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South East Contractors Lead The Pay Race By A Wide Margin

St Pauls & Millennium Bridge at night

If financial gain is your primary reason for going freelance, you’d do well to settle in the South East (if you are not already there, of course). As it turns out, contractors in that region earn significantly more than their peers operating in other parts of the UK, research by the Professional Representation Network (PRN) has established.

 the top 100,000 independent professionals in the UK earn £80,000 on average annually

According to the contractors’ association, the top 100,000 independent professionals in the UK earn £80,000 on average annually. The PRN study covered 650 parliamentary constituencies and the analysis revealed two areas where contractors pocket in excess of £100,000 per year: the average amount in Kensington is £125,000, while the figure for the Cities of London and Westminster stands at £119,000, HR Magazine reported.

Among the top 30 areas by average contractor pay, 26 are located in London or the South East. The top 10 list features only one area outside England and that is Edinburgh South, where contractors earn £57,000 on average. Freelance agents in the Greater Manchester area have no reason to complain either: the average pay in Altrincham and Sale West, for example, stands at £38,800, which puts the constituency at number 18.

Commenting on the findings, PRN director Kristian Gourlay attributed the generous pay in the top-ranked areas to their strong demand for highly skilled contractors in disciplines such as engineering, IT and financial services. In general, we can observe a growing tendency for contractors to snatch many of the best job opportunities and the highest salaries, Gourlay noted. This has to do with the fact that a rising number of employers are turning to temporary arrangements when they need specific skills for their projects, he added.