As Chair of FAME I am very pleased to present the results of the 2018-19 State of the Archaeological Market Survey. Since 2008 the data from this annual survey have provided the foundation for analysis of the marketplace and the health of archaeological commercial practice, and has been used to extrapolate the contribution that commercial archaeology makes to the economy.

Over the years it has demonstrated that archaeological organisations are flexible to cycles of boom and bust in the economy, and have developed a sustainable model for delivering archaeological services in support of the planning process, which in turn results in public benefit through the safeguarding, investigation and dissemination of knowledge for threatened parts of our heritage. The results from this survey corroborate previous ones in showing that professional archaeologists are now charging rates, and returning profits, on a par with other allied professions, and that we are re-investing in our businesses through staff training and development. It exposes shortfalls in certain skill sets, but it also helps in understanding who are the major funders of archaeology in the UK, and what market sectors most need our services.

It is an essential source of information for a profession which frequently needs to make its case to government, and reinforce the value we bring for the good of society, to justify the developer-funding for archaeology required through the planning process.

Tim Malim, Chair: Federation of Archaeological Managers and Employers

You can download the report here: State of the Archaeological Market 2019 

UPDATE: An earlier version had a Word to PDF conversion error. That has been fixed and the best version can be downloaded at that link.

Some key findings:

This project was funded and supported by: