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

6 months to
17 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 122 94 82
Rank change year-on-year -28 -12 +1
Contract jobs citing Retail 836 682 980
As % of all contract jobs in England 2.12% 2.79% 2.62%
As % of the General category 3.81% 4.37% 4.49%
Number of daily rates quoted 522 372 560
10th Percentile £206 £306 £278
25th Percentile £380 £413 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £520
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% +0.96% -0.95%
75th Percentile £606 £632 £644
90th Percentile £736 £749 £738
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £513
% change year-on-year -4.76% +2.44% -2.38%
Number of hourly rates quoted 31 16 81
10th Percentile £12.95 £15.78 £11.13
25th Percentile £15.25 £17.67 £12.15
Median hourly rate £16.92 £30.25 £16.00
Median % change year-on-year -44.07% +89.06% -19.23%
75th Percentile £22.02 £39.25 £21.37
90th Percentile £46.25 £61.38 £21.46
UK median hourly rate £17.50 £32.00 £16.00
% change year-on-year -45.31% +100.00% -19.23%

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 21,934 15,624 21,807
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 55.74% 63.93% 58.39%
Number of daily rates quoted 13,790 10,170 14,102
10th Percentile £304 £300 £275
25th Percentile £408 £411 £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 £775
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,401 650 1,764
10th Percentile £14.25 £14.20 £13.00
25th Percentile £18.05 £17.66 £15.38
Median hourly rate £30.00 £28.75 £27.51
Median % change year-on-year +4.35% +4.52% -21.41%
75th Percentile £61.18 £58.75 £50.00
90th Percentile £80.00 £75.00 £65.00
UK median hourly rate £27.80 £28.75 £27.50
% change year-on-year -3.30% +4.55% -21.43%

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 17 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 17 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 17 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 -26 456 £525 -4.55% 353
South East -13 118 £413 -23.26% 228
North of England -38 107 £500 +11.11% 234
Midlands -47 75 £495 -1.00% 161
North West -13 61 £500 - 130
East of England -14 43 £515 -2.00% 108
Yorkshire -40 42 £513 +38.51% 83
East Midlands -12 40 £495 -1.00% 85
West Midlands -53 34 £500 +12.68% 76
South West -25 21 £318 -6.62% 70
North East -17 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 35 (4.19%) Confluence
2 16 (1.91%) SharePoint
3 12 (1.44%) Adobe Experience Manager
4 9 (1.08%) Apache Airflow
5 8 (0.96%) CMS
6 3 (0.36%) Microsoft Exchange
6 3 (0.36%) SAS
7 2 (0.24%) Apache Spark
7 2 (0.24%) Jupyter
7 2 (0.24%) WordPress
8 1 (0.12%) CICS
8 1 (0.12%) WebSphere
8 1 (0.12%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 33 (3.95%) Microsoft Excel
2 19 (2.27%) Microsoft Project
3 16 (1.91%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 14 (1.67%) Microsoft Office
5 13 (1.56%) Chatbot
6 11 (1.32%) MS Visio
7 6 (0.72%) Photoshop
8 5 (0.60%) Adobe Illustrator
9 3 (0.36%) InDesign
10 2 (0.24%) Adobe Creative Suite
10 2 (0.24%) Trello
10 2 (0.24%) UserZoom
11 1 (0.12%) 3ds Max
11 1 (0.12%) Adobe After Effects
11 1 (0.12%) Adobe XD
11 1 (0.12%) Maya
11 1 (0.12%) SOLIDWORKS
11 1 (0.12%) Spreadsheet
Business Applications
1 19 (2.27%) Shopify
2 13 (1.56%) SAP S/4HANA
3 12 (1.44%) Dynamics CRM
4 8 (0.96%) Oracle Retail
5 7 (0.84%) SAP Retail
6 6 (0.72%) Finacle
6 6 (0.72%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
7 5 (0.60%) SAP Payroll
8 4 (0.48%) SAP MDG
8 4 (0.48%) Temenos T24
9 3 (0.36%) SAP MM
9 3 (0.36%) Sparx Enterprise Architect
10 2 (0.24%) BambooHR
10 2 (0.24%) Salesforce CRM
10 2 (0.24%) Sprinklr
11 1 (0.12%) OpenText VIM for SAP
11 1 (0.12%) Payment Gateway
11 1 (0.12%) Sage X3
11 1 (0.12%) SAP CAR
11 1 (0.12%) SAP Hybris
Cloud Services
1 87 (10.41%) Azure
2 55 (6.58%) Power Platform
3 53 (6.34%) AWS
4 51 (6.10%) GCP
5 25 (2.99%) Dynamics 365
6 21 (2.51%) Azure DevOps
6 21 (2.51%) Snowflake
7 20 (2.39%) GitHub
8 18 (2.15%) Microsoft 365
9 14 (1.67%) Entra ID
10 13 (1.56%) GitHub Actions
10 13 (1.56%) Google Workspace
10 13 (1.56%) SaaS
11 12 (1.44%) BigCommerce
11 12 (1.44%) Figma
12 11 (1.32%) Miro
13 9 (1.08%) Azure Data Factory
13 9 (1.08%) Cloud Run
13 9 (1.08%) Salesforce Commerce Cloud
14 8 (0.96%) SuccessFactors
Communications & Networking
1 17 (2.03%) VPN
2 16 (1.91%) RFID
3 14 (1.67%) Firewall
3 14 (1.67%) WAN
4 11 (1.32%) Wireless
5 8 (0.96%) LAN
5 8 (0.96%) NFC
6 6 (0.72%) Cisco Nexus
6 6 (0.72%) Wi-Fi
7 5 (0.60%) BGP
7 5 (0.60%) OSPF
8 4 (0.48%) EIGRP
8 4 (0.48%) VoIP
9 3 (0.36%) Cisco Firepower
9 3 (0.36%) MPLS
9 3 (0.36%) Network Security
9 3 (0.36%) SD-WAN
9 3 (0.36%) WLAN
10 2 (0.24%) Cisco ASA
10 2 (0.24%) VSAN
Database & Business Intelligence
1 47 (5.62%) Power BI
2 24 (2.87%) BigQuery
3 17 (2.03%) Data Warehouse
4 16 (1.91%) SQL Server
5 12 (1.44%) MySQL
5 12 (1.44%) Tableau
6 10 (1.20%) Metadata
7 8 (0.96%) Data Lake
8 6 (0.72%) Data Vault
8 6 (0.72%) Relational Database
9 5 (0.60%) PostgreSQL
10 4 (0.48%) Delta Lake
10 4 (0.48%) NoSQL
10 4 (0.48%) Snowflake Schema
11 3 (0.36%) Looker
11 3 (0.36%) OLAP
11 3 (0.36%) Oracle OLAP
11 3 (0.36%) Oracle Reports
12 2 (0.24%) Semantic Layer
12 2 (0.24%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 68 (8.13%) JIRA
2 9 (1.08%) Git
2 9 (1.08%) Jenkins
3 8 (0.96%) GitLab
4 5 (0.60%) ERwin
5 4 (0.48%) Maven
6 3 (0.36%) Selenium
6 3 (0.36%) Terragrunt
7 2 (0.24%) Atlassian Bamboo
7 2 (0.24%) MLflow
7 2 (0.24%) PowerDesigner
7 2 (0.24%) WebDriver
8 1 (0.12%) Burp Suite
8 1 (0.12%) Cucumber
8 1 (0.12%) Gatling
8 1 (0.12%) HP UFT
8 1 (0.12%) Hudson
8 1 (0.12%) JMeter
8 1 (0.12%) Mockito
8 1 (0.12%) Xcode
General
1 267 (31.94%) Social Skills
2 216 (25.84%) Finance
3 101 (12.08%) Analytical Skills
4 70 (8.37%) Banking
5 59 (7.06%) Marketing
6 40 (4.78%) Manufacturing
7 39 (4.67%) Organisational Skills
8 29 (3.47%) Documentation Skills
9 27 (3.23%) Public Sector
10 26 (3.11%) Presentation Skills
11 25 (2.99%) Investment Banking
12 24 (2.87%) Influencing Skills
12 24 (2.87%) Retail Banking
13 23 (2.75%) Corporate Banking
14 18 (2.15%) Telecoms
15 13 (1.56%) Legal
16 10 (1.20%) Back Office
17 8 (0.96%) Pharmaceutical
18 7 (0.84%) Inclusion and Diversity
19 6 (0.72%) Financial Institution
Job Titles
1 141 (16.87%) Analyst
2 116 (13.88%) Architect
3 106 (12.68%) Senior
4 104 (12.44%) Project Manager
5 82 (9.81%) Business Analyst
6 68 (8.13%) Lead
7 46 (5.50%) Senior Manager
8 44 (5.26%) Solutions Architect
9 34 (4.07%) Consultant
10 31 (3.71%) Technical Manager
11 25 (2.99%) Designer
11 25 (2.99%) Senior Project Manager
12 23 (2.75%) Enterprise Architect
13 21 (2.51%) Data Architect
13 21 (2.51%) Programme Manager
14 18 (2.15%) Product Manager
15 16 (1.91%) Data Engineer
15 16 (1.91%) IT Manager
16 15 (1.79%) Developer
16 15 (1.79%) Service Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 27 (3.23%) VML
2 24 (2.87%) Middleware
3 20 (2.39%) REST
4 15 (1.79%) Spring
5 13 (1.56%) React
6 12 (1.44%) AngularJS
7 10 (1.20%) Spring Boot
8 9 (1.08%) CSS
8 9 (1.08%) PySpark
9 8 (0.96%) .NET
9 8 (0.96%) Node.js
10 7 (0.84%) HTML
10 7 (0.84%) LangChain
10 7 (0.84%) scikit-learn
11 6 (0.72%) jQuery
11 6 (0.72%) OAuth
11 6 (0.72%) OAuth2
11 6 (0.72%) OpenID
11 6 (0.72%) OpenTelemetry
11 6 (0.72%) SAML
Miscellaneous
1 55 (6.58%) Product Ownership
2 27 (3.23%) Cloud Native
2 27 (3.23%) Self-Motivation
3 24 (2.87%) Driving Licence
4 22 (2.63%) Data Centre
5 21 (2.51%) Management Information System
5 21 (2.51%) Onboarding
6 19 (2.27%) FMCG
7 17 (2.03%) Data Structures
8 16 (1.91%) Legacy Systems
9 14 (1.67%) EPoS
9 14 (1.67%) Mainframe
10 11 (1.32%) Mobile App
11 10 (1.20%) IoT
11 10 (1.20%) Virtual Team
12 8 (0.96%) Greenfield Project
12 8 (0.96%) Reference Data
13 7 (0.84%) AI Agents
13 7 (0.84%) Enterprise Software
13 7 (0.84%) Social Media
Operating Systems
1 34 (4.07%) Windows
2 19 (2.27%) Linux
3 8 (0.96%) Mac OS
4 5 (0.60%) Android
4 5 (0.60%) Windows Server
5 4 (0.48%) Unix
5 4 (0.48%) zOS
6 3 (0.36%) Apple iOS
7 2 (0.24%) VMS
8 1 (0.12%) Kali Linux
8 1 (0.12%) Windows 10
Processes & Methodologies
1 192 (22.97%) Stakeholder Management
2 182 (21.77%) Agile
3 162 (19.38%) Problem-Solving
4 113 (13.52%) E-Commerce
5 105 (12.56%) Migration
6 102 (12.20%) Project Management
7 98 (11.72%) Roadmaps
8 87 (10.41%) Analytics
9 82 (9.81%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 78 (9.33%) Customer Experience
11 73 (8.73%) AI
11 73 (8.73%) ERP
12 70 (8.37%) Workshop Facilitation
13 66 (7.89%) Project Delivery
14 64 (7.66%) Change Management
14 64 (7.66%) Scrum
15 62 (7.42%) Business Intelligence
15 62 (7.42%) Continuous Improvement
16 59 (7.06%) Decision-Making
17 56 (6.70%) DevOps
Programming Languages
1 58 (6.94%) SQL
2 55 (6.58%) Python
3 26 (3.11%) Java
4 18 (2.15%) JavaScript
5 14 (1.67%) PowerShell
6 9 (1.08%) Shell Script
7 8 (0.96%) Bash
8 7 (0.84%) C#
8 7 (0.84%) Kusto Query Language
9 5 (0.60%) TypeScript
10 4 (0.48%) VBA
11 3 (0.36%) Kotlin
11 3 (0.36%) PL/SQL
11 3 (0.36%) Scala
12 2 (0.24%) Apex Code
12 2 (0.24%) Bicep
12 2 (0.24%) Korn
12 2 (0.24%) PHP
12 2 (0.24%) SOQL
12 2 (0.24%) SOSL
Qualifications
1 47 (5.62%) Degree
2 31 (3.71%) Security Cleared
3 22 (2.63%) SC Cleared
4 21 (2.51%) PMP
5 17 (2.03%) PMI Certification
6 8 (0.96%) CSPO
6 8 (0.96%) Master's Degree
7 7 (0.84%) APMP
7 7 (0.84%) BPSS Clearance
8 6 (0.72%) CCNP
8 6 (0.72%) Cisco Certification
8 6 (0.72%) CISSP
8 6 (0.72%) Computer Science Degree
8 6 (0.72%) MBA
9 4 (0.48%) CCIE
9 4 (0.48%) CISM
9 4 (0.48%) CRISC
9 4 (0.48%) DBS Check
10 3 (0.36%) IIBA
10 3 (0.36%) Microsoft Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 39 (4.67%) Data Quality
2 36 (4.31%) QA
3 31 (3.71%) PMO
4 29 (3.47%) GDPR
5 17 (2.03%) SLA
6 13 (1.56%) Accessibility
7 8 (0.96%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 6 (0.72%) PCI DSS
9 5 (0.60%) NIST
10 4 (0.48%) IFRS
11 3 (0.36%) Actionable Recommendations
11 3 (0.36%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 2 (0.24%) California Consumer Privacy Act
12 2 (0.24%) GRC
12 2 (0.24%) NCSC
13 1 (0.12%) GAAP
13 1 (0.12%) IFRS 9
13 1 (0.12%) ISO 8583
13 1 (0.12%) Solvency II
13 1 (0.12%) WCAG
System Software
1 19 (2.27%) Active Directory
2 15 (1.79%) Docker
3 5 (0.60%) VMware NSX
4 4 (0.48%) Virtual Machines
4 4 (0.48%) VMware Infrastructure
5 2 (0.24%) Virtual Desktop
5 2 (0.24%) VMware ESXi
6 1 (0.12%) RACF
6 1 (0.12%) Varnish
Systems Management
1 21 (2.51%) Terraform
2 12 (1.44%) Kubernetes
3 8 (0.96%) Microsoft Intune
4 7 (0.84%) Single Sign-On
4 7 (0.84%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
5 6 (0.72%) Argo
5 6 (0.72%) Istio
6 5 (0.60%) Grafana
7 4 (0.48%) SCCM
8 2 (0.24%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 2 (0.24%) CA Single Sign-On
8 2 (0.24%) Jamf Pro
8 2 (0.24%) MOM
8 2 (0.24%) PingFederate
9 1 (0.12%) Ansible
9 1 (0.12%) FortiGate
9 1 (0.12%) Nmap
9 1 (0.12%) Prometheus
9 1 (0.12%) vCenter Server
9 1 (0.12%) zSecure
Vendors
1 79 (9.45%) Microsoft
2 63 (7.54%) SAP
3 51 (6.10%) Oracle
4 50 (5.98%) Google
5 41 (4.90%) Salesforce
6 34 (4.07%) Databricks
7 27 (3.23%) Adobe
8 19 (2.27%) ServiceNow
9 15 (1.79%) Sitecore
10 11 (1.32%) IFS
11 10 (1.20%) Cisco
12 9 (1.08%) VMware
13 8 (0.96%) Palo Alto
13 8 (0.96%) Temenos
14 7 (0.84%) CheckPoint
14 7 (0.84%) Workday
14 7 (0.84%) Zscaler
15 6 (0.72%) Apple
15 6 (0.72%) Avaloq
15 6 (0.72%) GoldenSource