Whilst wages and national insurance contributions was the most common difficulty cited by plumbers, half (50%) also find it difficult to find a suitable candidate, with 39% often not having time to properly train or supervise them.

The new data follows the government's recent pledge to create an extra 30,000 apprenticeships in the next four years as part of a wider effort to increase British workers’ skills and cut net migration to the UK.

When asked what changes would make it easier to support apprentices, almost half (49%) of participants in Wavin’s latest Behind the Pipes survey selected government subsidies for apprentice wages. This was closely followed by wanting to see greater flexibility regarding apprentice terms and contracts to make the employment easier (47%).

Almost all plumbers (97%) agreed that apprentices play an important part in the future of the industry.

Dan Scott, VP of Northern Europe at Wavin, commented on the research: “Apprentices are vital to the future of our industry, and this new research shows that it’s time for real action to unlock this potential.

“The fact that so many plumbers have problems employing apprentices should be a wake-up call for everyone in the sector. There are things we can do to change this to ensure we have a prosperous, apprentice-driven future, and there should be no greater priority.”