Faced with growing competition and the current high cost of living, new research reveals that many tradespeople are increasingly willing to travel further afield to find new opportunities and expand their businesses.

To better understand this shift, temporary business van insurance experts, Tempcover, surveyed 500 UK tradespeople who drive vans for their work, exploring the distances they’re willing to travel and the key motivations driving this change.

The survey revealed that 63% of respondents are now willing to travel 31.7 miles further for work than when they started in their current job.

The primary reasons behind this trend include increased access to opportunities, reduced competition, and the potential for higher earnings.

The following highlights the key motivations that are driving tradespeople to go the extra mile:

When asked if they would be willing to expand their travel radius within the next five years, nearly 70% of respondents stated that they would with the top three reasons following a similar pattern of higher pay (64%), more opportunities (54%) and more high-end/large-scale projects further away (42%).

Aside from the financial perks of travelling further, finding more opportunities was a key consideration.

The survey also asked respondents if they had noticed a change in local job availability over the past five years, with nearly 30% reporting fewer opportunities.

It also inquired about local competition, with over three in five respondents stating that it increased during that time.