Everyone knows agencies add a margin. Almost nobody prices what it compounds to. UrProject breaks down the gap between what companies pay and what workers receive, trade by trade.
Every contractor knows the routine. A programme slips, a gang is short, the phone call goes to the agency. The labour arrives, and so does the margin.
What almost no one does is put the numbers side by side. So here they are. The table nobody publishes.
Typical UK day rates, with the standard 20 to 35 per cent agency margin applied, across a 240-day working year:
Trade | Worker receives (direct) | Agency charge rate | Extra cost per worker, per year |
Site Manager | £300/day | £360 to £405 | £14,400 to £25,200 |
Electrician | £260/day | £312 to £351 | £12,480 to £21,840 |
Bricklayer | £240/day | £288 to £324 | £11,520 to £20,160 |
Carpenter | £220/day | £264 to £297 | £10,560 to £18,480 |
General Labourer | £140/day | £168 to £189 | £6,720 to £11,760 |
The worker’s pay does not change. The output does not change. The gap is the cost of an introduction, charged every week, often for workers the company already knows.
Why the model survived this long
Agencies earned their place by solving real problems: verification, compliance, short-notice availability, payment administration. With the sector needing an estimated 41,200 additional workers every year to 2030 (CITB), those problems are real. But they are administration problems, and administration can now be automated.
What direct hiring looks like now
UrProject, live across the UK, runs both sides of the equation. Companies manage their own workforce on the platform: geofenced GPS clock-ins, weekly timesheet approvals, daily site logs with photos, digital induction packs, and client-ready proof packs that export straight to payroll.
When a site needs more labour, companies book KYC-verified workers directly from the marketplace, filtered by trade, region, rate and availability.
Workers manage their own profiles and get booked the way you would book on Airbnb: direct, rated, verified, with records that travel with them. No placement fees, no margin on hours, no charge for rebooking. The rate you agree is the rate the worker receives, paid directly under CIS.
The founding 10
UrProject is opening 10 onboarding places for UK construction companies: three months’ full platform access and complete guided onboarding at no cost, including workforce set-up, compliance records and marketplace access. Places close 30 September 2026.
Claim a place via the campaign link, or run your own numbers in two minutes with the free agency margin calculator at urproject.co.uk.
