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 8 June 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
8 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 97 95 77
Rank change year-on-year -2 -18 +11
Contract jobs citing Retail 1,073 651 1,000
As % of all contract jobs in England 2.54% 2.67% 2.68%
As % of the General category 4.67% 4.16% 4.67%
Number of daily rates quoted 630 336 546
10th Percentile £280 £325 £284
25th Percentile £413 £413 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £518
Median % change year-on-year - +1.45% -2.36%
75th Percentile £638 £629 £625
90th Percentile £738 £725 £725
UK median daily rate £520 £520 £505
% change year-on-year - +2.97% -6.48%
Number of hourly rates quoted 84 23 87
10th Percentile £13.33 - £11.50
25th Percentile £15.63 £15.25 £12.15
Median hourly rate £21.00 £22.50 £16.00
Median % change year-on-year -6.67% +40.63% -19.23%
75th Percentile £22.50 £44.63 £21.37
90th Percentile £43.75 £65.05 £21.46
UK median hourly rate £21.00 £25.15 £16.00
% change year-on-year -16.50% +57.19% -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 22,992 15,643 21,412
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in England 54.41% 64.20% 57.37%
Number of daily rates quoted 14,067 10,061 13,708
10th Percentile £313 £281 £281
25th Percentile £413 £405 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £515 £525 £535
Median % change year-on-year -1.90% -1.78% -2.82%
75th Percentile £630 £645 £650
90th Percentile £744 £775 £775
UK median daily rate £513 £510 £525
% change year-on-year +0.49% -2.86% -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,588 727 1,826
10th Percentile £14.22 £13.31 £12.88
25th Percentile £18.50 £16.95 £15.50
Median hourly rate £32.50 £28.18 £31.25
Median % change year-on-year +15.33% -9.82% +0.81%
75th Percentile £63.75 £53.75 £52.35
90th Percentile £81.05 £75.00 £67.44
UK median hourly rate £31.46 £28.08 £30.00
% change year-on-year +12.06% -6.42% -6.25%

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 8 June 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 8 June 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 8 June 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 +12 602 £545 -0.91% 568
South East -2 145 £520 +0.24% 293
North of England -38 135 £513 +2.50% 289
Midlands -13 95 £495 +10.00% 173
North West -5 84 £550 +10.00% 166
East Midlands -3 55 £495 +6.74% 93
East of England +2 51 £509 -3.05% 93
Yorkshire -52 48 £506 +6.58% 98
West Midlands -39 40 £500 +14.29% 80
South West -16 32 £326 -23.68% 84
North East -28 3 £173 -76.98% 27
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 (3.36%) Confluence
2 13 (1.21%) Adobe Experience Manager
2 13 (1.21%) CMS
3 11 (1.03%) SharePoint
4 9 (0.84%) Apache Airflow
5 4 (0.37%) SAS
6 2 (0.19%) Apache Spark
6 2 (0.19%) CICS
6 2 (0.19%) WebSphere
7 1 (0.093%) Microsoft Exchange
Applications
1 30 (2.80%) Microsoft Excel
2 25 (2.33%) Microsoft Office
3 19 (1.77%) Microsoft Project
4 17 (1.58%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 13 (1.21%) Chatbot
6 11 (1.03%) MS Visio
7 10 (0.93%) Photoshop
8 8 (0.75%) Adobe Illustrator
9 6 (0.56%) Adobe Creative Suite
10 5 (0.47%) InDesign
11 3 (0.28%) Notion
11 3 (0.28%) Spreadsheet
12 2 (0.19%) UserZoom
13 1 (0.093%) 3ds Max
13 1 (0.093%) Adobe After Effects
13 1 (0.093%) Adobe XD
13 1 (0.093%) Maya
13 1 (0.093%) PlantUML
13 1 (0.093%) SOLIDWORKS
13 1 (0.093%) Trello
Business Applications
1 23 (2.14%) Shopify
2 19 (1.77%) SAP S/4HANA
3 12 (1.12%) Dynamics CRM
4 9 (0.84%) SAP Retail
5 7 (0.65%) Oracle Procure-to-Pay
6 6 (0.56%) Finacle
6 6 (0.56%) Oracle Retail
6 6 (0.56%) SAP CRM
7 5 (0.47%) SAP MDG
8 4 (0.37%) Magento
8 4 (0.37%) NetSuite
8 4 (0.37%) Salesforce CRM
9 3 (0.28%) Payment Gateway
10 2 (0.19%) Dynamics AX
10 2 (0.19%) Oracle EBS
10 2 (0.19%) SAP CAR
10 2 (0.19%) SAP ERP
10 2 (0.19%) SAP MM
10 2 (0.19%) SAP SD
11 1 (0.093%) SAP Forecasting and Replenishment
Cloud Services
1 121 (11.28%) Azure
2 88 (8.20%) AWS
3 63 (5.87%) GCP
4 54 (5.03%) Power Platform
5 33 (3.08%) Snowflake
6 27 (2.52%) GitHub
7 20 (1.86%) Azure DevOps
7 20 (1.86%) Dynamics 365
8 19 (1.77%) GitHub Actions
9 18 (1.68%) Entra ID
10 17 (1.58%) Figma
11 14 (1.30%) Microsoft 365
12 13 (1.21%) SaaS
12 13 (1.21%) Salesforce Commerce Cloud
13 12 (1.12%) Azure Data Factory
13 12 (1.12%) BigCommerce
14 11 (1.03%) Google Workspace
15 10 (0.93%) dbt
15 10 (0.93%) Miro
16 9 (0.84%) Cloud Run
Communications & Networking
1 13 (1.21%) ATM
2 12 (1.12%) Firewall
2 12 (1.12%) WAN
3 10 (0.93%) Network Security
3 10 (0.93%) VPN
4 9 (0.84%) Wireless
5 8 (0.75%) RFID
6 6 (0.56%) Cisco Firepower
6 6 (0.56%) Cisco Nexus
6 6 (0.56%) LAN
6 6 (0.56%) Wi-Fi
7 5 (0.47%) Cisco ASA
7 5 (0.47%) SD-WAN
7 5 (0.47%) VSAN
8 4 (0.37%) BGP
8 4 (0.37%) OSPF
9 3 (0.28%) Broadband
9 3 (0.28%) IPsec
9 3 (0.28%) MPLS
10 2 (0.19%) TCP/IP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 51 (4.75%) Power BI
2 29 (2.70%) BigQuery
3 19 (1.77%) Data Warehouse
4 17 (1.58%) MySQL
4 17 (1.58%) SQL Server
5 13 (1.21%) Tableau
6 12 (1.12%) Metadata
7 11 (1.03%) Data Lake
8 8 (0.75%) NoSQL
9 6 (0.56%) Data Vault
9 6 (0.56%) Relational Database
10 5 (0.47%) MongoDB
11 4 (0.37%) Big Data
11 4 (0.37%) Delta Lake
11 4 (0.37%) Looker
11 4 (0.37%) PostgreSQL
11 4 (0.37%) Semantic Layer
11 4 (0.37%) Snowflake Schema
12 3 (0.28%) OLAP
12 3 (0.28%) Oracle OLAP
Development Applications
1 77 (7.18%) JIRA
2 16 (1.49%) Git
3 15 (1.40%) Jenkins
4 8 (0.75%) GitLab
5 4 (0.37%) Maven
5 4 (0.37%) Subversion
6 3 (0.28%) ERwin
6 3 (0.28%) JMeter
6 3 (0.28%) Selenium
6 3 (0.28%) Terragrunt
7 2 (0.19%) Cypress.io
7 2 (0.19%) Eclipse
7 2 (0.19%) git-flow
7 2 (0.19%) Hudson
7 2 (0.19%) MLflow
7 2 (0.19%) Postman
7 2 (0.19%) WebDriver
8 1 (0.093%) Cucumber
8 1 (0.093%) Mockito
8 1 (0.093%) webpack
General
1 305 (28.42%) Social Skills
2 260 (24.23%) Finance
3 103 (9.60%) Analytical Skills
4 90 (8.39%) Banking
5 70 (6.52%) Marketing
6 53 (4.94%) Manufacturing
7 50 (4.66%) Organisational Skills
8 41 (3.82%) Retail Banking
9 35 (3.26%) Investment Banking
10 31 (2.89%) Corporate Banking
11 27 (2.52%) Public Sector
11 27 (2.52%) Telecoms
12 25 (2.33%) Documentation Skills
13 22 (2.05%) Presentation Skills
14 19 (1.77%) Influencing Skills
15 18 (1.68%) Legal
16 16 (1.49%) Advertising
17 15 (1.40%) French Language
18 13 (1.21%) Back Office
18 13 (1.21%) Spanish Language
Job Titles
1 172 (16.03%) Architect
2 144 (13.42%) Analyst
3 131 (12.21%) Senior
4 111 (10.34%) Project Manager
5 82 (7.64%) Business Analyst
6 79 (7.36%) Solutions Architect
7 78 (7.27%) Lead
8 58 (5.41%) Senior Manager
9 44 (4.10%) Technical Manager
10 40 (3.73%) Designer
11 38 (3.54%) Developer
12 34 (3.17%) Enterprise Architect
12 34 (3.17%) Product Manager
12 34 (3.17%) Senior Project Manager
13 31 (2.89%) Consultant
14 27 (2.52%) Data Architect
15 26 (2.42%) Data Engineer
16 25 (2.33%) 2nd Line Support
17 23 (2.14%) Programme Manager
18 19 (1.77%) Service Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 29 (2.70%) REST
2 28 (2.61%) Middleware
3 27 (2.52%) VML
4 25 (2.33%) React
5 22 (2.05%) Spring
6 16 (1.49%) Node.js
6 16 (1.49%) Spring Boot
7 15 (1.40%) Kafka
8 14 (1.30%) AngularJS
9 13 (1.21%) CSS
10 11 (1.03%) HTML
10 11 (1.03%) RESTful
11 10 (0.93%) .NET
12 9 (0.84%) MACH
13 8 (0.75%) OpenTelemetry
13 8 (0.75%) PySpark
14 7 (0.65%) LangChain
14 7 (0.65%) OAuth
14 7 (0.65%) OAuth2
14 7 (0.65%) OpenID
Miscellaneous
1 70 (6.52%) Product Ownership
2 38 (3.54%) FMCG
3 34 (3.17%) EPoS
4 30 (2.80%) Cloud Native
4 30 (2.80%) Driving Licence
5 29 (2.70%) Onboarding
6 20 (1.86%) Data Structures
7 19 (1.77%) Data Centre
8 18 (1.68%) Legacy Systems
9 17 (1.58%) Self-Motivation
10 14 (1.30%) Mainframe
10 14 (1.30%) Mobile App
11 13 (1.21%) Management Information System
12 11 (1.03%) Greenfield Project
12 11 (1.03%) Smartphone
13 10 (0.93%) AI Agents
13 10 (0.93%) Operational Technology
13 10 (0.93%) Virtual Team
14 9 (0.84%) CCTV
14 9 (0.84%) Mobile Payment
Operating Systems
1 49 (4.57%) Windows
2 21 (1.96%) Linux
3 11 (1.03%) Android
4 6 (0.56%) Unix
5 5 (0.47%) Mac OS
5 5 (0.47%) Windows Server
6 4 (0.37%) Apple iOS
6 4 (0.37%) zOS
7 3 (0.28%) Windows 10
8 1 (0.093%) Debian
8 1 (0.093%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
8 1 (0.093%) SUSE
8 1 (0.093%) SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
8 1 (0.093%) Ubuntu
8 1 (0.093%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 236 (21.99%) Agile
1 236 (21.99%) Stakeholder Management
2 175 (16.31%) Problem-Solving
3 160 (14.91%) E-Commerce
4 136 (12.67%) Migration
5 128 (11.93%) Roadmaps
6 110 (10.25%) Customer Experience
7 109 (10.16%) Analytics
8 108 (10.07%) Project Management
9 87 (8.11%) Stakeholder Engagement
10 85 (7.92%) ERP
11 80 (7.46%) Continuous Improvement
11 80 (7.46%) Project Delivery
12 78 (7.27%) AI
12 78 (7.27%) Change Management
12 78 (7.27%) Scrum
13 75 (6.99%) Decision-Making
14 72 (6.71%) User Acceptance Testing
14 72 (6.71%) Workshop Facilitation
15 69 (6.43%) CI/CD
Programming Languages
1 75 (6.99%) SQL
2 57 (5.31%) Python
3 36 (3.36%) Java
4 22 (2.05%) JavaScript
5 15 (1.40%) TypeScript
6 10 (0.93%) Shell Script
7 9 (0.84%) C#
7 9 (0.84%) PowerShell
8 5 (0.47%) SOQL
9 4 (0.37%) Bash
9 4 (0.37%) Bicep
9 4 (0.37%) Kotlin
9 4 (0.37%) PL/SQL
9 4 (0.37%) Scala
10 3 (0.28%) Apex Code
10 3 (0.28%) Data Analysis Expressions
10 3 (0.28%) Kusto Query Language
10 3 (0.28%) R
10 3 (0.28%) SOSL
10 3 (0.28%) VBA
Qualifications
1 52 (4.85%) Degree
2 40 (3.73%) Security Cleared
3 27 (2.52%) SC Cleared
4 19 (1.77%) PMP
5 11 (1.03%) PMI Certification
6 10 (0.93%) DBS Check
7 9 (0.84%) Computer Science Degree
8 7 (0.65%) APMP
8 7 (0.65%) BPSS Clearance
8 7 (0.65%) CISSP
8 7 (0.65%) Master's Degree
9 6 (0.56%) CCNP
9 6 (0.56%) Cisco Certification
9 6 (0.56%) CSPO
10 5 (0.47%) CCSE
10 5 (0.47%) CCSM
10 5 (0.47%) CISM
10 5 (0.47%) MBA
11 4 (0.37%) City & Guilds
11 4 (0.37%) ITIL Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 44 (4.10%) QA
2 42 (3.91%) Data Quality
3 34 (3.17%) GDPR
3 34 (3.17%) PMO
4 18 (1.68%) Accessibility
5 13 (1.21%) PCI DSS
6 10 (0.93%) SLA
7 8 (0.75%) ISO/IEC 27001
8 5 (0.47%) NIST
9 2 (0.19%) Actionable Recommendations
9 2 (0.19%) California Consumer Privacy Act
9 2 (0.19%) GRC
9 2 (0.19%) PSD2
9 2 (0.19%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 2 (0.19%) WCAG
10 1 (0.093%) Basel III
10 1 (0.093%) COBIT
10 1 (0.093%) GAAP
10 1 (0.093%) GxP
10 1 (0.093%) ISO 8583
System Software
1 23 (2.14%) Active Directory
1 23 (2.14%) Docker
2 6 (0.56%) Virtual Desktop
2 6 (0.56%) Virtual Machines
2 6 (0.56%) VMware Infrastructure
3 5 (0.47%) VMware ESXi
4 2 (0.19%) VMware NSX
Systems Management
1 26 (2.42%) Terraform
2 20 (1.86%) Kubernetes
3 11 (1.03%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
4 7 (0.65%) Microsoft Intune
5 6 (0.56%) Argo
5 6 (0.56%) Istio
6 5 (0.47%) SCCM
7 4 (0.37%) Grafana
7 4 (0.37%) Single Sign-On
8 2 (0.19%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 2 (0.19%) Ansible
8 2 (0.19%) CA Single Sign-On
8 2 (0.19%) FortiGate
8 2 (0.19%) MOM
8 2 (0.19%) PingFederate
9 1 (0.093%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 92 (8.57%) Microsoft
2 73 (6.80%) SAP
3 65 (6.06%) Oracle
4 52 (4.85%) Google
5 50 (4.66%) Salesforce
6 41 (3.82%) Databricks
7 30 (2.80%) Adobe
8 20 (1.86%) ServiceNow
9 14 (1.30%) IFS
9 14 (1.30%) Sitecore
10 12 (1.12%) Cisco
11 11 (1.03%) Zscaler
12 10 (0.93%) VMware
13 9 (0.84%) Fortinet
13 9 (0.84%) Palo Alto
14 8 (0.75%) MuleSoft
15 7 (0.65%) CheckPoint
15 7 (0.65%) Splunk
16 6 (0.56%) Apple
16 6 (0.56%) Temenos