Data Centre Contracts in the UK excluding London

Data Center
UK > UK excluding London

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Data Centre in contract job vacancies in the UK excluding London. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Data Centre over the 6 months leading up to 23 May 2025, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
23 May 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 92 75 76
Rank change year-on-year -17 +1 +18
Contract jobs citing Data Centre 340 525 731
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 2.67% 2.59% 3.19%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 7.98% 8.93% 9.85%
Number of daily rates quoted 220 358 535
10th Percentile £310 £280 £300
25th Percentile £375 £405 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £528 £500
Median % change year-on-year -9.95% +5.50% +5.26%
75th Percentile £577 £625 £600
90th Percentile £663 £716 £706
UK median daily rate £505 £525 £550
% change year-on-year -3.81% -4.55% +5.77%
Number of hourly rates quoted 14 31 13
10th Percentile £24.18 £12.00 £16.79
25th Percentile £24.30 £16.25 £20.22
Median hourly rate £24.66 £22.50 £21.26
Median % change year-on-year +9.60% +5.83% -1.12%
75th Percentile £38.13 £34.25 £23.75
90th Percentile £41.25 £40.00 £57.60
UK median hourly rate £27.50 £24.00 £21.47
% change year-on-year +14.58% +11.81% -25.34%

All Generic Skills
UK excluding London

Data Centre falls under the General and Transferable Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring generic IT skills in the UK excluding London.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for generic IT skills 4,261 5,876 7,420
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 33.47% 29.00% 32.41%
Number of daily rates quoted 2,593 3,533 4,968
10th Percentile £205 £210 £220
25th Percentile £363 £378 £388
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% - +5.26%
75th Percentile £584 £595 £610
90th Percentile £650 £688 £700
UK median daily rate £525 £538 £550
% change year-on-year -2.42% -2.18% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 292 726 423
10th Percentile £16.10 £12.15 £9.80
25th Percentile £18.87 £14.06 £10.63
Median hourly rate £29.27 £31.25 £21.75
Median % change year-on-year -6.34% +43.68% +2.96%
75th Percentile £64.50 £61.30 £64.13
90th Percentile £82.24 £70.00 £73.95
UK median hourly rate £31.29 £32.12 £22.08
% change year-on-year -2.58% +45.45% -19.71%

Data Centre
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

Job postings citing Data Centre as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London.

Job vacancy trend for Data Centre in the UK excluding London

Data Centre
Contractor Daily Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing Data Centre in the UK excluding London.

Daily rate trend for Data Centre in the UK excluding London

Data Centre
Daily Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Data Centre in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 23 May 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Data Centre in the UK excluding London

Data Centre
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing Data Centre in the UK excluding London.

Hourly rate trend for Data Centre in the UK excluding London

Data Centre
Hourly Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Data Centre in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 23 May 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Data Centre in the UK excluding London

Data Centre
Contract Job Locations in the UK excluding London

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Data Centre within the UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 23 May 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
South East +7 91 £450 -5.26% 974
North of England +4 80 £466 +7.63% 593
Scotland +1 48 £438 -21.17% 151
South West -16 47 £550 - 338
Midlands -12 43 £550 -4.35% 491
Yorkshire +8 42 £425 -10.24% 240
West Midlands -10 38 £550 -8.33% 256
North West +8 37 £504 +16.47% 278
East of England +30 19 £300 - 422
Wales -7 19 £400 +339.56% 73
East Midlands +2 5 £550 +9.45% 202
North East -7 1 £110 -74.12% 77
Data Centre
UK

Data Centre
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities in the UK excluding London 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 19 (5.59%) Confluence
2 14 (4.12%) Microsoft Exchange
3 5 (1.47%) SharePoint
4 3 (0.88%) IBM Notes
4 3 (0.88%) OpenStack
5 2 (0.59%) ThingWorx
6 1 (0.29%) Apache
6 1 (0.29%) BizTalk Server
6 1 (0.29%) Blackberry Enterprise Server
6 1 (0.29%) IIS
6 1 (0.29%) Tomcat
Applications
1 15 (4.41%) Microsoft Office
2 8 (2.35%) Microsoft Excel
3 5 (1.47%) Microsoft PowerPoint
3 5 (1.47%) Spreadsheet
4 4 (1.18%) Microsoft Project
4 4 (1.18%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 1 (0.29%) Maximo
1 1 (0.29%) SAP S/4HANA
Cloud Services
1 44 (12.94%) Azure
2 29 (8.53%) AWS
3 14 (4.12%) Microsoft 365
4 13 (3.82%) Entra ID
5 12 (3.53%) GCP
5 12 (3.53%) IaaS
6 11 (3.24%) PaaS
7 8 (2.35%) OpenShift
8 5 (1.47%) Power Platform
9 4 (1.18%) Azure DevOps
9 4 (1.18%) Cloud Computing
9 4 (1.18%) OneDrive
9 4 (1.18%) SaaS
10 2 (0.59%) Nutanix
10 2 (0.59%) Virtual Private Cloud
11 1 (0.29%) Azure Data Factory
11 1 (0.29%) Azure Stack
11 1 (0.29%) GitHub Actions
11 1 (0.29%) Microsoft Purview
11 1 (0.29%) Snowflake
Communications & Networking
1 85 (25.00%) Firewall
2 57 (16.76%) WAN
3 42 (12.35%) VPN
4 35 (10.29%) LAN
5 30 (8.82%) Network Security
6 27 (7.94%) DNS
7 24 (7.06%) Cisco Nexus
8 22 (6.47%) BGP
9 21 (6.18%) SD-WAN
10 20 (5.88%) Wi-Fi
11 18 (5.29%) DHCP
11 18 (5.29%) Wireless
12 17 (5.00%) OSPF
13 15 (4.41%) NetScaler
13 15 (4.41%) SAN
14 13 (3.82%) Cisco ISE
14 13 (3.82%) TCP/IP
15 12 (3.53%) Ethernet
16 9 (2.65%) Cisco ASA
17 8 (2.35%) SMTP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 18 (5.29%) Oracle Database
2 12 (3.53%) Oracle Reports
3 8 (2.35%) Amazon RDS
3 8 (2.35%) Big Data
3 8 (2.35%) Elasticsearch
4 5 (1.47%) SQL Server
5 4 (1.18%) Power BI
6 3 (0.88%) MySQL
7 2 (0.59%) MongoDB
7 2 (0.59%) PostgreSQL
8 1 (0.29%) Azure SQL Database
8 1 (0.29%) GIS
8 1 (0.29%) MSDE
8 1 (0.29%) SAP Data Services
8 1 (0.29%) SQL Server Reporting Services
Development Applications
1 21 (6.18%) JIRA
2 5 (1.47%) GitLab
2 5 (1.47%) Jenkins
3 4 (1.18%) Git
4 3 (0.88%) Oracle Forms
4 3 (0.88%) TeamCity
5 1 (0.29%) Bitbucket
5 1 (0.29%) Selenium
5 1 (0.29%) Sonatype Nexus
5 1 (0.29%) WebDriver
General
1 93 (27.35%) Social Skills
2 75 (22.06%) Finance
3 60 (17.65%) Analytical Skills
4 31 (9.12%) Public Sector
5 22 (6.47%) Banking
6 10 (2.94%) Inclusion and Diversity
6 10 (2.94%) Legal
6 10 (2.94%) Telecoms
7 8 (2.35%) Retail
8 7 (2.06%) Investment Banking
8 7 (2.06%) Manufacturing
9 5 (1.47%) Aerospace
9 5 (1.47%) Law
10 4 (1.18%) Electronics
11 3 (0.88%) Documentation Skills
11 3 (0.88%) Retail Banking
12 2 (0.59%) Aviation
12 2 (0.59%) Influencing Skills
12 2 (0.59%) Organisational Skills
12 2 (0.59%) Police
Job Titles
1 60 (17.65%) Network Engineer
2 52 (15.29%) Architect
3 30 (8.82%) Analyst
4 20 (5.88%) Infrastructure Engineer
5 19 (5.59%) Senior
6 18 (5.29%) Lead
6 18 (5.29%) Support Engineer
7 17 (5.00%) Data Centre Engineer
8 16 (4.71%) Solutions Architect
9 13 (3.82%) Consultant
9 13 (3.82%) Data Centre Manager
9 13 (3.82%) Project Manager
10 12 (3.53%) Infrastructure Architect
10 12 (3.53%) SC Cleared Network Engineer
11 11 (3.24%) Backup Engineer
11 11 (3.24%) Commvault Engineer
11 11 (3.24%) Data Manager
11 11 (3.24%) Server Engineer
12 10 (2.94%) Network Architect
12 10 (2.94%) Senior Network Engineer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 13 (3.82%) 802.1X
2 8 (2.35%) .NET
3 6 (1.76%) RFC 2544
4 5 (1.47%) LDAP
5 3 (0.88%) ADO
5 3 (0.88%) Middleware
6 1 (0.29%) ASP.NET
6 1 (0.29%) Elastic Stack
6 1 (0.29%) HTML
6 1 (0.29%) Java RMI
6 1 (0.29%) LAMP
6 1 (0.29%) PySpark
6 1 (0.29%) REST
6 1 (0.29%) SAML
6 1 (0.29%) XML
6 1 (0.29%) YAML
Miscellaneous
1 16 (4.71%) Replication
2 15 (4.41%) PKI
3 12 (3.53%) CMDB
4 11 (3.24%) Clustering
4 11 (3.24%) Data Protection Act
5 10 (2.94%) Driving Licence
5 10 (2.94%) Enterprise Storage
5 10 (2.94%) Fibre Optics
5 10 (2.94%) SCADA
6 7 (2.06%) Mainframe
7 5 (1.47%) Hybrid Cloud
7 5 (1.47%) Legacy Systems
7 5 (1.47%) Linux Command Line
7 5 (1.47%) Management Information System
7 5 (1.47%) Onboarding
7 5 (1.47%) Security Posture
7 5 (1.47%) Self-Motivation
8 4 (1.18%) Video Conferencing
9 3 (0.88%) Cloud Native
10 2 (0.59%) Oracle Licensing
Operating Systems
1 63 (18.53%) Windows
2 56 (16.47%) Linux
3 29 (8.53%) Windows Server
4 15 (4.41%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
5 11 (3.24%) Unix
6 9 (2.65%) Windows Server 2019
7 8 (2.35%) HPUX
7 8 (2.35%) Solaris
8 5 (1.47%) CentOS
8 5 (1.47%) Ubuntu
9 4 (1.18%) Windows Server 2012
9 4 (1.18%) Windows Server 2016
10 3 (0.88%) Windows 10
10 3 (0.88%) Windows Server 2003
11 1 (0.29%) Android
11 1 (0.29%) Mac OS
11 1 (0.29%) Windows 7
Processes & Methodologies
1 78 (22.94%) Migration
2 63 (18.53%) Problem-Solving
3 38 (11.18%) Disaster Recovery
4 36 (10.59%) Agile
5 32 (9.41%) Change Management
6 29 (8.53%) Customer Service
6 29 (8.53%) Project Management
7 28 (8.24%) Infrastructure Engineering
8 27 (7.94%) Network Architecture
9 25 (7.35%) Network Design
10 24 (7.06%) DevOps
10 24 (7.06%) Network Management
11 23 (6.76%) Stakeholder Management
12 22 (6.47%) High Availability
13 21 (6.18%) ITIL
14 20 (5.88%) Load Balancing
14 20 (5.88%) Roadmaps
15 19 (5.59%) Break/Fix
16 18 (5.29%) Risk Management
17 17 (5.00%) Technical Leadership
Programming Languages
1 16 (4.71%) PowerShell
1 16 (4.71%) Python
2 8 (2.35%) SQL
3 6 (1.76%) Shell Script
4 3 (0.88%) Bash
5 2 (0.59%) Java
5 2 (0.59%) Perl
6 1 (0.29%) PHP
6 1 (0.29%) Ruby
6 1 (0.29%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 129 (37.94%) Security Cleared
2 91 (26.76%) SC Cleared
3 36 (10.59%) DV Cleared
4 34 (10.00%) Degree
5 33 (9.71%) Cisco Certification
6 18 (5.29%) CCNP
7 8 (2.35%) CCNA
8 7 (2.06%) VMware Certified Professional (VCP)
9 6 (1.76%) Azure Certification
9 6 (1.76%) CCIE
9 6 (1.76%) CISSP
9 6 (1.76%) Microsoft Certification
9 6 (1.76%) TOGAF Certification
10 5 (1.47%) A+ Certification
10 5 (1.47%) ACCA
10 5 (1.47%) BPSS Clearance
10 5 (1.47%) CIMA
10 5 (1.47%) MCSE
11 4 (1.18%) CISA
11 4 (1.18%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 22 (6.47%) QA
2 13 (3.82%) SLA
3 8 (2.35%) JSP 440
3 8 (2.35%) RMADS
4 6 (1.76%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 5 (1.47%) PCI DSS
5 5 (1.47%) PMO
6 3 (0.88%) Disclosure Scotland
7 2 (0.59%) Accessibility
7 2 (0.59%) NIST
8 1 (0.29%) Actionable Recommendations
8 1 (0.29%) COBIT
8 1 (0.29%) Data Quality
8 1 (0.29%) GDPR
8 1 (0.29%) GRC
8 1 (0.29%) ISO 14001
8 1 (0.29%) ISO 9001
8 1 (0.29%) NIST 800
System Software
1 42 (12.35%) VMware Infrastructure
2 33 (9.71%) Active Directory
3 16 (4.71%) VMware ESXi
4 14 (4.12%) Hyper-V
5 13 (3.82%) Docker
5 13 (3.82%) VMware NSX
6 8 (2.35%) BitLocker
6 8 (2.35%) Microsoft App-V
6 8 (2.35%) Terminal Services
7 5 (1.47%) Virtual Machines
7 5 (1.47%) Virtual Servers
7 5 (1.47%) vSphere
8 3 (0.88%) KVM
9 2 (0.59%) Oracle RAC
10 1 (0.29%) Terminal Server
Systems Management
1 24 (7.06%) Ansible
2 16 (4.71%) vCenter Server
3 14 (4.12%) Oracle RMAN
4 12 (3.53%) FortiGate
4 12 (3.53%) Kubernetes
5 9 (2.65%) Puppet
6 8 (2.35%) Nagios
6 8 (2.35%) vMotion
7 7 (2.06%) Terraform
8 5 (1.47%) Microsoft Intune
8 5 (1.47%) Single Sign-On
8 5 (1.47%) WSUS
9 4 (1.18%) Jamf Pro
9 4 (1.18%) NetBackup
10 2 (0.59%) Cisco Prime
10 2 (0.59%) Grafana
10 2 (0.59%) HP ALM
10 2 (0.59%) vRealize
10 2 (0.59%) vRealize Orchestrator
10 2 (0.59%) VxRail
Vendors
1 74 (21.76%) Cisco
2 56 (16.47%) VMware
3 41 (12.06%) Microsoft
4 36 (10.59%) Palo Alto
5 35 (10.29%) HP
6 34 (10.00%) ServiceNow
7 28 (8.24%) Dell
8 26 (7.65%) IBM
9 24 (7.06%) Oracle
10 14 (4.12%) Citrix
10 14 (4.12%) Commvault
10 14 (4.12%) Meraki
11 12 (3.53%) SolarWinds
12 10 (2.94%) Red Hat
13 8 (2.35%) F5
13 8 (2.35%) Google
13 8 (2.35%) Sun
13 8 (2.35%) Symantec
14 7 (2.06%) Unisys
15 6 (1.76%) Nokia