Retail Job Trends in the UK excluding London

Retailing
UK > UK excluding London

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Retail in permanent job vacancies in the UK excluding London. Included is a benchmarking guide to the salaries offered in vacancies that cited Retail over the 6 months leading up to 14 March 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
14 Mar 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 63 57 39
Rank change year-on-year -6 -18 0
Permanent jobs citing Retail 1,578 1,261 3,127
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK excluding London 2.98% 4.51% 5.34%
As % of the General category 5.82% 6.61% 8.99%
Number of salaries quoted 1,057 730 2,088
10th Percentile £27,707 £26,929 £25,000
25th Percentile £31,250 £32,500 £28,750
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £50,000 £43,049
Median % change year-on-year -10.00% +16.15% -21.73%
75th Percentile £60,000 £63,750 £57,500
90th Percentile £76,989 £83,750 £72,500
UK median annual salary £50,000 £55,000 £47,500
% change year-on-year -9.09% +15.79% -20.83%

All General Skills
UK excluding London

Retail falls under the General Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring general skills in the UK excluding London.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for general skills 27,106 19,070 34,797
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 51.11% 68.13% 59.45%
Number of salaries quoted 14,304 9,075 24,654
10th Percentile £27,500 £27,500 £26,000
25th Percentile £31,250 £37,500 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £45,000 £52,500 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year -14.29% +10.53% -9.52%
75th Percentile £64,456 £68,568 £62,500
90th Percentile £80,000 £83,750 £76,000
UK median annual salary £55,000 £60,000 £53,500
% change year-on-year -8.33% +12.15% -10.83%

Retail
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

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

Retail job vacancy trend in the UK excluding London

Retail
Salary Trend in the UK excluding London

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Retail.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Retail

Retail
Salary Histogram in the UK excluding London

Salary distribution for jobs citing Retail in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 14 March 2026.

Salary histogram for Retail in the UK excluding London

Retail
Job Locations in the UK excluding London

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Retail within the UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 14 March 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
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
North of England +14 415 £50,000 - 218
Midlands -18 353 £51,779 +15.06% 197
South East -1 350 £37,500 -25.00% 255
North West +15 245 £50,000 -4.76% 109
South West +18 189 £40,000 -30.43% 66
West Midlands -17 181 £52,500 +16.67% 83
East Midlands -6 172 £51,058 +13.46% 114
Yorkshire +19 156 £55,000 +22.22% 92
East of England +16 115 £40,000 -20.00% 84
Scotland -23 88 £32,500 +20.69% 60
Wales +19 54 £32,500 -40.91% 28
Northern Ireland -27 19 £37,500 - 11
North East -26 14 £37,500 -10.82% 19
Isle of Man - 1 £32,000 -
Retail
UK

Retail
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 49 (3.11%) Jupyter
2 25 (1.58%) SharePoint
3 24 (1.52%) CMS
4 10 (0.63%) Microsoft Exchange
5 9 (0.57%) Confluence
6 5 (0.32%) Moodle
6 5 (0.32%) SAS
6 5 (0.32%) WordPress
7 4 (0.25%) Adobe Experience Manager
7 4 (0.25%) Headless CMS
7 4 (0.25%) Umbraco
8 3 (0.19%) Apache Airflow
8 3 (0.19%) ColdFusion
9 2 (0.13%) Skype for Business
10 1 (0.063%) Drupal
10 1 (0.063%) IIS
Applications
1 85 (5.39%) Chatbot
2 74 (4.69%) Microsoft Excel
3 65 (4.12%) Microsoft Office
4 28 (1.77%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 15 (0.95%) MS Visio
6 8 (0.51%) Microsoft Project
6 8 (0.51%) Photoshop
7 7 (0.44%) AutoCAD
8 4 (0.25%) 3ds Max
9 3 (0.19%) SOLIDWORKS
10 1 (0.063%) Adobe Premiere
Business Applications
1 13 (0.82%) Oracle Assets
1 13 (0.82%) Oracle Cash Management
1 13 (0.82%) Oracle EBS
1 13 (0.82%) Oracle EBS R12
1 13 (0.82%) Oracle Payables
1 13 (0.82%) Oracle Receivables
1 13 (0.82%) SAP S/4HANA
2 10 (0.63%) NetSuite
3 9 (0.57%) Shopify
4 8 (0.51%) SAP MM
5 7 (0.44%) SAP Retail
6 5 (0.32%) Dynamics AX
6 5 (0.32%) Dynamics NAV
6 5 (0.32%) Magento
7 4 (0.25%) SAP CAR
8 3 (0.19%) Dynamics CRM
8 3 (0.19%) SAP Business ByDesign
8 3 (0.19%) SAP SCM
9 2 (0.13%) Misys Midas
9 2 (0.13%) SAP PP
Cloud Services
1 140 (8.87%) SaaS
2 114 (7.22%) AWS
3 109 (6.91%) Azure
4 95 (6.02%) Microsoft 365
5 49 (3.11%) Cloud Computing
6 42 (2.66%) Power Platform
7 19 (1.20%) Dynamics 365
7 19 (1.20%) Google Analytics
8 18 (1.14%) Entra ID
9 16 (1.01%) GitHub
9 16 (1.01%) Mimecast
10 12 (0.76%) Azure DevOps
11 11 (0.70%) GCP
12 9 (0.57%) GitHub Actions
12 9 (0.57%) Miro
13 8 (0.51%) Amazon CloudWatch
14 7 (0.44%) Amazon EKS
15 4 (0.25%) Azure Event Grid
15 4 (0.25%) Azure Service Bus
15 4 (0.25%) Microsoft Copilot
Communications & Networking
1 49 (3.11%) Firewall
2 28 (1.77%) Remote Desktop
3 27 (1.71%) VPN
4 22 (1.39%) DNS
5 21 (1.33%) DHCP
5 21 (1.33%) WAN
6 19 (1.20%) LAN
7 18 (1.14%) Wi-Fi
8 16 (1.01%) VLAN
8 16 (1.01%) Wireless
9 14 (0.89%) SD-WAN
10 8 (0.51%) Cisco ASA
11 7 (0.44%) Internet
11 7 (0.44%) TCP/IP
12 6 (0.38%) Cisco Wireless
12 6 (0.38%) WebEx
13 5 (0.32%) Broadband
13 5 (0.32%) IP Telephony
14 4 (0.25%) BGP
14 4 (0.25%) Network Security
Database & Business Intelligence
1 32 (2.03%) Power BI
2 12 (0.76%) SQL Server
3 11 (0.70%) MySQL
4 10 (0.63%) Looker
4 10 (0.63%) Metadata
5 9 (0.57%) Tableau
6 4 (0.25%) PostgreSQL
6 4 (0.25%) Power Query
6 4 (0.25%) Relational Database
6 4 (0.25%) SQL Server Integration Services
6 4 (0.25%) SQL Server Reporting Services
7 3 (0.19%) BusinessObjects
7 3 (0.19%) Oracle Database
7 3 (0.19%) Spark SQL
8 2 (0.13%) BusinessObjects Business Intelligence
8 2 (0.13%) Data Warehouse
8 2 (0.13%) DTS
8 2 (0.13%) SAP BW
9 1 (0.063%) Azure SQL Data Warehouse
9 1 (0.063%) Geospatial Data
Development Applications
1 50 (3.17%) Visual Studio Code
2 18 (1.14%) Git
3 15 (0.95%) JIRA
4 7 (0.44%) Burp Suite
4 7 (0.44%) Metasploit
5 5 (0.32%) Axure RP
6 4 (0.25%) Jenkins
7 3 (0.19%) Visual Studio
General
1 408 (25.86%) Social Skills
2 377 (23.89%) Finance
3 189 (11.98%) Manufacturing
4 161 (10.20%) Analytical Skills
5 148 (9.38%) Marketing
6 137 (8.68%) Inclusion and Diversity
7 81 (5.13%) Legal
8 54 (3.42%) Banking
9 51 (3.23%) Organisational Skills
10 48 (3.04%) Automotive
11 41 (2.60%) Public Sector
12 29 (1.84%) Law
13 27 (1.71%) Presentation Skills
14 24 (1.52%) Advertising
14 24 (1.52%) Pharmaceutical
14 24 (1.52%) Telecoms
15 22 (1.39%) Documentation Skills
16 17 (1.08%) Games
16 17 (1.08%) General Ledger
17 16 (1.01%) Influencing Skills
Job Titles
1 164 (10.39%) Senior
2 155 (9.82%) Analyst
3 90 (5.70%) Account Manager
4 88 (5.58%) Business Manager
5 86 (5.45%) Development Manager
6 67 (4.25%) IT Support
7 64 (4.06%) Developer
7 64 (4.06%) Senior Manager
7 64 (4.06%) Support Analyst
8 60 (3.80%) Business Development Manager
9 57 (3.61%) 2nd Line Support
10 55 (3.49%) Trainee
11 53 (3.36%) Sales Manager
12 52 (3.30%) Lead
13 48 (3.04%) Trainer
14 47 (2.98%) Support Engineer
15 46 (2.92%) Artificial Intelligence Programmer
15 46 (2.92%) Programmer
15 46 (2.92%) Trainee Programmer
16 45 (2.85%) 1st/2nd Line Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 49 (3.11%) Hugging Face
1 49 (3.11%) Matplotlib
1 49 (3.11%) NumPy
1 49 (3.11%) Pandas
1 49 (3.11%) scikit-learn
1 49 (3.11%) Streamlit
2 18 (1.14%) REST
3 15 (0.95%) React
4 14 (0.89%) .NET
4 14 (0.89%) JSON
5 13 (0.82%) CSS
5 13 (0.82%) HTML
6 10 (0.63%) EDI
7 8 (0.51%) GraphQL
7 8 (0.51%) Middleware
8 7 (0.44%) Next.js
8 7 (0.44%) Oracle Fusion
8 7 (0.44%) RESTful
9 6 (0.38%) ASP.NET
9 6 (0.38%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 136 (8.62%) Onboarding
2 114 (7.22%) Driving Licence
3 60 (3.80%) Algorithms
4 58 (3.68%) EPoS
5 50 (3.17%) Self-Motivation
6 46 (2.92%) FMCG
7 31 (1.96%) Management Information System
8 28 (1.77%) Digital Signage
9 26 (1.65%) Analytical Mindset
10 23 (1.46%) Security Posture
11 21 (1.33%) Product Ownership
12 20 (1.27%) Enterprise Software
13 16 (1.01%) Hybrid Cloud
13 16 (1.01%) Mobile App
14 13 (0.82%) CCTV
15 12 (0.76%) Enterprise Cloud
15 12 (0.76%) NHS
16 11 (0.70%) Data Centre
17 10 (0.63%) e-Learning
18 9 (0.57%) IoT
Operating Systems
1 81 (5.13%) Windows
2 42 (2.66%) Windows Server
3 37 (2.34%) Linux
4 16 (1.01%) Windows 10
5 8 (0.51%) Apple iOS
5 8 (0.51%) Mac OS
6 5 (0.32%) Android
7 4 (0.25%) Debian
8 3 (0.19%) Windows 7
8 3 (0.19%) Windows XP
9 2 (0.13%) Windows Server 2008
10 1 (0.063%) Windows Server 2012
Processes & Methodologies
1 262 (16.60%) Customer Service
2 236 (14.96%) Problem-Solving
3 231 (14.64%) Continuous Improvement
4 173 (10.96%) B2B
5 160 (10.14%) AI
6 130 (8.24%) ERP
7 124 (7.86%) E-Commerce
8 115 (7.29%) CRM
9 113 (7.16%) Customer Experience
10 109 (6.91%) Logistics
11 107 (6.78%) Decision-Making
12 105 (6.65%) Data Privacy
13 98 (6.21%) Business Development
14 93 (5.89%) Agile
15 89 (5.64%) Analytics
15 89 (5.64%) Stakeholder Management
16 85 (5.39%) Conversational UI
17 83 (5.26%) Project Management
18 82 (5.20%) Mentoring
19 73 (4.63%) Coaching
Programming Languages
1 100 (6.34%) SQL
2 99 (6.27%) Python
3 49 (3.11%) C#
4 35 (2.22%) PowerShell
5 26 (1.65%) JavaScript
6 20 (1.27%) Java
7 19 (1.20%) VBA
8 15 (0.95%) PL/SQL
9 11 (0.70%) TypeScript
10 10 (0.63%) C++
11 8 (0.51%) Bash
11 8 (0.51%) C
12 7 (0.44%) Go
13 4 (0.25%) Kotlin
14 3 (0.19%) Apex Code
15 2 (0.13%) Bicep
15 2 (0.13%) COBOL
15 2 (0.13%) PHP
15 2 (0.13%) R
15 2 (0.13%) T-SQL
Qualifications
1 188 (11.91%) Degree
2 60 (3.80%) AWS Certification
3 49 (3.11%) AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
4 30 (1.90%) Security Cleared
5 23 (1.46%) CISSP
6 21 (1.33%) SC Cleared
7 18 (1.14%) Computer Science Degree
8 15 (0.95%) CISM
8 15 (0.95%) CompTIA Security+
9 11 (0.70%) CIPD
9 11 (0.70%) Cisco Certification
9 11 (0.70%) DBS Check
9 11 (0.70%) Microsoft Certification
10 10 (0.63%) Microsoft Certified Professional
11 9 (0.57%) ACCA
11 9 (0.57%) CIMA
11 9 (0.57%) PMI Certification
12 8 (0.51%) PMP
13 7 (0.44%) CCNA
13 7 (0.44%) MCSE
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 75 (4.75%) QA
2 68 (4.31%) GDPR
3 31 (1.96%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 24 (1.52%) SLA
5 19 (1.20%) PCI DSS
6 16 (1.01%) Accessibility
6 16 (1.01%) NIST
7 15 (0.95%) Actionable Recommendations
8 9 (0.57%) Cyber Essentials
9 8 (0.51%) Data Quality
10 7 (0.44%) ISO 9001
11 5 (0.32%) ISO 14001
11 5 (0.32%) PMO
12 4 (0.25%) GRC
12 4 (0.25%) ISO/IEC 19770
13 3 (0.19%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
14 2 (0.13%) ISO 22301
14 2 (0.13%) ISO/IEC 20000
14 2 (0.13%) SEPA
14 2 (0.13%) SOC 2
System Software
1 64 (4.06%) Active Directory
2 25 (1.58%) VMware Infrastructure
3 19 (1.20%) Hyper-V
4 9 (0.57%) Docker
5 7 (0.44%) Virtual Machines
6 6 (0.38%) Microsoft Virtual Server
6 6 (0.38%) Virtual Servers
7 5 (0.32%) vSphere
8 4 (0.25%) Virtual Desktop
8 4 (0.25%) VMware NSX
9 3 (0.19%) VMware ESXi
10 1 (0.063%) Firmware
Systems Management
1 19 (1.20%) Ansible
2 17 (1.08%) Terraform
3 14 (0.89%) Kubernetes
4 12 (0.76%) Grafana
5 11 (0.70%) Microsoft Intune
6 7 (0.44%) Nmap
6 7 (0.44%) Prometheus
6 7 (0.44%) Proxmox
7 6 (0.38%) ZABBIX
8 4 (0.25%) Autotask
9 3 (0.19%) Cisco CUCM
10 2 (0.13%) Nagios
10 2 (0.13%) Opsgenie
10 2 (0.13%) Single Sign-On
10 2 (0.13%) vCenter Server
Vendors
1 256 (16.22%) Microsoft
2 50 (3.17%) SAP
3 38 (2.41%) VMware
4 36 (2.28%) Google
4 36 (2.28%) PayPal
5 29 (1.84%) Cisco
6 28 (1.77%) Oracle
7 27 (1.71%) Salesforce
8 21 (1.33%) Veeam
9 16 (1.01%) HubSpot
10 13 (0.82%) BT
11 12 (0.76%) Databricks
11 12 (0.76%) NEC
12 11 (0.70%) Blue Prism
13 10 (0.63%) Citrix
13 10 (0.63%) ServiceNow
14 9 (0.57%) Fortinet
14 9 (0.57%) SolarWinds
15 6 (0.38%) Adobe
15 6 (0.38%) Meraki