Retail Contract Job Trends in England

Retailing
UK > England

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Retail in contract job vacancies in England. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Retail over the 6 months leading up to 20 July 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
20 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 87 100 75
Rank change year-on-year +13 -25 +13
Contract jobs citing Retail 1,309 707 1,010
As % of all contract jobs in England 2.92% 2.58% 2.83%
As % of the General category 5.28% 4.05% 4.92%
Number of daily rates quoted 791 364 553
10th Percentile £309 £306 £286
25th Percentile £425 £413 £406
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £525 £515
Median % change year-on-year +4.76% +1.94% -1.90%
75th Percentile £675 £638 £638
90th Percentile £738 £725 £725
UK median daily rate £538 £513 £505
% change year-on-year +4.88% +1.49% -4.94%
Number of hourly rates quoted 92 39 76
10th Percentile £12.99 - £12.15
25th Percentile £15.24 £15.25 £12.50
Median hourly rate £21.00 £16.30 £16.30
Median % change year-on-year +28.83% - -17.72%
75th Percentile £22.50 £25.15 £21.37
90th Percentile £43.75 £54.05 £21.46
UK median hourly rate £21.00 £16.30 £16.30
% change year-on-year +28.83% - -17.72%

All General Skills
England

Retail falls under the General Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring general skills in England.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for general skills 24,776 17,460 20,527
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 55.20% 63.66% 57.41%
Number of daily rates quoted 14,869 11,169 13,155
10th Percentile £313 £281 £300
25th Percentile £413 £404 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £513 £535
Median % change year-on-year +2.44% -4.21% -2.73%
75th Percentile £638 £638 £650
90th Percentile £749 £760 £775
UK median daily rate £520 £500 £525
% change year-on-year +4.00% -4.76% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,821 906 1,551
10th Percentile £14.25 £13.25 £13.50
25th Percentile £19.00 £16.36 £16.25
Median hourly rate £33.99 £26.28 £35.03
Median % change year-on-year +29.34% -24.98% +16.77%
75th Percentile £65.00 £51.16 £57.50
90th Percentile £82.25 £74.38 £70.00
UK median hourly rate £32.81 £25.75 £34.23
% change year-on-year +27.40% -24.77% +12.16%

Retail
Job Vacancy Trend in England

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Retail relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in England.

Retail job vacancy trend in England

Retail
Daily Rate Trend in England

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Retail.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Retail

Retail
Daily Rate Histogram in England

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Retail in England over the 6 months to 20 July 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Retail in England

Retail
Hourly Rate Trend in England

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Retail.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in England citing Retail

Retail
Hourly Rate Histogram in England

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Retail in England over the 6 months to 20 July 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Retail in England

Retail
Contract Job Locations in England

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Retail within the England region over the 6 months to 20 July 2026. 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
London +28 765 £550 - 451
South East +10 169 £525 -7.49% 236
North of England -23 165 £550 +10.00% 209
North West +1 108 £575 +15.00% 112
Midlands +3 103 £500 +17.65% 151
East of England +17 60 £550 +10.00% 93
East Midlands +5 55 £488 +18.18% 79
Yorkshire -49 49 £506 -3.57% 77
West Midlands -32 48 £606 +34.72% 71
South West -37 34 £325 -8.59% 67
North East -32 8 £155 -81.17% 22
Retail
UK

Retail
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in England 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 36 (2.75%) Confluence
2 19 (1.45%) CMS
3 15 (1.15%) Adobe Experience Manager
4 9 (0.69%) Apache Airflow
5 7 (0.53%) SharePoint
6 5 (0.38%) SAS
7 4 (0.31%) WebSphere
8 2 (0.15%) Anypoint
8 2 (0.15%) Apache Spark
8 2 (0.15%) CICS
9 1 (0.076%) Apache
9 1 (0.076%) Microsoft Exchange
9 1 (0.076%) Mule
Applications
1 44 (3.36%) Microsoft Excel
2 32 (2.44%) Microsoft Office
3 22 (1.68%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 18 (1.38%) Microsoft Project
5 13 (0.99%) Chatbot
6 12 (0.92%) Adobe Creative Suite
7 10 (0.76%) Photoshop
8 9 (0.69%) Adobe Illustrator
9 6 (0.46%) InDesign
10 4 (0.31%) MS Visio
11 3 (0.23%) Notion
11 3 (0.23%) Spreadsheet
12 2 (0.15%) CPLEX
12 2 (0.15%) UserZoom
13 1 (0.076%) 3ds Max
13 1 (0.076%) Maya
13 1 (0.076%) PlantUML
13 1 (0.076%) SOLIDWORKS
Business Applications
1 36 (2.75%) SAP S/4HANA
2 26 (1.99%) Shopify
3 11 (0.84%) Dynamics CRM
4 10 (0.76%) Oracle Retail
5 8 (0.61%) Magento
6 7 (0.53%) SAP CRM
7 6 (0.46%) Salesforce CRM
7 6 (0.46%) SAP Retail
8 5 (0.38%) SAP MDG
8 5 (0.38%) SAP SD
9 4 (0.31%) NetSuite
9 4 (0.31%) Payment Gateway
10 3 (0.23%) Oracle Payables
10 3 (0.23%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
10 3 (0.23%) Oracle Receivables
10 3 (0.23%) SAP CAR
10 3 (0.23%) SAP ERP
11 2 (0.15%) Cognos Controller
11 2 (0.15%) Dynamics AX
11 2 (0.15%) Finacle
Cloud Services
1 165 (12.61%) Azure
2 126 (9.63%) AWS
3 69 (5.27%) GCP
4 64 (4.89%) Power Platform
5 45 (3.44%) Snowflake
6 36 (2.75%) GitHub
7 27 (2.06%) Entra ID
8 25 (1.91%) Azure DevOps
9 24 (1.83%) GitHub Actions
10 22 (1.68%) Dynamics 365
11 21 (1.60%) Figma
12 16 (1.22%) SaaS
13 15 (1.15%) Salesforce Commerce Cloud
14 12 (0.92%) Azure Data Factory
15 11 (0.84%) Google Workspace
15 11 (0.84%) Salesforce Service Cloud
16 10 (0.76%) Azure Synapse Analytics
16 10 (0.76%) dbt
16 10 (0.76%) Microsoft 365
17 9 (0.69%) Miro
Communications & Networking
1 16 (1.22%) Firewall
2 15 (1.15%) Wireless
3 14 (1.07%) ATM
3 14 (1.07%) VPN
3 14 (1.07%) WAN
4 13 (0.99%) Network Security
5 9 (0.69%) RFID
6 8 (0.61%) BGP
6 8 (0.61%) IPsec
6 8 (0.61%) LAN
6 8 (0.61%) OSPF
6 8 (0.61%) Wi-Fi
7 7 (0.53%) F5 BIG-IP LTM
7 7 (0.53%) VLAN
8 6 (0.46%) Cisco Firepower
8 6 (0.46%) SD-WAN
9 5 (0.38%) Cisco ASA
9 5 (0.38%) Cisco Nexus
9 5 (0.38%) VSAN
10 4 (0.31%) Internet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 62 (4.74%) Power BI
2 31 (2.37%) BigQuery
3 20 (1.53%) Data Warehouse
4 19 (1.45%) Data Lake
5 17 (1.30%) MySQL
6 16 (1.22%) Metadata
7 15 (1.15%) NoSQL
7 15 (1.15%) Tableau
8 12 (0.92%) Relational Database
8 12 (0.92%) SQL Server
9 8 (0.61%) Amazon Redshift
9 8 (0.61%) SQL Server Integration Services
10 7 (0.53%) MongoDB
10 7 (0.53%) Power Query
11 6 (0.46%) Couchbase
11 6 (0.46%) Looker
11 6 (0.46%) PostgreSQL
11 6 (0.46%) SAP HANA
11 6 (0.46%) Semantic Layer
12 4 (0.31%) SAP BW
Development Applications
1 68 (5.19%) JIRA
2 27 (2.06%) Git
3 19 (1.45%) Jenkins
4 8 (0.61%) Subversion
5 5 (0.38%) Claude Code
6 4 (0.31%) Cypress.io
6 4 (0.31%) Eclipse
6 4 (0.31%) Maven
7 3 (0.23%) GitLab
7 3 (0.23%) Selenium
8 2 (0.15%) git-flow
8 2 (0.15%) Hudson
8 2 (0.15%) JMeter
8 2 (0.15%) MLflow
8 2 (0.15%) Oracle Forms
8 2 (0.15%) Postman
8 2 (0.15%) WebDriver
8 2 (0.15%) webpack
9 1 (0.076%) REST Assured
9 1 (0.076%) Terragrunt
General
1 368 (28.11%) Social Skills
2 298 (22.77%) Finance
3 122 (9.32%) Analytical Skills
4 105 (8.02%) Banking
5 92 (7.03%) Marketing
6 76 (5.81%) Manufacturing
7 58 (4.43%) Organisational Skills
8 51 (3.90%) Retail Banking
9 40 (3.06%) Investment Banking
10 38 (2.90%) Corporate Banking
11 27 (2.06%) Influencing Skills
12 25 (1.91%) Telecoms
13 23 (1.76%) Public Sector
14 22 (1.68%) Documentation Skills
14 22 (1.68%) Legal
15 21 (1.60%) Presentation Skills
16 19 (1.45%) French Language
17 18 (1.38%) Advertising
17 18 (1.38%) Spanish Language
18 13 (0.99%) Back Office
Job Titles
1 223 (17.04%) Architect
2 175 (13.37%) Analyst
3 159 (12.15%) Senior
4 123 (9.40%) Project Manager
5 119 (9.09%) Solutions Architect
6 92 (7.03%) Lead
7 91 (6.95%) Business Analyst
8 60 (4.58%) Developer
8 60 (4.58%) Senior Manager
9 49 (3.74%) Designer
10 44 (3.36%) Product Manager
11 38 (2.90%) Technical Manager
12 36 (2.75%) Consultant
13 34 (2.60%) Enterprise Architect
13 34 (2.60%) Senior Project Manager
14 33 (2.52%) Programme Manager
15 31 (2.37%) Data Architect
16 30 (2.29%) Supply Chain Architect
17 27 (2.06%) 2nd Line Support
18 26 (1.99%) Senior Developer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 59 (4.51%) REST
2 33 (2.52%) React
3 30 (2.29%) Middleware
4 26 (1.99%) Spring
5 22 (1.68%) Kafka
6 21 (1.60%) VML
7 20 (1.53%) Node.js
8 18 (1.38%) Django
8 18 (1.38%) Spring Boot
9 17 (1.30%) HTML
10 16 (1.22%) CSS
11 15 (1.15%) RESTful
12 14 (1.07%) MACH
12 14 (1.07%) OAuth
12 14 (1.07%) SOAP
13 13 (0.99%) Jakarta EE
14 11 (0.84%) .NET
15 9 (0.69%) AngularJS
15 9 (0.69%) GraphQL
15 9 (0.69%) OAuth2
Miscellaneous
1 74 (5.65%) Product Ownership
2 61 (4.66%) FMCG
3 44 (3.36%) EPoS
3 44 (3.36%) Onboarding
4 36 (2.75%) Cloud Native
5 30 (2.29%) Driving Licence
6 29 (2.22%) Legacy Systems
7 27 (2.06%) Data Centre
8 24 (1.83%) Mobile App
9 21 (1.60%) Data Structures
9 21 (1.60%) Self-Motivation
10 20 (1.53%) Marketing Technology
10 20 (1.53%) Operational Technology
11 19 (1.45%) Greenfield Project
12 15 (1.15%) IoT
13 13 (0.99%) Mainframe
14 12 (0.92%) Graphic Design
15 11 (0.84%) Data Protection Act
15 11 (0.84%) Management Information System
15 11 (0.84%) Smartphone
Operating Systems
1 50 (3.82%) Windows
2 23 (1.76%) Linux
3 11 (0.84%) Unix
4 10 (0.76%) Android
5 6 (0.46%) Apple iOS
5 6 (0.46%) Mac OS
5 6 (0.46%) Ubuntu
6 5 (0.38%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 5 (0.38%) Windows 10
6 5 (0.38%) Windows Server
7 4 (0.31%) zOS
8 2 (0.15%) Debian
9 1 (0.076%) SUSE
9 1 (0.076%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
9 1 (0.076%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 335 (25.59%) Stakeholder Management
2 316 (24.14%) Agile
3 209 (15.97%) E-Commerce
4 182 (13.90%) Problem-Solving
5 170 (12.99%) Migration
6 168 (12.83%) Roadmaps
7 141 (10.77%) Analytics
8 131 (10.01%) AI
8 131 (10.01%) Customer Experience
9 108 (8.25%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 105 (8.02%) Project Management
11 104 (7.94%) Continuous Improvement
11 104 (7.94%) Decision-Making
12 101 (7.72%) CI/CD
12 101 (7.72%) CRM
12 101 (7.72%) Logistics
13 98 (7.49%) ERP
14 97 (7.41%) Project Delivery
15 90 (6.88%) User Acceptance Testing
16 88 (6.72%) Business Intelligence
Programming Languages
1 98 (7.49%) SQL
2 87 (6.65%) Python
3 50 (3.82%) Java
4 26 (1.99%) JavaScript
4 26 (1.99%) TypeScript
5 11 (0.84%) C#
6 9 (0.69%) PowerShell
7 7 (0.53%) ABAP
7 7 (0.53%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 6 (0.46%) Bicep
8 6 (0.46%) PL/SQL
8 6 (0.46%) R
8 6 (0.46%) Scala
9 5 (0.38%) Apex Code
9 5 (0.38%) Bash
9 5 (0.38%) Groovy
9 5 (0.38%) Shell Script
9 5 (0.38%) SOQL
10 4 (0.31%) Kotlin
11 3 (0.23%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 63 (4.81%) Degree
2 36 (2.75%) Security Cleared
3 22 (1.68%) PMP
4 21 (1.60%) SC Cleared
5 11 (0.84%) DBS Check
6 9 (0.69%) BPSS Clearance
6 9 (0.69%) PMI Certification
7 8 (0.61%) CISSP
8 7 (0.53%) Computer Science Degree
9 6 (0.46%) Cisco Certification
9 6 (0.46%) CISM
9 6 (0.46%) ITIL Certification
10 5 (0.38%) CCNP
10 5 (0.38%) CCSE
10 5 (0.38%) CCSM
10 5 (0.38%) CSPO
11 4 (0.31%) Azure Certification
11 4 (0.31%) City & Guilds
12 3 (0.23%) Master's Degree
12 3 (0.23%) PhD
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 60 (4.58%) QA
2 48 (3.67%) Data Quality
3 37 (2.83%) GDPR
4 30 (2.29%) PMO
5 23 (1.76%) Accessibility
6 16 (1.22%) PCI DSS
7 11 (0.84%) SLA
8 8 (0.61%) ISO/IEC 27001
9 6 (0.46%) NIST
10 3 (0.23%) Actionable Recommendations
10 3 (0.23%) GAAP
10 3 (0.23%) IFRS
10 3 (0.23%) PSD2
10 3 (0.23%) WCAG
11 2 (0.15%) California Consumer Privacy Act
11 2 (0.15%) GRC
11 2 (0.15%) ISO 8583
11 2 (0.15%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 1 (0.076%) COBIT
12 1 (0.076%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
System Software
1 32 (2.44%) Docker
2 31 (2.37%) Active Directory
3 12 (0.92%) Virtual Desktop
4 7 (0.53%) Virtual Machines
4 7 (0.53%) VMware Infrastructure
5 5 (0.38%) VMware ESXi
6 4 (0.31%) Firmware
7 2 (0.15%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 40 (3.06%) Terraform
2 30 (2.29%) Kubernetes
3 14 (1.07%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
4 10 (0.76%) Ansible
5 6 (0.46%) FortiGate
5 6 (0.46%) Microsoft Intune
6 5 (0.38%) Single Sign-On
7 4 (0.31%) SCCM
8 3 (0.23%) Grafana
9 2 (0.15%) Active Directory Federation Services
9 2 (0.15%) AirWatch
9 2 (0.15%) CA Single Sign-On
9 2 (0.15%) MOM
9 2 (0.15%) PingFederate
10 1 (0.076%) Argo
10 1 (0.076%) CloudHub
10 1 (0.076%) CSIRT
10 1 (0.076%) Istio
10 1 (0.076%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 106 (8.10%) Microsoft
2 95 (7.26%) SAP
3 70 (5.35%) Oracle
4 56 (4.28%) Salesforce
5 54 (4.13%) Databricks
6 45 (3.44%) Google
7 36 (2.75%) Adobe
8 23 (1.76%) Zscaler
9 18 (1.38%) ServiceNow
10 15 (1.15%) Cisco
10 15 (1.15%) MuleSoft
11 14 (1.07%) IFS
12 13 (0.99%) Fortinet
12 13 (0.99%) Palo Alto
12 13 (0.99%) Workday
13 12 (0.92%) VMware
14 10 (0.76%) Braze
14 10 (0.76%) IBM
14 10 (0.76%) Splunk
15 9 (0.69%) Sitecore