Lee Wilcox, On The Tools

Comment from Lee Wilcox, CEO and Co-Founder of On The Tools, on the Autumn Budget

Following the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget, Lee Wilcox, CEO and Co-Founder of On The Tools — the UK’s largest construction community — has issued the following statement on what the measures mean for the construction sector and everyday UK tradespeople:

“As the UK’s largest construction community, we hear from trades on site every single day — and 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 already operating on wafer-thin margins. Many will feel they’re being taxed simply for keeping Britain’s infrastructure standing.

There are, however, important green shoots. The £13bn of flexible funding going to seven English mayors could be transformative if directed towards housing, retrofit, regeneration and local infrastructure. That investment has the potential to unlock more work, speed up decision-making and strengthen the regional skills pipeline — particularly in places like Birmingham and the wider Midlands, which are well-positioned to benefit.

The £820m youth guarantee and renewed focus on skills and apprenticeships are also welcome. If that funding reaches small firms and sole traders — not just the major contractors — it could finally help rebuild the talent pipeline and bring thousands of young people into secure, sustainable careers in the trades. With continued demand across housing, repair, retrofit and energy efficiency, the opportunity is there for the industry to grow. But that will only happen if government stops treating tradespeople as an afterthought and begins designing policy around what actually happens on site.”

Wilcox also emphasised the ongoing human challenges in the sector:
“What this Budget still fails to confront is that tradespeople are people first, working in a sector with some of the highest suicide rates in the UK. That’s why we’ve launched Project 7k: The Lost City — to fund free therapy and smash the stigma around getting help. We will continue pushing for mental health, late payment and job security to sit alongside tax and skills in every national conversation about construction. If the country wants growth, it must 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.”