1st/2nd Line Support Contract Job Trends in Cheshire

1st/2nd Line Support
North West > Cheshire

The median 1st/2nd Line Support daily rate in Cheshire is £175, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 20 December 2025.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
20 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 60 56 50
Rank change year-on-year -4 -6 -
Contract jobs requiring a 1st/2nd Line Support 11 3 5
As % of all contract jobs in Cheshire 1.73% 0.66% 1.26%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.95% 0.74% 1.44%
Number of daily rates quoted 6 1 4
10th Percentile - - -
25th Percentile £163 £205 £122
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £175 £210 £149
Median % change year-on-year -16.67% +41.41% -
75th Percentile £188 £215 £194
90th Percentile - - £205
North West median daily rate £175 £150 £200
% change year-on-year +16.67% -25.00% +35.59%
Number of hourly rates quoted 0 2 1
Median hourly rate - £22.09 £17.72
Median % change year-on-year - +24.66% -
North West median hourly rate - £22.09 £17.72
% change year-on-year - +24.66% -

All Contract IT Job Vacancies
Cheshire

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in Cheshire. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in Cheshire with a recognized job title 565 405 347
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 88.70% 88.82% 87.63%
Number of daily rates quoted 407 234 232
10th Percentile £269 £305 £265
25th Percentile £358 £360 £425
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £475 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.26% -5.00% +11.11%
75th Percentile £551 £575 £540
90th Percentile £688 £645 £586
North West median daily rate £450 £475 £500
% change year-on-year -5.26% -5.00% +2.56%
Number of hourly rates quoted 41 20 26
10th Percentile £15.50 £15.35 £16.27
25th Percentile £19.00 £16.00 £17.72
Median hourly rate £23.50 £22.09 £28.31
Median % change year-on-year +6.38% -21.96% +60.28%
75th Percentile £36.75 £25.45 £35.00
90th Percentile £67.25 £86.00 £41.88
North West median hourly rate £30.99 £27.13 £35.00
% change year-on-year +14.25% -22.50% +60.92%

1st/2nd Line Support
Job Vacancy Trend in Cheshire

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring '1st/2nd Line Support' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in Cheshire.

1st/2nd Line Support job vacancy trend in Cheshire

1st/2nd Line Support
Daily Rate Trend in Cheshire

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for 1st/2nd Line Support job vacancies in Cheshire.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for 1st/2nd Line Support job vacancies in Cheshire

1st/2nd Line Support
Hourly Rate Trend in Cheshire

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for 1st/2nd Line Support job vacancies in Cheshire.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for 1st/2nd Line Support job vacancies in Cheshire

1st/2nd Line Support
Contract Job Locations in Cheshire

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing 1st/2nd Line Support within the Cheshire region over the 6 months to 20 December 2025. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Matching
Contract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
Crewe - 6 £175 -
1st/2nd Line Support
North West

1st/2nd Line Support Skill Set
Top 10 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Cheshire

For the 6 months to 20 December 2025, 1st/2nd Line Support contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads across the Cheshire region featuring 1st/2nd Line Support in the job title.

1 11 (100.00%) Microsoft
1 11 (100.00%) Service Delivery
2 6 (54.55%) Customer Experience
2 6 (54.55%) Microsoft 365
2 6 (54.55%) Windows
2 6 (54.55%) Windows Server
3 5 (45.45%) Active Directory
3 5 (45.45%) Customer Service
3 5 (45.45%) Exchange Server 2010
3 5 (45.45%) Microsoft Exchange

1st/2nd Line Support Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in Cheshire by Category

The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:

Application Platforms
1 5 (45.45%) Exchange Server 2010
1 5 (45.45%) Microsoft Exchange
Cloud Services
1 6 (54.55%) Microsoft 365
General
1 11 (100.00%) Social Skills
2 5 (45.45%) Manufacturing
2 5 (45.45%) Organisational Skills
Operating Systems
1 6 (54.55%) Windows
1 6 (54.55%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 11 (100.00%) Service Delivery
2 6 (54.55%) Customer Experience
3 5 (45.45%) Customer Service
System Software
1 5 (45.45%) Active Directory
Vendors
1 11 (100.00%) Microsoft