and a 4-to-6% growth in completions.

However, there is still a long way to go. Deliveries remained 26% lower than average pre-pandemic levels.

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Norman Barrs of North London has been named Britain's oldest builder. 

The 96-year-old still gets up at 06:30am to start work as a site inspector for Henry Hardy Builders.

Barr who won the competition organised by the Considerate Construction Scheme and Rated People, told The Mirror that he regarded building as a “highly creative and deeply rewarding craft”.

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