Desktop Support Contracts in the North West

Desktop Support
England > North West

The median Desktop Support daily rate in the North West is £210, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 16 August 2025.

The table below provides contractor rate benchmarking and summary statistics, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
16 Aug 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 110 116 127
Rank change year-on-year +6 +11 +22
Contract jobs requiring a Desktop Support 23 11 23
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the North West 1.04% 0.46% 0.78%
As % of the Job Titles category 1.13% 0.48% 0.83%
Number of daily rates quoted 13 6 15
10th Percentile £153 £149 £136
25th Percentile £158 £160 £150
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £210 £203 £200
Median % change year-on-year +3.70% +1.25% +23.08%
75th Percentile £241 £237 £217
90th Percentile - £247 £222
England median daily rate £215 £200 £200
% change year-on-year +7.50% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1 4 5
10th Percentile - £20.67 £15.36
25th Percentile £31.00 £21.67 £17.46
Median hourly rate £32.00 £25.19 £17.70
Median % change year-on-year +27.05% +42.30% -12.07%
75th Percentile £33.00 £29.69 £20.00
90th Percentile - £31.38 £25.25
England median hourly rate £28.50 £21.00 £20.00
% change year-on-year +35.71% +5.00% -4.76%

All Contract IT Job Vacancies
North West

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies in the North West. 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 the North West with a recognized job title 2,030 2,271 2,755
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.98% 94.47% 93.52%
Number of daily rates quoted 1,305 1,372 1,900
10th Percentile £258 £273 £285
25th Percentile £363 £400 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £450 £493 £500
Median % change year-on-year -8.72% -1.40% +2.56%
75th Percentile £563 £585 £588
90th Percentile £663 £675 £656
England median daily rate £510 £525 £550
% change year-on-year -2.86% -4.55% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 160 202 158
10th Percentile £13.00 £11.07 £15.75
25th Percentile £17.30 £16.58 £17.73
Median hourly rate £26.08 £35.00 £29.65
Median % change year-on-year -25.50% +18.04% +28.61%
75th Percentile £53.13 £55.25 £46.18
90th Percentile £73.30 £71.89 £65.23
England median hourly rate £25.15 £45.00 £41.65
% change year-on-year -44.11% +8.04% +62.19%

Desktop Support
Job Vacancy Trend in the North West

Job postings that featured Desktop Support in the job title as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised in the North West.

Job vacancy trend for Desktop Support in the North West

Desktop Support
Contractor Daily Rate Trend in the North West

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing Desktop Support in the North West.

Daily rate trend for Desktop Support in the North West

Desktop Support
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend in the North West

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing Desktop Support in the North West.

Hourly rate trend for Desktop Support in the North West

Desktop Support
Contract Job Locations in the North West

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Desktop Support within the North West region over the 6 months to 16 August 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
Lancashire +4 8 £155 -
Manchester +3 8 £210 +3.70% 1
Cheshire - 5 £228 -
Merseyside -7 2 £178 -6.33%
Desktop Support
England

Desktop Support Skill Set
Top 30 Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in the North West

For the 6 months to 16 August 2025, Desktop Support contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads across the North West region featuring Desktop Support in the job title.

1 14 (60.87%) Microsoft
2 12 (52.17%) ITIL
2 12 (52.17%) Windows
3 11 (47.83%) Analytical Skills
3 11 (47.83%) Social Skills
4 10 (43.48%) Customer Service
4 10 (43.48%) Security Cleared
4 10 (43.48%) Active Directory
5 7 (30.43%) Service Management
5 7 (30.43%) ITSM
5 7 (30.43%) SC Cleared
6 6 (26.09%) Data Analysis
6 6 (26.09%) Workflow
7 5 (21.74%) Manufacturing
7 5 (21.74%) Asset Management
7 5 (21.74%) Microsoft Certification
7 5 (21.74%) Windows Server 2003
7 5 (21.74%) Windows XP
7 5 (21.74%) MS Visio
7 5 (21.74%) Microsoft Exchange
7 5 (21.74%) LAN
7 5 (21.74%) VPN
7 5 (21.74%) Windows Server
7 5 (21.74%) Proactive Maintenance
7 5 (21.74%) Project Delivery
7 5 (21.74%) Windows Server 2016
7 5 (21.74%) Business Case
7 5 (21.74%) Windows 10
7 5 (21.74%) Infrastructure Monitoring
7 5 (21.74%) Canon

Desktop Support Skill Set
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in the North West by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 5 (21.74%) Microsoft Exchange
2 1 (4.35%) SharePoint
2 1 (4.35%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 5 (21.74%) Microsoft PowerPoint
1 5 (21.74%) MS Visio
Cloud Services
1 4 (17.39%) Microsoft 365
2 1 (4.35%) OneDrive
Communications & Networking
1 5 (21.74%) LAN
1 5 (21.74%) VPN
2 3 (13.04%) Structured Cabling
3 1 (4.35%) Skype
3 1 (4.35%) WebEx
General
1 11 (47.83%) Analytical Skills
1 11 (47.83%) Social Skills
2 5 (21.74%) Documentation Skills
2 5 (21.74%) Manufacturing
2 5 (21.74%) Presentation Skills
3 2 (8.70%) Banking
3 2 (8.70%) Finance
3 2 (8.70%) Investment Banking
Miscellaneous
1 5 (21.74%) Management Information System
2 4 (17.39%) Onboarding
3 1 (4.35%) Driving Licence
Operating Systems
1 12 (52.17%) Windows
2 5 (21.74%) Windows 10
2 5 (21.74%) Windows 8
2 5 (21.74%) Windows Server
2 5 (21.74%) Windows Server 2003
2 5 (21.74%) Windows Server 2008
2 5 (21.74%) Windows Server 2012
2 5 (21.74%) Windows Server 2016
2 5 (21.74%) Windows XP
Processes & Methodologies
1 12 (52.17%) ITIL
2 10 (43.48%) Customer Service
3 7 (30.43%) ITSM
3 7 (30.43%) Service Management
4 6 (26.09%) Data Analysis
4 6 (26.09%) Workflow
5 5 (21.74%) Asset Management
5 5 (21.74%) Business Case
5 5 (21.74%) Infrastructure Monitoring
5 5 (21.74%) Mentoring
5 5 (21.74%) Proactive Maintenance
5 5 (21.74%) Problem-Solving
5 5 (21.74%) Project Delivery
5 5 (21.74%) Technical Analysis
5 5 (21.74%) Time Management
6 2 (8.70%) Data Entry
6 2 (8.70%) Logistics
7 1 (4.35%) Security Management
7 1 (4.35%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 1 (4.35%) PowerShell
Qualifications
1 10 (43.48%) Security Cleared
2 7 (30.43%) SC Cleared
3 5 (21.74%) Microsoft Certification
4 4 (17.39%) BPSS Clearance
4 4 (17.39%) DBS Check
5 1 (4.35%) DV Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 3 (13.04%) SLA
System Software
1 10 (43.48%) Active Directory
Systems Management
1 5 (21.74%) Microsoft Intune
1 5 (21.74%) SCCM
Vendors
1 14 (60.87%) Microsoft
2 5 (21.74%) Canon