Professionals in the building engineering trades are seeing some of the strongest gains, with average salaries rising by four times the cost of living, according to a survey published this week.

The survey, by the specialist recruitment company Hays, has shown that of over 10,000 employers and employees indicated that employers are confident their business activity will increase over the next 12 months.

This will result in greater hiring, with 70% of employers planning to increase headcount over the next year, paving the way for new jobs and boosting the trades.

However, 80% of employers are already concerned that they will encounter a shortage of suitable candidates which is already driving wages, with salaries for many professions rising in double digit percentages.

Nigel Heap, Managing Director of Hays UK & Ireland, said: “Although salary increases aren’t yet widespread, there are definite pockets of very significant rises, which have been fuelled by skill shortages.

“To date the greatest salary increases have been highest in sectors suffering from skill shortages where there simply aren’t enough people to fill the gaps.”

Gary Swan earns £95,000 to £100,000 a year and says that since he joined Pimlico Plumbers four years ago he ‘hasn’t looked back’.

The 38-year-old from Sidcup, Kent, told the Financial Mail on Sunday that after qualifying he worked for himself but found things ‘got rather sticky’ during the last recession as prices came down and work dried up, so he joined Charlie Mullins’ team.

‘Working for them takes a lot of the hassle away,’ he says. ‘You don’t have to deal with quoting for jobs, chasing invoices, people calling you all the time. You’re just left alone to be a plumber.’

Gary gets paid by the hour for smaller jobs and an agreed day rate for big ones, but says the hours can be ‘shocking’.

‘It’s 8am to 6pm in theory, but you often start at 7.30am and are working till 8pm or later,’ he says. ‘I also work one night a week and do the odd weekend, but I don’t mind. I could work 50 rather than 70 hours a week, but I’m making hay while the sun shines.

‘I think it will continue, as there just aren’t enough tradesmen around. It suits me because it means my wife doesn’t have to work and can look after our four children.

‘I’m much better off than my dad when he was working. We’ve never had it so good.’