Sanderson is delighted to announce that we have been shortlisted as a finalist for MSP of the Year in the APSCo OutSource Awards for Excellence.

This is a fantastic achievement for Sanderson as these awards celebrate the very best in outsourced recruitment and workforce solutions across the UK, with all finalist organisations having undergone a rigorous assessment by an independent panel of industry experts.

We’re extremely proud to be recognised in one of the Award’s most prestigious categories, Managed Service Provider (MSP) of the Year which recognises MSPs that go beyond traditional delivery models, showcasing excellence through strong supplier engagement, effective use of technology and a proven ability to optimise and future-proof contingent workforce programmes for clients.

We take outstanding service delivery seriously when it comes to MSPs, and so being shortlisted for this Award is a true testament to our commitment to our clients.

If you would like to learn more about the awards, please click here.

We look forward to continuing the process with APSCo and attending the awards ceremony in London in September.

In today’s business landscape, organisations generate and collect vast amounts of data every day. Traditionally, this data was stored and managed on-site in physical servers located within offices. However, as businesses look to increase flexibility, improve scalability and enhance performance, many have recognised that older on-premises environments can limit growth and innovation.

As a result, cloud and data migration remain some of the most common topics of conversation with the organisations we engage with.

While many have already embarked on their migration journey, others are still in the planning stages, often citing cost, technical capability, stakeholder buy-in and legacy system dependencies as key challenges.

This reflects a broader market trend. Organisations are no longer simply moving infrastructure, they’re redesigning how data is stored, governed, accessed and leveraged across their business. Yet many still underestimate the complexity involved in successfully transitioning from on-premises environments to the cloud, leading to challenges such as skills gaps, integration issues, accessibility concerns and unexpected costs.

That’s why we’ve put together this blog, taking our experience when working with clients and what we’re seeing in the market to provide you with our 6 Top Tips for a Successful Cloud Migration. 

Let’s get started!

1 – Start with a Clear Business Outcome

The most effective migrations are driven by business objectives, not just technology change. Whether your goal is cost optimisation, scalability, resilience or even enabling AI and analytics, clarity upfront is critical.

So before beginning any migration, we’d recommend you start by setting clear answers to questions like:

• What problem are we solving?
• What does success look like?
• How will we measure ROI?

2 – Avoid a “Lift and Shift” Mindset

Simply moving legacy systems into the cloud without modernising them runs the risk of transferring any existing inefficiencies into a more expensive environment.

We’d recommend viewing cloud migration as a data transformation, not just a data relocation, so before you get started why not take the opportunity to:

• Reassess your existing architecture
• Remove any technical debt
• Optimise workloads
• Modernise your applications where appropriate

3 – Prioritise Data Governance and Security Early

Security and governance shouldn’t be retrofitted after migrating your data to the cloud. If you want your migration to be as successful as possible, then you should think about embedding security into your migration strategy from day one.

This means looking at strong controls around:

• Access management
• Data classification
• Compliance
• Encryption
• Monitoring

This comes especially important for multi-cloud and hybrid environments.

4 – Understand your Data Landscape

Don’t underestimate how fragmented your data estates might have become over time. Poor visibility at the start of a migration can cause major issues further down the line. So before migrating it’s essential to:

• Identify critical data sources
• Understand dependencies
• Remove duplicate or redundant data
• Improve data quality

5 – Invest in the Right Skills and Capability

Having the right talent in place can often mean the difference between a migration succeeding or stalling. Whilst technology is a critical component of any migration programme, people ultimately determine whether the strategy is successfully delivered.

Across the market, one of the most common challenges we see is organisations underestimating the breadth of skills required for a successful migration. Cloud and data transformation programmes rarely rely on a single individual or team, they require a combination of technical expertise, leadership and stakeholder engagement.

Some of the most in-demand professionals we support clients with include:

• Cloud Architects
• Data Architects
• Data Engineers
• Platform Engineers
• DevOps Engineers
• Cloud Security Specialists
• Programme and Project Managers

The most successful organisations combine these specialist skills with strong internal leadership and effective collaboration between technology and business stakeholders. This ensures that migration programmes remain aligned to business objectives while maintaining technical excellence throughout delivery.

From our experience, organisations that invest in the right capability early in the process are better positioned to manage risk, overcome technical challenges and realise value from their cloud investment more quickly.

6 – Take a Phased Approach

Large-scale migrations rarely succeed as “big bang” programmes. Incremental progress typically delivers better long-term outcomes, which is why we’d suggest having a phased roadmap to allow you to:

• Reduce operational risk
• Learn and adapt during delivery
• Demonstrate early value
• Minimise disruption to the business

Ready for a successful cloud and data migration?

We’re well placed to get you the talent you need, fast. Whether it’s Cloud Architects and Data Analysts, or DevOps and Infrastructure Engineers, Sanderson can ensure you’ve got access to the right specialist cloud and data talent.

So, if you’re about to embark on a cloud and data migration and would like to chat about how to successfully achieve this, please do get in touch.

Any other questions on Cloud Migration? Drop me a message at [email protected]

On Wednesday 13 May, Sanderson Government & Defence, alongside HR World, hosted a panel event at The Mayfair Townhouse, bringing together leaders from across government, defence and industry to explore a critical question:

How do organisations plan a workforce in an environment shaped by skills shortages, security clearance constraints and the rapid evolution of AI?

Key takeaways for anyone who missed the event

• The real challenge is not just a shortage of talent, but a shortage of adaptable capability in security-cleared environments.
• Too many organisations still compete for the same “finished product” candidates, rather than investing in people with transferable skills and long-term potential.
• AI should be used to enhance human capability, not simply reduce headcount.
• Workforce planning needs to shift from roles to skills, with more emphasis on development, mobility and adaptability.
• Human judgement, trust, creativity and mission understanding remain essential, especially in secure and highly regulated settings.

The panel

We were joined by an exceptional panel of speakers:

• Kate Spencer, Partner – Workforce Planning, PA Consulting
• Ben Gilbert, Data Ethics Lead – Cabinet Office & DSIT
• Lieutenant Colonel Philip Gill FCIPD, Workforce Planning – MOD
• Nick Walrond, Managing Director – Sanderson Government & Defence

Each brought a distinct perspective, spanning strategic workforce transformation, responsible AI, defence workforce planning and talent delivery in highly secure environments.

From talent shortages to adaptable capability

A clear tension emerged throughout the discussion. On one hand, organisations continue to report significant talent shortages, particularly in security-cleared environments. On the other, there are capable individuals actively seeking opportunities, including people whose skills are being overlooked or who are simply unaware of routes into the secure world.

If both of these realities exist at the same time, where is the disconnect?

Part of the challenge lies in how organisations define and access talent. In highly regulated environments, there is still a strong preference for the “finished product” — people with highly specific experience, existing clearance and the ability to contribute immediately. Inevitably, this creates intense competition for the same narrow talent pools, making the model increasingly difficult to sustain.

Other challenges remain too. Attracting younger talent into defence is still difficult, and many people leaving the armed forces are not fully aware of the value of their skills and clearances in the civilian market.

Encouragingly, there is growing recognition that a different approach is needed. More organisations are starting to focus on potential rather than perfection, recognising transferable skills and investing in capability through broader entry pathways and ongoing development.

This marks an important shift: away from asking, “How do we hire the finished product?” and towards a more strategic question — how do we build capability over time?

That brings us back to one of the most important questions raised during the panel:

“Is there really a war for talent, or is there a war for adaptable capability?”

AI and the workforce: opportunity or risk?

AI was, unsurprisingly, central to the discussion, but not in the way many might expect.

One of the evening’s standout points came from Philip Gill:

“The biggest workforce risk is not that AI reduces the need for people, but that organisations deploy AI too narrowly as a headcount reduction tool.”

That distinction matters. The discussion made clear that AI should be seen as:

• a productivity enabler
• a tool for reskilling and capability building
• a way to unlock capacity for higher-value work

There was also strong agreement that:

• AI should enhance human judgement, not replace it
• organisations must remain accountable for decisions, particularly in hiring and progression
• the long-term impact of AI on the workforce is still evolving and must be actively managed

In other words, the real opportunity is not to use AI as a shortcut to reduce people, but to use it intelligently to strengthen capability, improve decision-making and free up people to focus on work that matters most.

The human element: what AI can’t replace

One of the most valuable parts of the evening was the level of audience engagement. The conversation extended well beyond the panel itself, with questions and comments focusing on:

• the importance of employee experience when working alongside AI
• maintaining human interaction in recruitment processes
• the growing need for adaptability and outcomes-based thinking

It reinforced an important truth: talent is not just a job title or a list of technical skills. It is a combination of capability, behaviour and human perspective.

AI can support decision-making, but it cannot replicate:

• human judgement
• challenge and debate
• creativity and curiosity
• real connection

That matters in any organisation, but especially in security-cleared environments, where trust, judgement and mission understanding are critical.

Looking ahead: rethinking workforce planning in secure environments

The full impact of AI on workforce planning, particularly in security-cleared environments, is still unfolding. Its potential to drive efficiency and unlock capacity is clear, but its value will ultimately depend on how it is implemented.

In these environments, the constraint is not just skills; it is people who combine clearance with judgement, integrity, mission understanding and digital expertise.

The organisations most likely to succeed will be those that take a balanced approach: investing in people as well as technology, and focusing on long-term capability rather than short-term fixes.

While there was not enough time during the event to explore how organisations might implement these ideas in practice, we will be sharing a second blog with some suggested approaches.

If you have any additional takeaways or reflections from the event, please do share them with me so we can continue the conversation more widely.

Final reflections

Bringing together perspectives from across government, defence and industry highlighted both the complexity of the challenge and the shared determination to address it.

There is no single solution. But the discussion made one thing clear:

The future of workforce planning will be defined not by who can hire the fastest, but by who can adapt, build and evolve most effectively.

Now more than ever, businesses across the UK are prioritising cyber security to protect their operations from increasingly sophisticated threats.

And as demand for cyber expertise grows, the conversation is shifting from defence to resilience.

In this blog, we explore the evolving cyber landscape and why upskilling cyber capability is no longer a nice-to-have, but a business-critical requirement.

The 2026 Cyber Threat Landscape

The cyber threat landscape in 2026 can be defined by increasing sophistication and growing risk. Organisations are no longer dealing with isolated threats but instead are faced with the reality of cybersecurity becoming a strategic business issue.

With the pressure to adapt intensifying, the result is a market shaped by three fundamental shifts:

 AI vs AI

It’s no longer just human attackers that organisations need to defend against. Threat actors (that’s any individual or group that intentionally attempts to exploit vulnerabilities in systems) are increasingly leveraging generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) for hyper-personalised phishing attempts and automated exploits.

This is forcing many organisations to race to build effective AI enabled Security Operations Centres (SOCs) that can use their own AI to automatically detect, prioritise and respond to cyber threats faster and more accurately than traditional, manual approaches.

Supply Chain Risk Now a Boardroom Issue

Supply chain security is now critical. This is a problem being elevated to a boardroom issue because vulnerabilities in interconnected partner networks can rapidly escalate into major businesses and cause national-level threats, all of which boards need to be on top of to ensure continued confidence in their organisations.

We’re seeing this especially in regions like Bristol, with its strong aerospace, defence and fintech ecosystems becoming increasingly interconnected meaning a vulnerability in any part of the supply chain can quickly escalate.

Regulatory Squeeze

With evolving frameworks like the UK Cyber Security & Resilience Bill, DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act) and NIS2 (Network and Information Systems Directive 2), there are now stricter regulatory expectations around cyber risk management, incident reporting and operational resilience than ever before.

These regulations are making cyber security a core business obligation. They place legal accountability on leadership teams to protect not only their own systems but also their supply chains, critical services and stakeholder trust.

Why Upskilling Cyber Security is Now Non-Negotiable

To keep on top of these changing market conditions and to protect business operations from the evolving cyber threat landscape, organisations don’t just need to hire, they need to hire the right talent to build their capability to avoid risks like:

• Cyber insurance barriers: Without strong controls in place (e.g. MFA, internal capability), insurers may refuse cover entirely.
• Deepfake fraud: We’re seeing a surge in AI-driven impersonation attacks exposing gaps in human and technical controls.
• Operational downtime: The impact of ransomware can now mean weeks of disruption, something many SMEs simply cannot afford.

How are Organisations Building their Cyber Capability?

To up the ante on their cyber capability, we’re seeing organisations work to embed cyber-security skills and practices across their workforce by moving from isolated security teams to a more organisation-wide model of resilience. Examples of this are:

Managing Risk

Organisations are adopting Zero Trust models, requiring continuous verification for every access request (e.g. MFA), while also shifting to cloud-native security, where systems are built and run in the cloud. This includes embedding security talent into IT and DevOps teams to ensure systems are secure by design from the outset.

Retention Through Development

Rather than relying solely on hiring, organisations are building internal capability through training and clear career pathways. This upskilling then strengthens their security while also improving retention in a highly competitive talent market.

AI Governance

As AI adoption grows, we’re seeing organisations implementing governance frameworks and training to ensure their models are secure and their data is protected. This expands cyber responsibility beyond IT into a broader, cross-functional risk management effort.

How we Support Organisations Solve these Challenges with Contract Cyber Talent

In today’s world, speed and precision matter when it comes to hiring. That’s where contract expertise can deliver real value to organisations like yours through:

Speed to Market

Unfilled cyber roles leave organisations exposed, particularly during incidents or transformation programmes. We provide rapid access to pre-qualified, security-cleared professionals, significantly reducing time to hire and ensuring critical risks are addressed without delay.

Specialist Expertise

Cyber security increasingly demands niche, hard-to-find skillsets across areas like DevSecOps, cloud security, threat detection and incident response. We connect organisations with proven specialists who can immediately add value, bringing deep expertise that would take months to hire or build internally.

Flexibility

Organisations need to respond quickly to audits, incidents or regulatory change. Our contract talent model allows teams to scale capability up or down as needed, providing agility without the long-term commitment of permanent hires.

We’ve recently helped place roles like:

• Interim & Contract Leaders: CISOs, programme leads and transformation specialists.
• Cyber Transformation Teams: End-to-end project teams to modernise security environments
• Niche Skill Delivery: IAM, SOC Analysts, Cloud Security Architects (AWS/Azure/GCP).
• Governance & Compliance Experts: Supporting organisations through evolving UK and EU regulation.

Could we Help you Upskill your own Cyber Capability?

Cyber threats aren’t slowing down; they’re evolving rapidly and so should your strategy. If your security approach was built for 2024, you may already be behind.

But it’s not too late to change that.

At Sanderson, we combine deep market insight with a strong network across the UK, helping organisations secure the right talent, at the right time, getting them fully prepared for any cyber threat.

So if you’re keen to have a conversation around how you can build resilience through the right cyber capability, please don’t hesitate to reach out to [email protected]

Career decisions carry weight in any sector, but in defence and national security there are added layers that can make those decisions harder to reverse.

They impact:

• Your clearance
• The projects you can actually access
• Your long-term trajectory
• And your overall financial package (not just base salary)

So, when a counter-offer lands from your current employer, it can feel like a compelling reason to stay.

Maybe your employer has realised you’re exploring new opportunities, or you’ve already handed your notice in. Either way, before making a decision, it’s worth pausing for a moment.

Why you should think twice before accepting

Having supported recruitment across defence, government and national security projects, I’ve seen how counter-offers play out firsthand, and they don’t always land the way people expect.

Let’s start with the appeal.

A counter-offer can feel like recognition. Suddenly, your value is being acknowledged, and improvements are being promised – whether that’s salary, project alignment, or progression.

And I get it, that’s hard to walk away from.

But the reality is often different.

Once you’re back in role, those promises don’t always materialise in full. And even if they do, the underlying reasons you started looking in the first place can still remain.

In defence and NS, the most common drivers for moving roles tend to be:

• Limited access to high-impact or interesting programmes
• Lack of progression or visibility of a long-term career path
• Compensation not reflecting market value or clearance level
• Constraints around clearance or project mobility
• Challenging programme environments or delivery culture
• Limited flexibility (location, on-site expectations, travel)
• Concerns around long-term stability linked to project funding

Aside from personal or relocation-driven reasons, most counter-offers attempt to address one or more of these points.

Here’s the reality: the number one reason people accept counter-offers is money.

And I get it, the UK economy isn’t exactly easy right now. Cost of living is high, inflation has had a real impact, and financial security matters. So, when a significant pay rise is on the table, it’s incredibly hard to walk away from that.

But this is where it’s important to take a step back and look beyond the immediate win.

Because in many cases, that pay rise can come with trade-offs that aren’t always obvious at first.

If your current employer matches or exceeds an external offer to retain you, there’s a strong chance you’ll be earning more than peers with similar experience. While that sounds like a positive, it can bring added pressure – higher expectations, greater scrutiny, and less room for error.

It can also impact your longer-term progression. If you’re already sitting at (or above) the top end of a salary band, future increases, promotions, or internal moves can become much harder to achieve… which can actually slow your career down rather than accelerate it.

And it raises an important question:

If these issues could have been addressed before, why weren’t they?

And why has it taken your resignation for that change to be offered?

What you should consider when offered a counter-offer

When considering a counter-offer in this space, there are a few things that are especially important to think through:

• Will anything actually change beyond salary?
  In defence, salary is only one piece of the puzzle. If your day-to-day work, programme exposure, or leadership environment stays the same, the long-term outcome likely will too.
• Are you being artificially repositioned in the market?
  Earning above your peer group can sound like a win, but it often comes with increased expectations and can limit future progression once you hit the top of a band.
• Is the offer realistically deliverable?
  This is particularly important in national security. Promises around moving onto different projects, gaining new clearances, or accessing more interesting work are often constrained by factors outside your employer’s control – such as client demand, clearance processes, or contractual limitations.
• Will your reputation be impacted?
  This is a is small and relationship-driven sector. Once you’ve made it known you’re looking externally, perceptions can shift – even subtly.
• Are you solving the root issue?
  If your reason for leaving was cultural, structural, or related to the nature of the work itself, a counter-offer is unlikely to fix that long term.
• Are you trading long-term growth for short-term comfort?
  Staying can feel like the safer option – especially when navigating clearance timelines or project continuity – but it can also delay the move you ultimately need to make for your career.

Before accepting a counter-offer, take a moment to revisit why you started exploring the market in the first place.

What were you hoping to change?
What does your long-term career in defence or national security actually look like?

One of the most common patterns I see is candidates accepting counter-offers, only to re-enter the market a few months later – often with fewer options than before.

That’s not to say counter-offers are always the wrong choice.

There are absolutely situations where staying is the right decision – particularly if the changes being offered are genuine, achievable, and aligned with what you want long term.

But it has to be a considered decision, not a reactive one.

Finally, one piece of advice that applies across the board: be honest.

If you’re unhappy in your current role, have the conversation early. In many cases, organisations are willing to support retention if they understand what matters to you.

And if they can’t provide what you need?

That’s usually a clear sign it’s time to move on – and find an environment that can.

If you’d like any advice, please feel free to reach out to me at [email protected]

Insurance companies operate in highly complex and heavily regulated environments meaning they don’t just need to hire talent; they need to hire specialists.

Whether it’s understanding complex risk trends, meeting strict regulatory requirements like Solvency II or making sense of huge amounts of data, insurance companies need people with specific expertise to keep their operations running smoothly.

This need for specialist talent is especially clear in actuarial teams and even more sought-after in roles like Internal Model Specialists. These specialists require a strong understanding of how different asset classes behave under varying market conditions, alongside the ability to combine actuarial expertise with advanced stochastic and risk modelling techniques. They must assess how portfolios respond across a range of scenarios from expected market movements to severe stress events enabling insurers to better understand their risk exposure, capital requirements and financial resilience.

These roles are specialised and hard to fill, but insurance companies working with Sanderson trust us to deliver. Just as our London team did for this leading life insurer…

What was the challenge?

A market-leading life insurance provider came to us when they were looking to hire a candidate for a highly specialised interim actuarial position, an Internal Model Specialist. This was a role they needed to fill to support a critical enhancement to their Solvency II Internal Model framework.

The client needed us to identify an experienced contractor capable of designing and implementing an explicit interest rate volatility risk framework, including swaption-driven dynamics, calibration methodology, dependency modelling and even governance-ready documentation.

What was our solution?

It was clear from the outset that this role demanded highly niche expertise. Due to the technical complexity and scarcity of suitable contractors in the market, speed and precision were critical.

So, we quickly mobilised to conduct a thorough search that was broken down to look for candidates with experience covering:

• Solvency II / Solvency UK Internal Models
• Interest rate and swaption modelling
• Yield curve and PCA frameworks
• Correlation and dependency modelling
• Internal Model governance and validation

What was the result?

Within just 24 hours of receiving the brief, our team delivered a fully vetted shortlist of highly credible and niche actuarial specialists each with directly relevant Internal Model and derivative modelling experience, exactly what the client was looking for.

Key outcomes included:

• Highly technical quantitative requirements broken down into targeted searches
• 3 candidates shortlisted within just 24 hours
• 100% shortlist-to-interview conversion
• Successful placement completed within one week
• Full process managed end-to-end with minimal client downtime

The client was able to hire the specialist talent they needed, and the successful candidate brought extensive experience delivering governed Internal Model enhancements within life insurance environments including interest rate volatility calibration and capital model dependency design.

Could we help you achieve similar outcomes?

If you’re looking for a recruitment partner to help you source business-critical appointments in tight turnaround times, we’re here to help.

Whether for its actuarial talent as niche as this role, or other insurance specialities you need to move quickly on to stay competitive, then don’t hesitate to reach out on [email protected] and let’s have a chat about how we can help.

Insurance hiring has begun 2026 stronger than expected, with consistent growth across technology, security and transformation roles.

The market has even seen an acceleration in investment as regulatory pressure, geopolitical risk and AI adoption increasingly converge and we’re now looking at a market preparing for change as Insurers seem to be increasingly hiring for long-term structural change rather than short-term growth.

But how has this translated into the rest of financial services hiring?

At Sanderson we always have our finger on the pulse of the latest changes in the market so that we can help you better understand how new trends might impact your hiring plans and then support you to turn these into opportunities when it comes to your financial services recruitment.

So, with that in mind, we’re pleased to have produced this new Report with VacancySoft that sums up the latest trends we’ve been seeing in the UK Financial Services market during April.

Have a sneak peek at some of the highlights below and scroll down to grab your copy!

Insurance IT and AI Demand

Demand for insurance IT and AI professionals rose sharply through Q1, with March vacancy levels nearing record highs.

Rise in Cybersecurity and Operational Resilience

Cybersecurity recruitment has accelerated, with London accounting for over half of insurance IT security vacancies in Q1.

Insurance Hiring Strengthens

Hiring activity strengthened across the wider insurance market throughout Q1, with London seeing the most visible uplift. Increased claims complexity and continued investment in transformation capability are supporting demand.

Regional Shifts and Senior Hiring Trends

While London remains dominant, the North West has seen growing specialist hiring as middle office functions expand. Scotland also recorded increased executive hiring, reflecting a renewed focus on leadership.

If you would like a more detailed overview of these trends, including the latest market data, monthly vacancy totals and insight into the top job roles by sector, then please do download a copy of the full Report via the form below.

Have any further questions? Don’t hesitate to get in touch with us, we’re well placed to help.

Across government and regulated programmes in 2026, demand for SC‑cleared professionals shows no sign of slowing. Digital, data, cyber, engineering, delivery and change roles increasingly specify “active SC required” as a non‑negotiable, particularly for contract hires.

The intention is understandable: programmes are under pressure, onboarding time is critical, and nobody wants delivery blocked by vetting delays.

But an important question is emerging in the market:

Are organisations unnecessarily shrinking their talent pool by focusing only on candidates with currently active SC clearance? Let’s explore…

The Talent Bottleneck You May Have Created

Active SC clearance is finite. It expires, lapses between roles, and is largely controlled by employer sponsorship rather than the individual.

By insisting on already active SC, many hiring managers are competing for the same small subset of contractors. This has several consequences:

• Inflated day rates and reduced value for money
• Longer time to hire despite “strict” criteria
• Recycled talent rather than fresh perspectives
• Reduced diversity of experience and background

Meanwhile, a much larger population of candidates sits just outside your eligibility window.

The Overlooked Opportunity: Candidates With Lapsed SC

Candidates with previously held SC clearance, now lapsed, are often indistinguishable in capability from those who remain actively cleared:

• They have already passed full SC vetting once
• They understand government environments and compliance expectations
• They are familiar with secure delivery constraints
• They often have stronger commercial and programme experience than the typical “clearance‑first” contractor

In many cases, their clearance has lapsed simply because:

• They moved to a non‑cleared programme
• They took time out or changed sector
• Their sponsoring organisation changed

Not because of any suitability or risk issue.

Can You Sponsor Someone for SC on a Contract Role?

This is the question that usually stops the conversation.

Yes, in certain circumstances, contractors can be sponsored for SC clearance.

However, it requires the right operating model and mindset.

Sponsorship is typically more viable when:

• The contract is of sufficient length (6–12 months+)
• The role is genuinely hard to fill with active SC alone
• The candidate brings scarce or high‑value skills
• The programme has appropriate sponsorship routes in place

What matters most is clarity up front: timelines, risk appetite, and delivery sequencing.

Many organisations already accept onboarding delays for niche skills in other areas. SC sponsorship should be viewed through the same commercial lens.

The Cost of Waiting vs the Cost of Sponsoring

Hiring managers often assume sponsorship equals delay and risk. In reality, the comparison should be:

• Waiting months to secure the “perfect” active SC candidate at a premium rate
  vs
• Sponsoring a proven candidate and retaining control of the talent pipeline

Programmes that adopt this approach consistently report:

• Improved quality of hire
• Reduced churn
• Greater loyalty and continuity
• Stronger medium‑term delivery capability

Permanent Hiring Already Understands This, Contracting Often Doesn’t

Permanent recruitment accepted long ago that SC sponsorship is part of building capability.

Contract hiring has lagged behind, often defaulting to immediate readiness over long‑term value. In today’s market, that approach is becoming increasingly expensive and restrictive.

If your programme horizon extends beyond a few months, restricting yourself to “active SC only” may no longer be the most commercial decision.

Risk Management Still Matters

None of this suggests lowering standards.

Security vetting exists for good reason, and hiring managers must remain compliant. The shift is not about bypassing clearance, it’s about widening the pool responsibly by:

• Considering candidates with prior SC history
• Exploring sponsorship pathways where viable
• Making informed decisions rather than blanket exclusions

How Sanderson Can Help

A common challenge for hiring managers is understanding the true status of a candidate’s SC clearance, whether it’s active, transferable, or has recently lapsed.

With decades of experience supporting government and regulated programmes, Sanderson brings deep market knowledge and an unparalleled network of cleared and previously cleared professionals. We support hiring managers by:

• Using our industry experience to verify and sense‑check clearance status early in the process
• Providing clear insight into whether SC is active, recently lapsed, or likely to be transferable
• Advising on practical sponsorship options, timelines and feasibility based on real‑world delivery experience
• Reducing risk and uncertainty by applying informed judgement rather than relying solely on self‑reported information

This enables hiring managers to make confident, well‑informed decisions, balancing delivery urgency with long‑term capability and value.

Final Thought

In a market where demand outweighs supply, talent strategy matters.

Hiring managers who continue to chase only actively SC‑cleared candidates may unknowingly be:

• Slowing delivery
• Increasing costs
• Missing out on proven, experienced professionals

Those willing to consider candidates with lapsed SC, and to explore sponsorship pragmatically, are often the ones building stronger, more resilient teams.

If you want to talk candidly about clearance strategy, sponsorship options, or the reality of today’s SC talent market, I’m always happy to have that conversation.

Lately we’ve seen a clear and sustained uplift in day rate contractor demand in the change and transformation space, a trend which has been very much welcomed after a prolonged period of caution in 2024 and early 2025. In fact, our own placement figures reflect this trend with March 2026 placements up 31% compared to March 2025.

But what’s driving this?

Here we explore the key factors causing this growth, as well as diving into the top trends that are currently being felt in the contract change and transformation market.

What trends have we seen in the market?

Stronger demand for change contractors

There has been a stronger demand for change contractors across the whole of the UK over the last few months. This is being brought on by many firms now mobilising and delivering on more projects, creating the need for more contract-based resources.

From a candidate perspective, this demand is meaning we’re seeing fewer quality contractors available, and those candidates that are looking for a new role often have multiple offers running simultaneously due to demand.

Changes in skills requirements

The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) literacy is becoming even more prevalent in the change and transformation market and is now a skill expected by many clients.

However, while AI is changing how change professionals work by helping them carry out administrative, repeatable and manual tasks, it hasn’t changed what they’re accountable for.

Soft skills, such as emotional intelligence, critical judgement and communication, are something we’re seeing as a key requirement from many clients, as while AI can support manual or analytical tasks, soft skills remain essential because accountability, judgement and leadership cannot be delegated to technology.

What contract roles are the most in demand right now?

Growth is being seen across specific roles in the contractor space, the most in-demand right now are:

• Standard level Project Managers and Business Analysts
• Hands on, standalone PMO Leads
• Business Change and Readiness Managers
• Change contractors with strong data experience
• Change specialists with M&A or integration experience
• Contractors with general Insurance expertise
• Contractors with Finance Transformation experience

What business programmes are causing this growth?

New programmes requiring specialist talent

Many organisations are now commencing large transformation portfolios and prioritising critical programmes that all require specialist interim capability.

This is a trend Sanderson have seen firsthand, as we have been placing candidates in contractor roles for initiatives such as:

• Delivering expert interim expertise into a leading UK retailer on a Cyber & Identity enhancement programme

• Delivering contract change resources to a major UK home improvement retailer to support numerous workstreams including supply chain transformation, customer loyalty and online marketplace transformations

• Mobilising a specialist project team for a major UK charity to support the replacement of their core EPOS platform across all UK locations

Significant contractor hiring programmes

Large financial services organisations are starting to undertake significant contractor hiring campaigns.

For example, in the past few months alone we’ve experienced this having onboarded 40 interim change professionals, including 15 Project Managers and 25 Business Analysts into a leading British wealth management company. This has removed a substantial volume of experienced contractors from the market, which has significantly impacted the market.

M&A driven change activity

A notable rise in M&A driven change activity, particularly across Financial Services, is having a strong impact on the availability of contractors.

Examples of this impact in action include:

• Ageas’s Saga and Esure integrations being extended to Q3 2026, prolonging contractor demand.
• Aviva’s Direct Line integration driving increased contractor hiring into early 2026.
• Further contractor demand expected in late 2026 from NatWest’s integration of Evelyn Partners combined with Zurich’s acquisition of Beazley.

Summary

Overall, the contract market is continuing to recover and gather momentum, with contractors in certain specialist areas becoming increasingly difficult to secure. In fact, growth in this sector is now so pronounced that recently we’ve seen candidates receive more simultaneous opportunities than at any time since the post-COVID hiring peak of 2021–2022. Rates for in-demand roles have also increased by around £50-100 per day over the last six months.

This is causing many organisations to act quickly to lock in contractor talent ahead of any potential further tightening in the market.

Our advice off the back of these trends?

Remember the importance of human skills such as empathy, stakeholder engagement and communication during the hiring process. These are key traits needed to deliver change successfully, and while subject matter knowledge is important, focusing on these human skills will often mean you secure a better-quality resource during the interview process.  Frequently, the best CV on paper, doesn’t translate into the best candidate in practice.

And finally, keep your processes as streamlined as possible and feedback to candidates quickly to allow for prompt scheduling, especially if you have more than one interview stage.

Want any further advice?

Don’t hesitate to get in touch with me at [email protected] if you’d like to chat about these contractor hiring trends and how they might impact your own organisation, the Sanderson team are well placed to help source the best contractor and interim project talent.

We partnered with a major Outsourced Service Provider operating largescale customer service and complaint handling functions within the Financial Services sector. Their environment demands a constant pipeline of high-quality talent to maintain service excellence across high volume teams.

The Challenge

The client required ongoing recruitment support to deliver around 1,000 Customer Service Representatives and Complaint Handlers per year.

The Solution

We embedded a dedicated team within the client’s operation and built a fully scalable recruitment framework designed specifically for volume Customer Service roles, including a targeted agile attraction strategy, candidate support and passive talent engagement.

The Result

Fill in the form below to read on and discover how we successfully helped them improve their candidate experience and reach 1300 hires per year.