Buyer Contract Job Trends

Buyer
UK

The median Buyer daily rate in the UK is £550, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 13 January 2026.

The table below compares current contractor rates and summary statistics with the previous two years.

6 months to
13 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 571 516 593
Rank change year-on-year -55 +77 +178
Contract jobs requiring a Buyer 10 4 4
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.027% 0.013% 0.009%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.030% 0.014% 0.010%
Number of daily rates quoted 5 3 4
10th Percentile - £132 £274
25th Percentile £513 £160 £347
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £215 £488
Median % change year-on-year +155.81% -55.90% +18.18%
75th Percentile £575 £246 £588
90th Percentile £590 £260 -
UK excluding London median daily rate £550 £165 £488
% change year-on-year +233.33% -66.15% -7.14%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1 0 0
Median hourly rate £17.29 - -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £17.29 - -

All Contract IT Job Roles
UK

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies. 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 UK with a recognized job title 33,423 29,063 39,970
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 91.34% 92.68% 93.20%
Number of daily rates quoted 21,125 17,795 26,676
10th Percentile £300 £289 £280
25th Percentile £405 £408 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £616 £638 £638
90th Percentile £719 £738 £738
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £477 £500
% change year-on-year -0.42% -4.60% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,961 876 1,672
10th Percentile £14.38 £15.49 £14.16
25th Percentile £18.25 £21.03 £18.93
Median hourly rate £26.50 £32.50 £42.50
Median % change year-on-year -18.46% -23.53% +26.87%
75th Percentile £60.00 £61.69 £65.00
90th Percentile £70.00 £73.75 £76.25
UK excluding London median hourly rate £25.15 £30.62 £45.00
% change year-on-year -17.85% -31.97% +64.38%

Buyer
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings featuring 'Buyer' in the job title relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Buyer job vacancy trend in the UK

Buyer
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Buyer job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for Buyer job vacancies in the UK

Buyer
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Buyer job vacancies in the UK.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for Buyer job vacancies in the UK

Buyer
Top 8 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Buyer within the UK over the 6 months to 13 January 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
England -65 10 £550 +155.81% 10
UK excluding London -42 9 £550 +233.33% 10
West Midlands -33 5 £575 +248.48%
Midlands -42 5 £575 +248.48%
South East - 2 £525 - 3
East of England - 2 £550 - 2
London -34 1 - -
Work from Home - 1 - - 7

Buyer Skill Set
Top 28 Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities

For the 6 months to 13 January 2026, Buyer contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number of co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads featuring Buyer in the job title.

1 5 (50.00%) Contract Management
1 5 (50.00%) Requirements Gathering
1 5 (50.00%) Stakeholder Management
2 4 (40.00%) Actionable Insight
2 4 (40.00%) Ariba
2 4 (40.00%) Market Research
2 4 (40.00%) Supply Chain Management
3 2 (20.00%) SaaS
3 2 (20.00%) SC Cleared
3 2 (20.00%) Security Cleared
4 1 (10.00%) Asset Management
4 1 (10.00%) AWS
4 1 (10.00%) Cisco
4 1 (10.00%) Collaborative Working
4 1 (10.00%) Contract Negotiation
4 1 (10.00%) Data Cleansing
4 1 (10.00%) Demand Management
4 1 (10.00%) IBM
4 1 (10.00%) Information Security
4 1 (10.00%) Microsoft
4 1 (10.00%) Microsoft Excel
4 1 (10.00%) Oracle
4 1 (10.00%) Oracle Fusion
4 1 (10.00%) PMO
4 1 (10.00%) Risk Management
4 1 (10.00%) Roadmaps
4 1 (10.00%) Spreadsheet
4 1 (10.00%) Technology Roadmap

Buyer Skill Set
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities 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:

Applications
1 1 (10.00%) Microsoft Excel
1 1 (10.00%) Spreadsheet
Cloud Services
1 2 (20.00%) SaaS
2 1 (10.00%) AWS
General
1 5 (50.00%) Social Skills
2 4 (40.00%) Influencing Skills
2 4 (40.00%) Public Sector
3 2 (20.00%) Finance
3 2 (20.00%) Legal
4 1 (10.00%) Law
4 1 (10.00%) Military
4 1 (10.00%) Organisational Skills
4 1 (10.00%) Telecoms
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 1 (10.00%) Oracle Fusion
Miscellaneous
1 1 (10.00%) FMCG
Processes & Methodologies
1 5 (50.00%) Contract Management
1 5 (50.00%) Requirements Gathering
1 5 (50.00%) Stakeholder Management
2 4 (40.00%) Actionable Insight
2 4 (40.00%) Market Research
2 4 (40.00%) Supply Chain Management
3 1 (10.00%) Asset Management
3 1 (10.00%) Collaborative Working
3 1 (10.00%) Contract Negotiation
3 1 (10.00%) Data Cleansing
3 1 (10.00%) Demand Management
3 1 (10.00%) Information Security
3 1 (10.00%) Risk Management
3 1 (10.00%) Roadmaps
3 1 (10.00%) Technology Roadmap
Qualifications
1 2 (20.00%) SC Cleared
1 2 (20.00%) Security Cleared
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 1 (10.00%) PMO
Vendors
1 4 (40.00%) Ariba
2 1 (10.00%) Cisco
2 1 (10.00%) IBM
2 1 (10.00%) Microsoft
2 1 (10.00%) Oracle