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 2 April 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
2 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 132 86 82
Rank change year-on-year -46 -4 +2
Contract jobs citing Retail 776 690 962
As % of all contract jobs in England 2.03% 2.85% 2.56%
As % of the General category 3.57% 4.48% 4.38%
Number of daily rates quoted 494 375 551
10th Percentile £200 £306 £278
25th Percentile £363 £413 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £513
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% +2.44% -2.38%
75th Percentile £600 £638 £638
90th Percentile £738 £754 £738
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £500
% change year-on-year -4.76% +5.00% -4.76%
Number of hourly rates quoted 25 15 73
10th Percentile £12.83 £16.40 £11.13
25th Percentile £14.25 £19.69 £12.15
Median hourly rate £16.34 £32.50 £16.00
Median % change year-on-year -49.74% +103.13% -19.23%
75th Percentile £23.75 £50.00 £21.37
90th Percentile £51.95 £62.60 £21.46
UK median hourly rate £16.50 £33.00 £15.95
% change year-on-year -50.00% +106.90% -19.49%

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 21,738 15,410 21,979
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 56.82% 63.56% 58.42%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,706 10,047 14,289
10th Percentile £300 £300 £275
25th Percentile £406 £410 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £538
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -2.33% -2.27%
75th Percentile £625 £650 £650
90th Percentile £738 £775 £770
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,368 620 1,712
10th Percentile £14.25 £14.70 £13.00
25th Percentile £17.69 £18.50 £15.28
Median hourly rate £25.77 £30.00 £26.40
Median % change year-on-year -14.10% +13.64% -24.57%
75th Percentile £61.18 £60.00 £50.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £75.00 £65.00
UK median hourly rate £25.39 £29.04 £26.00
% change year-on-year -12.57% +11.67% -25.71%

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 2 April 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 2 April 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 2 April 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 -32 429 £525 -4.55% 362
South East -25 110 £420 -21.86% 242
North of England -47 90 £500 +11.11% 224
Midlands -38 74 £495 -1.00% 186
East Midlands -9 44 £495 -1.00% 118
North West -34 44 £500 +5.26% 111
Yorkshire -34 42 £513 +28.13% 91
East of England -21 38 £475 -9.52% 88
West Midlands -60 29 £514 +5.52% 68
South West -21 19 £310 -4.62% 84
North East -12 4 £206 -72.50% 25
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 (4.64%) Confluence
2 14 (1.80%) SharePoint
3 12 (1.55%) Adobe Experience Manager
4 11 (1.42%) CMS
5 9 (1.16%) Apache Airflow
6 4 (0.52%) WordPress
7 3 (0.39%) Microsoft Exchange
8 2 (0.26%) Jupyter
8 2 (0.26%) SAS
9 1 (0.13%) Apache Spark
9 1 (0.13%) WebSphere
9 1 (0.13%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 27 (3.48%) Microsoft Excel
2 18 (2.32%) Microsoft Project
3 14 (1.80%) Microsoft Office
4 13 (1.68%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 11 (1.42%) Chatbot
6 10 (1.29%) MS Visio
7 5 (0.64%) Photoshop
8 4 (0.52%) Adobe Illustrator
9 3 (0.39%) InDesign
10 2 (0.26%) Adobe Creative Suite
10 2 (0.26%) Trello
11 1 (0.13%) 3ds Max
11 1 (0.13%) Adobe After Effects
11 1 (0.13%) Adobe XD
11 1 (0.13%) Maya
11 1 (0.13%) SOLIDWORKS
11 1 (0.13%) Spreadsheet
11 1 (0.13%) UserZoom
Business Applications
1 18 (2.32%) SAP S/4HANA
2 17 (2.19%) Shopify
3 12 (1.55%) SAP Retail
4 11 (1.42%) Dynamics CRM
5 8 (1.03%) Oracle Retail
6 6 (0.77%) Finacle
6 6 (0.77%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
7 5 (0.64%) SAP Payroll
8 4 (0.52%) SAP MDG
8 4 (0.52%) Temenos T24
9 3 (0.39%) SAP MM
9 3 (0.39%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
10 2 (0.26%) BambooHR
10 2 (0.26%) Sprinklr
11 1 (0.13%) Endur
11 1 (0.13%) SAP CAR
11 1 (0.13%) SAP CRM
11 1 (0.13%) SAP ERP
11 1 (0.13%) SAP MDM
11 1 (0.13%) SAP SD
Cloud Services
1 83 (10.70%) Azure
2 53 (6.83%) Power Platform
3 50 (6.44%) GCP
4 47 (6.06%) AWS
5 21 (2.71%) Dynamics 365
6 20 (2.58%) Azure DevOps
7 19 (2.45%) GitHub
8 18 (2.32%) Snowflake
9 17 (2.19%) Microsoft 365
10 13 (1.68%) SaaS
11 12 (1.55%) Entra ID
11 12 (1.55%) GitHub Actions
11 12 (1.55%) Google Workspace
12 11 (1.42%) Figma
13 10 (1.29%) BigCommerce
13 10 (1.29%) Miro
14 9 (1.16%) Cloud Run
14 9 (1.16%) Salesforce Commerce Cloud
15 8 (1.03%) SuccessFactors
15 8 (1.03%) WhatsApp
Communications & Networking
1 16 (2.06%) RFID
2 15 (1.93%) VPN
3 11 (1.42%) Firewall
3 11 (1.42%) WAN
3 11 (1.42%) Wireless
4 8 (1.03%) NFC
5 7 (0.90%) LAN
6 6 (0.77%) Cisco Nexus
6 6 (0.77%) Wi-Fi
7 5 (0.64%) BGP
7 5 (0.64%) OSPF
8 4 (0.52%) EIGRP
8 4 (0.52%) VoIP
9 3 (0.39%) MPLS
10 2 (0.26%) Cisco ASA
10 2 (0.26%) Network Security
10 2 (0.26%) SAN
10 2 (0.26%) SD-WAN
10 2 (0.26%) SSL
10 2 (0.26%) WLAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 45 (5.80%) Power BI
2 27 (3.48%) BigQuery
3 16 (2.06%) Data Warehouse
4 13 (1.68%) SQL Server
5 12 (1.55%) MySQL
6 11 (1.42%) Tableau
7 10 (1.29%) Metadata
8 7 (0.90%) Data Vault
9 5 (0.64%) Data Lake
9 5 (0.64%) PostgreSQL
9 5 (0.64%) Relational Database
10 4 (0.52%) Delta Lake
10 4 (0.52%) NoSQL
11 3 (0.39%) Looker
11 3 (0.39%) OLAP
11 3 (0.39%) Oracle OLAP
11 3 (0.39%) Oracle Reports
11 3 (0.39%) SAP BW
11 3 (0.39%) Snowflake Schema
11 3 (0.39%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 68 (8.76%) JIRA
2 9 (1.16%) Git
2 9 (1.16%) Jenkins
3 7 (0.90%) GitLab
4 5 (0.64%) ERwin
5 4 (0.52%) Maven
6 3 (0.39%) Selenium
6 3 (0.39%) Terragrunt
7 2 (0.26%) Atlassian Bamboo
7 2 (0.26%) MLflow
7 2 (0.26%) PowerDesigner
7 2 (0.26%) WebDriver
8 1 (0.13%) Burp Suite
8 1 (0.13%) Cucumber
8 1 (0.13%) Gatling
8 1 (0.13%) HP UFT
8 1 (0.13%) Hudson
8 1 (0.13%) Mockito
8 1 (0.13%) Visual Studio
8 1 (0.13%) Zephyr
General
1 263 (33.89%) Social Skills
2 193 (24.87%) Finance
3 91 (11.73%) Analytical Skills
4 67 (8.63%) Banking
5 59 (7.60%) Marketing
6 37 (4.77%) Manufacturing
7 36 (4.64%) Organisational Skills
8 33 (4.25%) Public Sector
9 26 (3.35%) Documentation Skills
10 24 (3.09%) Presentation Skills
11 23 (2.96%) Influencing Skills
11 23 (2.96%) Investment Banking
12 22 (2.84%) Retail Banking
13 21 (2.71%) Corporate Banking
14 13 (1.68%) Telecoms
15 11 (1.42%) Legal
16 9 (1.16%) Inclusion and Diversity
17 7 (0.90%) Publishing
18 6 (0.77%) Financial Institution
18 6 (0.77%) Pharmaceutical
Job Titles
1 139 (17.91%) Analyst
2 97 (12.50%) Architect
2 97 (12.50%) Project Manager
3 95 (12.24%) Senior
4 78 (10.05%) Business Analyst
5 62 (7.99%) Lead
6 42 (5.41%) Senior Manager
7 37 (4.77%) Solutions Architect
8 36 (4.64%) Consultant
9 31 (3.99%) Technical Manager
10 22 (2.84%) Data Architect
10 22 (2.84%) Senior Project Manager
11 20 (2.58%) Programme Manager
12 17 (2.19%) Service Manager
13 16 (2.06%) Designer
13 16 (2.06%) Developer
14 15 (1.93%) Data Engineer
14 15 (1.93%) Product Manager
15 14 (1.80%) Enterprise Architect
15 14 (1.80%) IT Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 23 (2.96%) VML
2 21 (2.71%) Middleware
3 19 (2.45%) REST
4 15 (1.93%) Spring
5 12 (1.55%) AngularJS
6 11 (1.42%) React
7 10 (1.29%) Spring Boot
8 9 (1.16%) PySpark
9 8 (1.03%) .NET
9 8 (1.03%) CSS
9 8 (1.03%) HTML
9 8 (1.03%) Node.js
10 7 (0.90%) scikit-learn
11 6 (0.77%) jQuery
11 6 (0.77%) LangChain
11 6 (0.77%) OpenTelemetry
12 5 (0.64%) OAuth2
12 5 (0.64%) OpenID
12 5 (0.64%) PyTorch
12 5 (0.64%) SAML
Miscellaneous
1 53 (6.83%) Product Ownership
2 26 (3.35%) Driving Licence
2 26 (3.35%) Self-Motivation
3 25 (3.22%) Cloud Native
4 21 (2.71%) Onboarding
5 20 (2.58%) Data Centre
6 19 (2.45%) FMCG
6 19 (2.45%) Management Information System
7 15 (1.93%) Data Structures
7 15 (1.93%) Legacy Systems
8 13 (1.68%) EPoS
9 11 (1.42%) Mainframe
9 11 (1.42%) Mobile App
10 9 (1.16%) IoT
10 9 (1.16%) Virtual Team
11 8 (1.03%) Reference Data
12 7 (0.90%) Analytical Mindset
12 7 (0.90%) Enterprise Software
12 7 (0.90%) Social Media
13 6 (0.77%) Learning Management System
Operating Systems
1 36 (4.64%) Windows
2 19 (2.45%) Linux
3 9 (1.16%) Mac OS
4 5 (0.64%) Android
5 4 (0.52%) Apple iOS
5 4 (0.52%) Unix
5 4 (0.52%) Windows Server
6 3 (0.39%) zOS
7 1 (0.13%) Kali Linux
7 1 (0.13%) VMS
7 1 (0.13%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 183 (23.58%) Stakeholder Management
2 174 (22.42%) Agile
3 154 (19.85%) Problem-Solving
4 110 (14.18%) E-Commerce
5 93 (11.98%) Migration
6 89 (11.47%) Analytics
7 88 (11.34%) Project Management
8 85 (10.95%) Roadmaps
9 77 (9.92%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 70 (9.02%) Customer Experience
10 70 (9.02%) Workshop Facilitation
11 68 (8.76%) ERP
12 64 (8.25%) AI
12 64 (8.25%) Project Delivery
13 63 (8.12%) Change Management
13 63 (8.12%) Continuous Improvement
14 62 (7.99%) Scrum
15 59 (7.60%) Business Intelligence
16 56 (7.22%) DevOps
17 54 (6.96%) Decision-Making
Programming Languages
1 56 (7.22%) SQL
2 55 (7.09%) Python
3 27 (3.48%) Java
4 18 (2.32%) JavaScript
5 14 (1.80%) PowerShell
6 9 (1.16%) Bash
6 9 (1.16%) Shell Script
7 8 (1.03%) Kusto Query Language
8 7 (0.90%) C#
9 4 (0.52%) Scala
9 4 (0.52%) VBA
10 3 (0.39%) Kotlin
10 3 (0.39%) PL/SQL
10 3 (0.39%) TypeScript
11 2 (0.26%) Data Analysis Expressions
11 2 (0.26%) Google Apps Script
11 2 (0.26%) Korn
11 2 (0.26%) PHP
11 2 (0.26%) SOQL
11 2 (0.26%) SOSL
Qualifications
1 44 (5.67%) Degree
2 26 (3.35%) Security Cleared
3 20 (2.58%) PMP
4 15 (1.93%) PMI Certification
5 13 (1.68%) SC Cleared
6 7 (0.90%) APMP
6 7 (0.90%) BPSS Clearance
6 7 (0.90%) Master's Degree
7 6 (0.77%) CCNP
7 6 (0.77%) Cisco Certification
7 6 (0.77%) CISSP
7 6 (0.77%) Computer Science Degree
7 6 (0.77%) CSPO
7 6 (0.77%) MBA
8 4 (0.52%) CCIE
8 4 (0.52%) CISM
8 4 (0.52%) CRISC
9 3 (0.39%) ITIL Certification
9 3 (0.39%) Microsoft Certification
9 3 (0.39%) PhD
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 36 (4.64%) Data Quality
2 33 (4.25%) QA
3 30 (3.87%) PMO
4 23 (2.96%) GDPR
5 18 (2.32%) SLA
6 12 (1.55%) Accessibility
7 8 (1.03%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 6 (0.77%) PCI DSS
9 4 (0.52%) IFRS
9 4 (0.52%) NIST
10 3 (0.39%) Actionable Recommendations
11 2 (0.26%) California Consumer Privacy Act
11 2 (0.26%) GRC
11 2 (0.26%) NCSC
11 2 (0.26%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 1 (0.13%) COBIT
12 1 (0.13%) GAAP
12 1 (0.13%) ISO 8583
12 1 (0.13%) MiFID
12 1 (0.13%) WCAG
System Software
1 17 (2.19%) Active Directory
2 15 (1.93%) Docker
3 4 (0.52%) VMware NSX
4 3 (0.39%) Virtual Machines
4 3 (0.39%) VMware Infrastructure
5 2 (0.26%) Virtual Desktop
5 2 (0.26%) VMware ESXi
6 1 (0.13%) RACF
6 1 (0.13%) Varnish
Systems Management
1 20 (2.58%) Terraform
2 13 (1.68%) Kubernetes
3 7 (0.90%) Microsoft Intune
3 7 (0.90%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
4 6 (0.77%) Argo
4 6 (0.77%) Istio
5 5 (0.64%) Grafana
5 5 (0.64%) Single Sign-On
6 4 (0.52%) SCCM
7 2 (0.26%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 2 (0.26%) CA Single Sign-On
7 2 (0.26%) Jamf Pro
7 2 (0.26%) MOM
7 2 (0.26%) PingFederate
8 1 (0.13%) Ansible
8 1 (0.13%) Cacti
8 1 (0.13%) FortiGate
8 1 (0.13%) Prometheus
8 1 (0.13%) ZABBIX
8 1 (0.13%) zSecure
Vendors
1 72 (9.28%) Microsoft
2 65 (8.38%) SAP
3 50 (6.44%) Google
4 46 (5.93%) Oracle
5 36 (4.64%) Salesforce
6 31 (3.99%) Databricks
7 25 (3.22%) Adobe
8 18 (2.32%) ServiceNow
9 13 (1.68%) Sitecore
10 8 (1.03%) Cisco
10 8 (1.03%) IFS
10 8 (1.03%) Temenos
11 7 (0.90%) CheckPoint
11 7 (0.90%) VMware
11 7 (0.90%) Workday
12 6 (0.77%) Apple
12 6 (0.77%) Avaloq
12 6 (0.77%) GoldenSource
12 6 (0.77%) Palo Alto
12 6 (0.77%) Zscaler