Service Management Contract Job Trends in the UK excluding London

Service Management
UK > UK excluding London

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the UK excluding London requiring Service Management skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 26 December 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
26 Dec 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 56 70 61
Rank change year-on-year +14 -9 +2
Contract jobs citing Service Management 704 456 662
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 3.83% 3.09% 3.37%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 4.47% 3.54% 3.83%
Number of daily rates quoted 476 286 491
10th Percentile £185 £203 £233
25th Percentile £313 £373 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £500 £525
Median % change year-on-year - -4.76% +10.53%
75th Percentile £577 £603 £600
90th Percentile £716 £675 £675
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £528
% change year-on-year -4.76% -0.47% +5.50%
Number of hourly rates quoted 77 21 12
10th Percentile £12.62 £21.05 £15.46
25th Percentile £16.72 £24.18 £16.27
Median hourly rate £20.79 £30.45 £19.36
Median % change year-on-year -31.72% +57.28% -25.98%
75th Percentile £60.00 £48.75 £21.50
90th Percentile £76.56 £67.50 £46.03
UK median hourly rate £21.00 £30.43 £21.00
% change year-on-year -30.98% +44.88% -16.00%

All Process and Methodology Skills
UK excluding London

Service Management falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills in the UK excluding London.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 15,744 12,894 17,276
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 85.58% 87.27% 87.82%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,632 7,584 11,117
10th Percentile £221 £239 £250
25th Percentile £375 £381 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% - -
75th Percentile £575 £600 £600
90th Percentile £675 £688 £688
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £525
% change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,754 742 1,246
10th Percentile £14.38 £15.50 £14.25
25th Percentile £17.30 £20.00 £17.72
Median hourly rate £23.58 £31.50 £45.00
Median % change year-on-year -25.16% -30.00% +40.63%
75th Percentile £50.00 £64.40 £65.00
90th Percentile £68.55 £73.46 £77.50
UK median hourly rate £25.15 £32.50 £43.50
% change year-on-year -22.62% -25.29% +24.29%

Service Management
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Service Management relative to all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London.

Service Management job vacancy trend in the UK excluding London

Service Management
Daily Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Service Management.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Service Management

Service Management
Daily Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Service Management in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 26 December 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Service Management in the UK excluding London

Service Management
Hourly Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Service Management.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Service Management

Service Management
Hourly Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Service Management in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 26 December 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Service Management in the UK excluding London

Service Management
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 Service Management within the UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 26 December 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 +32 195 £500 -3.38% 163
North of England -10 166 £466 +16.38% 124
South West +1 144 £575 +4.55% 70
Midlands +8 126 £500 -9.09% 108
West Midlands +6 98 £510 -7.36% 59
North West -3 93 £550 +37.50% 61
Yorkshire -5 59 £409 +76.57% 50
East of England -15 37 £454 -14.42% 76
Scotland -5 35 £463 +0.27% 29
East Midlands +4 28 £425 -15.00% 45
North East -3 17 £270 -54.72% 14
Northern Ireland - 4 £325 - 9
Wales -4 3 £170 -46.44% 23
Service Management
UK

Service Management
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the UK excluding London 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 61 (8.66%) Confluence
2 52 (7.39%) Microsoft Exchange
3 44 (6.25%) SharePoint
4 16 (2.27%) Apache
5 14 (1.99%) WebLogic
6 10 (1.42%) Skype for Business
7 5 (0.71%) SharePoint Server
8 2 (0.28%) IIS
8 2 (0.28%) JBoss
8 2 (0.28%) WebSphere
9 1 (0.14%) CMS
9 1 (0.14%) HCL Notes
9 1 (0.14%) Oracle Self-Service HR
9 1 (0.14%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 84 (11.93%) Microsoft Office
2 36 (5.11%) Microsoft Project
3 21 (2.98%) Microsoft Excel
4 10 (1.42%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 8 (1.14%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 16 (2.27%) Remedy ITSM
2 13 (1.85%) Oracle EBS
3 3 (0.43%) assyst
3 3 (0.43%) Dynamics CRM
4 2 (0.28%) Maximo
4 2 (0.28%) Salesforce CRM
5 1 (0.14%) Oracle ERP
5 1 (0.14%) SAP ERP
5 1 (0.14%) SAP HR
5 1 (0.14%) SAP PM
5 1 (0.14%) SAP S/4HANA
5 1 (0.14%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 107 (15.20%) Azure
2 80 (11.36%) AWS
3 62 (8.81%) Microsoft 365
4 36 (5.11%) GCP
5 22 (3.13%) Entra ID
5 22 (3.13%) Power Platform
6 16 (2.27%) OneDrive
7 14 (1.99%) Azure Monitor
8 12 (1.70%) SaaS
9 10 (1.42%) Azure DevOps
9 10 (1.42%) PowerApps
10 7 (0.99%) Salesforce Service Cloud
11 6 (0.85%) Power Automate
12 5 (0.71%) IaaS
12 5 (0.71%) OpenShift
13 4 (0.57%) Amazon EC2
13 4 (0.57%) Amazon S3
13 4 (0.57%) AWS Lambda
13 4 (0.57%) Dynamics 365
13 4 (0.57%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 44 (6.25%) DNS
2 30 (4.26%) Firewall
3 29 (4.12%) DHCP
4 22 (3.13%) VLAN
5 21 (2.98%) TCP/IP
6 20 (2.84%) Skype
6 20 (2.84%) VPN
7 19 (2.70%) LAN
8 18 (2.56%) WAN
9 17 (2.41%) Cisco Firepower
9 17 (2.41%) Cisco IOS
9 17 (2.41%) Cisco ISE
9 17 (2.41%) Junos
10 14 (1.99%) Network Security
11 8 (1.14%) WebEx
11 8 (1.14%) Wi-Fi
12 6 (0.85%) SSH
12 6 (0.85%) Wireless
13 5 (0.71%) SAN
13 5 (0.71%) Unified Communications
Database & Business Intelligence
1 16 (2.27%) Relational Database
2 14 (1.99%) Power BI
3 10 (1.42%) SQL Server
4 7 (0.99%) Amazon RDS
5 4 (0.57%) Data Mining
5 4 (0.57%) InfluxDB
5 4 (0.57%) Metadata
6 3 (0.43%) PostgreSQL
7 2 (0.28%) Azure SQL Database
7 2 (0.28%) Big Data
7 2 (0.28%) DB2
7 2 (0.28%) MongoDB
7 2 (0.28%) Oracle Reports
8 1 (0.14%) Amazon Aurora
8 1 (0.14%) Electronic Patient Records
8 1 (0.14%) MariaDB
8 1 (0.14%) MySQL
8 1 (0.14%) Oracle Database
8 1 (0.14%) SQL Server Integration Services
8 1 (0.14%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 97 (13.78%) JIRA
2 17 (2.41%) Jenkins
3 6 (0.85%) Bitbucket
3 6 (0.85%) Git
4 5 (0.71%) webpack
5 4 (0.57%) GitLab
6 1 (0.14%) Atlassian Bamboo
6 1 (0.14%) MLflow
6 1 (0.14%) ScriptRunner
6 1 (0.14%) SoapUI
6 1 (0.14%) Visual Studio Code
General
1 288 (40.91%) Social Skills
2 143 (20.31%) Analytical Skills
3 92 (13.07%) Public Sector
4 79 (11.22%) Finance
5 45 (6.39%) Military
6 33 (4.69%) Legal
7 29 (4.12%) Organisational Skills
8 28 (3.98%) Manufacturing
9 23 (3.27%) Telecoms
10 17 (2.41%) Banking
10 17 (2.41%) Documentation Skills
11 14 (1.99%) Influencing Skills
12 13 (1.85%) Marketing
13 12 (1.70%) Electronics
13 12 (1.70%) Retail
14 11 (1.56%) Presentation Skills
15 9 (1.28%) Inclusion and Diversity
16 6 (0.85%) Investment Banking
17 5 (0.71%) Billing
17 5 (0.71%) Police
Job Titles
1 94 (13.35%) Architect
2 89 (12.64%) Analyst
3 68 (9.66%) Lead
4 67 (9.52%) Service Architect
5 57 (8.10%) Support Engineer
6 49 (6.96%) Service Manager
7 38 (5.40%) IT Support
8 32 (4.55%) 2nd Line Support
9 31 (4.40%) Support Analyst
10 25 (3.55%) Desktop Support
10 25 (3.55%) Network Engineer
11 23 (3.27%) Consultant
11 23 (3.27%) Platform Engineer
12 22 (3.13%) IT Analyst
13 21 (2.98%) Senior
14 20 (2.84%) 3rd Line Engineer
14 20 (2.84%) Delivery Manager
14 20 (2.84%) Infrastructure Engineer
14 20 (2.84%) Service Delivery Manager
15 19 (2.70%) Data Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 21 (2.98%) REST
2 9 (1.28%) SOAP
3 8 (1.14%) CSS
3 8 (1.14%) HTML
3 8 (1.14%) RFC 2544
3 8 (1.14%) XMPP
4 6 (0.85%) .NET
5 5 (0.71%) CSS3
5 5 (0.71%) HTML5
5 5 (0.71%) Node.js
5 5 (0.71%) React
5 5 (0.71%) Redux
5 5 (0.71%) RESTful
5 5 (0.71%) Web Services
6 4 (0.57%) Elastic Stack
6 4 (0.57%) RabbitMQ
7 3 (0.43%) Lightning Web Components
7 3 (0.43%) XML
8 2 (0.28%) GraphQL
8 2 (0.28%) ModSecurity
Miscellaneous
1 54 (7.67%) Product Ownership
2 33 (4.69%) Data Centre
3 27 (3.84%) Management Information System
4 22 (3.13%) CMDB
5 21 (2.98%) Onboarding
6 20 (2.84%) PKI
7 18 (2.56%) Driving Licence
8 17 (2.41%) Self-Motivation
9 15 (2.13%) Analytical Mindset
9 15 (2.13%) Virtual Team
10 13 (1.85%) Mainframe
11 11 (1.56%) NHS
12 7 (0.99%) PMI
13 6 (0.85%) Fibre Optics
13 6 (0.85%) Public Cloud
13 6 (0.85%) Tandem
13 6 (0.85%) Video Conferencing
14 5 (0.71%) Distributed Systems
14 5 (0.71%) Enterprise Software
15 4 (0.57%) Hybrid Cloud
Operating Systems
1 170 (24.15%) Windows
2 66 (9.38%) Linux
3 53 (7.53%) Windows Server
4 37 (5.26%) Windows 10
5 25 (3.55%) Unix
6 12 (1.70%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 11 (1.56%) Mac OS
8 7 (0.99%) Apple iOS
8 7 (0.99%) Windows Server 2012
9 6 (0.85%) Android
10 5 (0.71%) Windows 7
11 4 (0.57%) Ubuntu
11 4 (0.57%) Windows Server 2003
11 4 (0.57%) Windows Server 2016
11 4 (0.57%) Windows Server 2019
12 3 (0.43%) CentOS
12 3 (0.43%) Windows Server 2008
13 1 (0.14%) AIX
13 1 (0.14%) Data ONTAP
13 1 (0.14%) Solaris
Processes & Methodologies
1 431 (61.22%) ITIL
2 303 (43.04%) ITSM
3 143 (20.31%) Problem-Solving
4 122 (17.33%) Change Management
5 108 (15.34%) Continuous Improvement
6 107 (15.20%) Agile
7 101 (14.35%) Service Design
8 91 (12.93%) Customer Service
8 91 (12.93%) Stakeholder Management
9 86 (12.22%) Service Delivery
10 85 (12.07%) Stakeholder Engagement
11 70 (9.94%) Incident Management
12 64 (9.09%) Project Delivery
13 63 (8.95%) Project Management
14 55 (7.81%) Knowledge Transfer
15 53 (7.53%) Acceptance Criteria
16 52 (7.39%) DevOps
17 50 (7.10%) Problem Management
18 45 (6.39%) Business Continuity
18 45 (6.39%) Critical Thinking
Programming Languages
1 60 (8.52%) SQL
2 59 (8.38%) PowerShell
3 50 (7.10%) Python
4 15 (2.13%) Perl
4 15 (2.13%) Shell Script
5 14 (1.99%) JavaScript
6 12 (1.70%) Bash
7 9 (1.28%) Java
8 5 (0.71%) TypeScript
8 5 (0.71%) VB
8 5 (0.71%) VBScript
9 4 (0.57%) Go
10 3 (0.43%) Apex Code
11 2 (0.28%) C#
11 2 (0.28%) PHP
12 1 (0.14%) PL/SQL
12 1 (0.14%) T-SQL
12 1 (0.14%) VBA
Qualifications
1 341 (48.44%) Security Cleared
2 275 (39.06%) SC Cleared
3 103 (14.63%) Degree
4 67 (9.52%) DV Cleared
5 44 (6.25%) ITIL Certification
6 35 (4.97%) Microsoft Certification
7 30 (4.26%) TOGAF Certification
8 17 (2.41%) A+ Certification
9 16 (2.27%) Cisco Certification
9 16 (2.27%) MCSE
10 15 (2.13%) Computer Science Degree
11 14 (1.99%) PMP
11 14 (1.99%) Server+ Certification
12 13 (1.85%) Azure Certification
12 13 (1.85%) BPSS Clearance
12 13 (1.85%) PMI Certification
13 12 (1.70%) CCNA
13 12 (1.70%) CCNP
14 11 (1.56%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
14 11 (1.56%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 37 (5.26%) SLA
2 32 (4.55%) ISO/IEC 20000
3 11 (1.56%) GDPR
4 10 (1.42%) ISO/IEC 27001
5 9 (1.28%) Data Quality
5 9 (1.28%) PMO
6 6 (0.85%) QA
7 5 (0.71%) Disclosure Scotland
7 5 (0.71%) ISO 9001
8 4 (0.57%) NCSC
9 3 (0.43%) Accessibility
9 3 (0.43%) Cyber Essentials
10 1 (0.14%) Actionable Recommendations
10 1 (0.14%) COBIT
10 1 (0.14%) GRC
10 1 (0.14%) NIST
10 1 (0.14%) PCI DSS
10 1 (0.14%) WCAG
System Software
1 83 (11.79%) Active Directory
2 30 (4.26%) VMware Infrastructure
3 21 (2.98%) VMware NSX
4 13 (1.85%) Hyper-V
5 8 (1.14%) Docker
6 6 (0.85%) Virtual Desktop
6 6 (0.85%) Virtual Servers
7 5 (0.71%) BitLocker
7 5 (0.71%) Microsoft Virtual Server
8 4 (0.57%) VMware ESXi
9 3 (0.43%) Virtual Machines
10 1 (0.14%) Slurm Workload Manager
Systems Management
1 32 (4.55%) OPNET
2 26 (3.69%) vCenter Server
3 19 (2.70%) Ansible
3 19 (2.70%) SCCM
4 17 (2.41%) Terraform
5 15 (2.13%) Kubernetes
6 14 (1.99%) Microsoft Intune
7 11 (1.56%) Active Directory Federation Services
7 11 (1.56%) WSUS
8 5 (0.71%) Grafana
9 4 (0.57%) Nessus
9 4 (0.57%) Packer
9 4 (0.57%) Progress Chef
9 4 (0.57%) Prometheus
10 2 (0.28%) Docker Swarm
10 2 (0.28%) FortiGate
10 2 (0.28%) Jamf Pro
10 2 (0.28%) PowerCLI
10 2 (0.28%) Puppet
10 2 (0.28%) SCOM
Vendors
1 157 (22.30%) ServiceNow
2 135 (19.18%) Microsoft
3 79 (11.22%) Cisco
4 55 (7.81%) Atlassian
5 52 (7.39%) Remedy
6 45 (6.39%) Oracle
7 42 (5.97%) VMware
8 34 (4.83%) Splunk
9 31 (4.40%) Google
9 31 (4.40%) SolarWinds
10 22 (3.13%) SAP
11 21 (2.98%) Juniper
12 20 (2.84%) AppDynamics
12 20 (2.84%) HP
13 19 (2.70%) Dynatrace
14 14 (1.99%) Salesforce
15 13 (1.85%) Red Hat
15 13 (1.85%) Veeam
16 12 (1.70%) Palo Alto
17 10 (1.42%) Citrix