Financial services recruitment continues to evolve throughout 2026, with organisations balancing technology investment, regulatory demands and changing operational priorities.

Across banking, insurance and FinTech, employers are now placing increasing emphasis on digital capability, cybersecurity and specialist risk expertise, while regional financial centres continue to attract significant investment and hiring activity.

Plus, while London remains the UK’s leading hub for specialist financial services talent, growth opportunities are becoming increasingly distributed across the country as organisations expand regional operations and seek access to wider talent pools.

But what do the latest hiring trends tell us about where the market is heading?

At Sanderson, we keep our finger on the pulse of the latest market movements so we can help you understand how these trends may impact your hiring strategy and where the opportunities may lie.

That’s why we’re pleased to share our latest Report, produced in partnership with VacancySoft, highlighting the key developments across the UK Financial Services market during June 2026.

Here’s a sneak peek at some of the key insights:

North West Banking Recruitment Continues to Outperform

Banking vacancies across the North West have consistently outpaced both 2024 and 2025 levels, highlighting the region’s growing appeal as a financial services hub.

Cybersecurity Demand Accelerates in Scotland

Demand for banking IT Security professionals in Scotland has risen sharply, driven by increased investment in cyber resilience and regulatory compliance.

Traditional Insurance Roles Remain Resilient

Despite ongoing digital transformation, vacancies across Broking, Claims and Underwriting remain significantly higher than last year.

Technology Hiring Surpasses Insurance Specialists

In London’s life insurance market, technology vacancies have now overtaken recruitment for traditional insurance roles as digital investment continues to grow.

Fraud Risk Talent in High Demand

Fraud Risk is one of the fastest-growing specialisms in Financial Services, with demand increasing by more than 20% year-on-year.

Competition for Technology Talent Intensifies

Financial services employers are offering increasingly competitive salaries to secure skilled professionals in software development, cybersecurity and digital transformation.

If you’d like a more detailed overview of these trends, including the latest market data, vacancy volumes and insights into the most in-demand roles across banking, insurance, risk and technology, then download the full Report below.

Have any questions? Don’t hesitate to get in touch, we’re here to help you turn insight into action.

For years, Managed Service Programmes (MSPs) have been associated with large-scale financial institutions. When many people think of them, they often picture big global banks with overflowing contractor populations, complex supply chains and sizeable procurement teams.

And thanks to this, many challenger banks, mid-sized firms, start-ups and scale-ups have dismissed MSPs as something that’s simply not relevant to them saying things like “we’re too small“, “we don’t have enough contractors” or “an MSP would be way too complex and expensive for us“.

They’re common assumptions, we get it. But these days they’re pretty outdated.

The reality is that medium-sized and scaling financial services organisations face many of the same workforce challenges, regulatory obligations and operational risks as their larger counterparts. And actually, having leaner HR, talent acquisition and procurement teams, the impact of those challenges can be felt more acutely.

Whether you’re engaging 15 contractors or 150, you still need robust governance, compliant processes, clear audit trails and good visibility of your contingent workforce. All things an MSP can deliver without the cost, complexity or scale once associated with enterprise programmes.

In this blog, we’ll explore why MSPs have evolved beyond the enterprise market, the challenges facing smaller financial services organisations today and how an MSP can help create greater visibility, control and value across your contingent workforce.

Let’s get started!

Small Contractor Population, Big Challenges

The financial services landscape has shifted significantly in recent years.

Organisations are operating in an environment that’s heavily regulated, fast-moving and increasingly resource constrained.

There’s been a shift towards total workforce strategies as organisations seek better visibility across all worker types, not just their permanent employees. The result is often additional pressure on HR, talent acquisition and procurement teams who are already balancing competing priorities and just trying to get on top of the BAU!

Not only that but many mid-sized firms looking to grow are facing extra challenges like:

• Increased pressure and scrutiny on contingent workforce spend
• Growing expectations for real-time workforce data and reporting
• Limited visibility across departments and hiring teams
• Fragmented contractor engagement models as they scale
• Inconsistent governance, compliance processes and operational controls

And even with a relatively small contractor population, these challenges can compound quickly. As contractor populations grow across different departments, a lack of uniformity can emerge. Maybe there’s different suppliers charging different margins, contractors performing similar roles being paid at different rates, varying contract terms and even inconsistent compliance standards. When you combine this with differing approaches to IR35 governance, you’ve got yourself a stressful combination of internal confusion, unnecessary cost and (most worryingly) increased organisational risk.

But it doesn’t need to be like this.

Four Ways MSPs Transform Contractor Management

1. Regulatory Governance and IR35 Compliance

For many mid-sized financial services organisations, IR35 remains one of the biggest risk areas in their contingent workforces. Without dedicated compliance or contractor management teams, many challenger banks and scale-ups can find it difficult to apply consistent governance controls across every engagement.

This alongside fragmented processes and poor record-keeping can expose businesses to financial penalties, reputational damage and increased regulatory scrutiny.

A well-designed MSP helps by introducing:

• Standardised IR35 assessment processes.
• Embedded governance frameworks and consolidated operating procedures.
• Improved operational efficiency through auditable processes.
• Reduced risk through specialist oversight and governance controls.

This is something we’ve seen work well in practice. For many of our clients, we’ve used an MSP to establish, implement and own robust governance frameworks that help embed IR35 processes, standardise vetting practices and strengthen supplier controls. The result is a fully auditable, risk-controlled model that provides confidence for both hiring managers and leadership teams.

2. Reducing Administrative Burden

Contractor administration often places a significant strain on already overstretched internal teams.

When you’re already spinning plates, having to then vet and onboard contractors, deal with offboarding, manage supplier coordination and then handle rate management can quickly become ridiculously time-consuming and horribly inconsistent.

An MSP sorts all this out. For organisations without large HR, procurement and compliance teams, an MSP creates a centralised operating model with clear ownership and accountability that delivers:

• Streamlined workflows and contractor lifecycle processes.
• Consistent business engagement and experiences for hiring managers as well as contractors and suppliers.
• Reduced administrative workload.
• A single point of contact throughout the contractor lifecycle.

3. Driving Cost Efficiency

For growing organisations where budgets are under close scrutiny, controlling contingent workforce spend becomes increasingly important as contractor populations expand. And without visibility and control, contingent workforce spend can quickly spiral.

When you’re dealing with rate inconsistencies, a growing supplier list, random hiring and a lack of market benchmarking organisations often end up paying different rates for similar skills while incurring unnecessary extra costs (which can have a serious impact on budgets over time).

An MSP helps control costs through:

• Specialist direct sourcing strategies.
• Supplier rationalisation while retaining access to critical skills and capabilities.
• Rate card standardisation.
• Targeted cost-management initiatives.
• Improved spend visibility and reporting.
• Reduced process inefficiencies and administrative costs.

This is something we always focus our approach on. When implementing an MSP, our goal is to create an optimised commercial structure that scales in line with demand, all while maintaining control of spend, which will give organisations complete visibility of where and how their budget is being used. Plus, for many organisations, the savings made through improved supplier management, direct sourcing and spend visibility even help offset the cost of the MSP itself.

4. Workforce Data and Visibility

If you cannot quickly answer questions such as:

• How many contractors do we currently have?
• Which suppliers are we using?
• Where does contingent workforce spend sit?
• Which engagements represent the greatest compliance risk?

Then you might not just have an issue with reporting. There could be an operating model problem too. For smaller financial services organisations, where workforce data is often spread across spreadsheets, emails and multiple systems, achieving a single source of truth can be particularly challenging.

This lack of visibility is often one of the clearest reasons organisations begin exploring MSP solutions for the first time, as they look for benefits like:

• Full workforce visibility across contractor populations, spend and risk.
• Real-time workforce dashboards.
• Contractor population tracking.
• IR35 status visibility.
• Spend and cost analysis.
• Improved forecasting and workforce planning.

It’s only once you have reliable data that you can start identifying opportunities to improve processes, strengthen compliance and reduce costs.

Taking Contractor Management to the Next Level

One of the biggest misconceptions among challenger banks and growing financial services organisations is that an MSP will replace their internal talent acquisition team or limit access to specialist expertise.

But in reality, the opposite is true.

A successful MSP only works to enhance internal capability rather than replacing it, giving organisations access to:

• Pre-vetted specialist suppliers.
• Deeper financial services talent expertise.
• Supplier performance management.
• Wider but carefully controlled talent pools.
• More consistent hiring outcomes.

This isn’t just theory. More than 80% of Sanderson’s MSP clients are implementing an MSP for the first time, demonstrating that managed workforce solutions aren’t just for mature enterprise organisations. Not only that, but we currently have 28 live MSP services, and more than 60% of these are supporting financial services organisations.

A Strategic Opportunity for Growing Financial Services Organisations

Whether you manage 20 contractors or 200, the underlying challenges are remarkably similar.

You still need governance. You still need compliance. You still need visibility of workforce spend, supplier performance and risk. The reality is that smaller contractor populations don’t remove these challenges, they simply leave fewer internal resources available to manage them. An MSP can solve these challenges as an embedded workforce partnership focused on long-term success.

The question is no longer whether you’re big enough for an MSP. It’s whether you can afford not to have one.

So, if you’re working in a challenger bank, scale-up or smaller scale financial services organisation while managing contractors across multiple teams and relying on fragmented processes to keep everything under control, now is the time to reassess your approach.

Get in touch with our MSP team today to discover how a scalable MSP solution can help you gain greater control, drive efficiency and create a stronger foundation for future growth.

For many organisations, contingent hiring grows gradually over time rather than strategically.

And for many, before they know it their small handful of agency relationships has become a massive supplier network, their contractor approvals are handled by different teams, contractor spend data is living in multiple places, reporting is more of a nice to have and let’s not even get started on what compliance responsibilities are looking like.

At first, this may feel manageable. Over time, it becomes harder to control.

This is often the point where many businesses start asking themselves how they’re going to get more control of their contingent workforce population and begin exploring talent strategies like Managed Service Programmes (MSPs).

But this opens the door to a much bigger question: are they ready for their first MSP (a first-generation) MSP?

In this blog we walk you through exactly what a first-generation MSP is, what implementing one means for your business, and most importantly, how to spot if your business is ready for one.

What does a first-generation MSP do?

First things first, a first-generation MSP isn’t about replacing what works for you with a bank of unnecessary processes. Instead, a first-generation MSP is centred around bringing you more structure, visibility and governance to your contingent workforce hiring for the first time, in a way that’s tailored to your specific organisation’s size, complexity and priorities.

For many of our clients, implementing an MSP for the first time is often where their contingent hiring finally starts feeling like a strategic process rather than chaos.

What does a ‘first-generation’ MSP actually mean?

When we refer to a ‘first-generation’ MSP’, all this really means is the first time an organisation has introduced a structured recruitment model for managing all (or part) of its contingent workforce. And unlike mature MSP environments where programmes may have evolved over many years, a first-generation MSP is more about introducing consistency where there was previously fragmentation.

This can include working with a recruitment partner to source contractor talent, to help with supplier management, governance, reporting and compliance support. It can even include working with that partner to help design a better hiring process and to provide deeper insights into your workforce.

The goal of a first-generation MSP isn’t to just reduce agency usage. The goal is to create a more controlled and effective operating model to provide flexible talent.

How to spot if your organisation is ready for a first-generation MSP

If your organisation is growing, particularly if it’s in a heavily regulated sector like financial services, insurance or pensions, there might be a few challenges cropping up suggesting you’ve outgrown your previously more informal approach to contingent hiring and pointing to the need for a bit more structure.

These signs can include:

• You have multiple suppliers being used inconsistently across the business.
• You cannot easily see total contingent workforce spend, tenure or headcount.
• Compliance responsibilities are split across teams or rely on manual checks.
• Hiring managers have very different experiences depending on role, function or location.
• You are under pressure to improve governance and cost control without slowing delivery.
• You need specialist contractors, but current processes do not consistently deliver quality or speed.

How a first-generation MSP can transform your contingent hiring

A well-designed first-generation MSP isn’t about adding layers of processes, it’s about bringing control, clarity and consistency to your contingent hiring. Rather than disrupting relationships or slowing down recruitment, it adds structure where you need it, all while preserving the agility your hiring managers rely on. Something that’s particularly valuable in specialist or regulated sectors like financial services where access to niche talent needs to be maintained alongside scalability.

Ultimately, a first-generation MSP transforms contingent hiring from a fragmented, reactive process into a controlled, insight-driven function, delivering better outcomes for hiring managers, suppliers and the business.

Are you ready for your first MSP?

If your contingent hiring has become harder to see, harder to govern or harder to scale, it may be time to consider working with a talent partner to implement your first MSP.

If you’d like to chat about this further then don’t hesitate to reach out to find out more about how Sanderson could support you.

And if you’re looking for an easy resource to share with your teams to easily ascertain if your organisation is ready for an MSP, then why not download our handy MSP Readiness Checklist here!

Tax teams play a critical role in financial services organisations. Whether it’s ensuring compliance, enabling global growth or supporting strategic decision-making, they’re often right at the centre of the action.

But finding the right talent, particularly during periods of change is no easy task. Exactly what one of our recent financial services clients, a leading provider of post-trade solutions, found when they were going through a major ownership transition.

They needed to rapidly establish a scalable tax function to support their international operations, but the challenge was finding individuals with the right balance of technical expertise, commercial awareness and the ability to build from the ground up.

Thanks to a focused search from Sanderson, they were able to secure a high-calibre tax team ready and raring to go. Read on to find out how we did it…

What was the challenge?

Our client approached us during a pivotal moment in their journey. They were transitioning away from their existing ownership structure and preparing for acquisition by a private equity investor. They were looking to strengthen their operational infrastructure, all starting with tax.

At the same time, they needed to ensure this tax function could support their global operations as they were working across more than 30 locations globally spanning the UK, US, Sweden, India and Singapore, so this was no easy feat.

The first priority was appointing a Head of Tax, alongside building out the wider team with a Tax Manager and Tax Analyst.

But there were challenges.

A Head of Tax is a role requiring a rare combination of strong technical expertise with the ability to operate in a changing environment, manage multiple stakeholders and build a scalable tax function from the ground up.

Their perfect candidate was someone who could navigate corporate tax compliance with ease, manage reporting, transfer pricing and outsourced tax providers without breaking a sweat, and all while supporting the setup of new entities globally.

What was our solution?

It was clear from the start that this was no standard tax recruitment assignment. But it was still no match for the Sanderson team.

Speed and precision were critical thanks to the acquisition taking place, so we quickly mobilised and implemented a targeted search strategy focused on highly specialised tax professionals with the right mix of technical, commercial and leadership capability.

We cracked on with a targeted search covering:

• International corporate tax environments
• Financial services organisations
• Multi-jurisdiction tax structures
• Transfer pricing and compliance
• Building and developing tax teams
• Operating in fast-paced, changing environments

Most importantly, we focused on identifying candidates who could not only manage the current tax requirements, but who had the skills needed to support their long-term vision.

What was the result?

Thanks to our thorough understanding of the client, we successfully delivered a strong shortlist of high-quality tax professionals across all the required roles. We started with the appointment of a Head of Tax and then went on to support the build-out of the wider tax team, placing both a Tax Manager and Tax Analyst.

This was a fantastic outcome meaning our client was able to rapidly establish a tax capability with the strength and structure needed to support their global operations during a period of significant change, but that was set up to support their long-term strategic objectives.

Key outcomes included:

• Successful appointment of a Head of Tax to lead the function
• Subsequent delivery of a Tax Manager and Tax Analyst to build out the wider team
• Became a trusted recruitment partner to support the ongoing growth of the function
• End-to-end support across multiple specialist tax hires

Could we help you achieve similar outcomes?

Building a specialist tax function requires more than finding qualified candidates. It demands a deep understanding of the business, its challenges and where it’s heading.

Whether you’re building out a new function, scaling your team or navigating a period of change, we can help you secure the talent needed to deliver long-term success.

Reach out to [email protected] if you fancy a chat about how we can help support you to reach similar goals.

We’re pleased to present our latest Technology & Digital Insights Report for H1 2026.

The UK technology hiring market is stabilising, but it’s a very different landscape to 12 months ago. This new Report reveals a shift toward more cautious, targeted hiring, as organisations prioritise critical roles while navigating ongoing economic uncertainty.

At the same time, flexible workforce models are on the rise, with businesses increasingly turning to contingent talent to balance delivery and cost.

But the biggest challenge?

Available skills.

Despite a growing candidate pool, acute shortages persist in high-impact areas like artificial intelligence, where demand is only continuing to accelerate. Our latest data is highlighting:

• +63% YoY growth in AI Engineer roles
• +85% YoY growth in Generative AI roles
• 85% of financial firms are already using or planning to adopt AI

As a result, organisations are rethinking not just who they hire, but how work gets done and are focusing more on upskilling, cross-skilling and more flexible talent strategies. This is particularly interesting with salaries in the sector becoming more static.

With these trends set to continue through 2026, you’ll want to download the full report via the link below to ensure your Tech, Data and Cyber salaries are stacking up against others in your region and set your business up for success.

In today’s competitive hiring market, organisations are searching for candidates who not only bring technical experience but also resilience, adaptability and strong character. One sometimes overlooked talent pool that delivers all of these, and more, is UK military veterans.

While service leavers are frequently focused on how to translate their experience into civilian careers, employers should be asking a different question: what can we gain by hiring them?

This blog sets out some of the benefits for employers of hiring veterans:

Leadership that’s been tested in real-world environments

In the Armed Forces, leadership is developed early and refined under pressure, this means ex-military candidates are:

• Confident decision makers
• Skilled at managing teams with diverse backgrounds
• Comfortable taking responsibility and accountability

Discipline and reliability you can depend on

Discipline is a cornerstone of military life, and it carries over into the workplace. Veterans understand the importance of structure, deadlines, and maintaining high standards

For employers, this translates into:

• Strong work ethic and professionalism
• Consistent performance and reliability
• Respect for processes, compliance, and safety

Problem-solving in high-pressure situations

Military personnel are trained to think critically and act decisively, often in unpredictable environments where quick thinking is essential.

As a result, veterans excel at:

• Analysing complex problems
• Remaining calm under pressure
• Finding practical, effective solutions

This makes them invaluable in fast-paced civilian roles such as operations, logistics, IT, and emergency services, where challenges require both strategic and real-time thinking

Strong teamwork and a mission-focused mindset

In the military, success depends on teamwork, trust, and clear communication, values that translate seamlessly into civilian organisations.

Hiring veterans means bringing in individuals who:

• Collaborate effectively across teams
• Put organisational goals above personal gain
• Thrive in structured, team-oriented environments

This mission-driven approach helps foster stronger, more cohesive workplace cultures.

Highly transferable skills across key industries

Veterans bring skills that align with many of the UK’s most in-demand sectors.

Their experience in areas like operations management, technical systems, and security makes them particularly well-suited to roles in:

• IT and cybersecurity
• Engineering and infrastructure
• Public sector and national security

With minimal additional training or upskilling, many veterans can transition quickly into these roles and start delivering value.

If your organisation is looking to strengthen its workforce with highly capable, values-driven candidates ready to make an immediate impact, and (an additional benefit in our sector) often already holding a security clearance, it may be time to look more closely at the veteran community. Want to find out more? Don’t hesitate to get in touch!

Today’s Treasury leaders sit at the heart of organisational success, balancing liquidity, managing risk and enabling strategic growth. But hiring the right talent can be challenging.

During a period of global growth and an ownership change our client, a leading FinTech organisation, needed to quickly build a strong Treasury function. The challenge was finding senior talent with the right mix of technical expertise, leadership and transformation experience.

Sanderson delivered a focused, efficient search, securing high-calibre Treasury professionals who could both manage today’s demands and shape their future operations.

The result was a fully equipped team ready to support global operations, drive strategy, and add long-term value, all with minimal disruption. Read on to find out how we did it…

What was the challenge?

Our client, a leading FinTech organisation providing infrastructure and workflow solutions for global financial markets, approached us during a period of significant transformation as they looked to build and strengthen their Treasury function.

They were already operating across more than 30 locations across the world and following a major ownership transition involving global shareholders and a private equity investment, they needed a Treasury capability that could not only support their next phase of growth and change, but that could operate across a complex international landscape.

First up, they needed us to identify a senior Treasury leadership team, including a Head of Treasury alongside a Senior Manager and Analyst-level appointments.

But there were challenges.

A Head of Treasury is a role requiring a rare blend of technical expertise, strategic thinking and leadership capability. It’s someone who can establish and develop a function while supporting wider business objectives, so they needed candidates with the right combination of experience across:

• Global cash and liquidity management
• Debt servicing and capital structure optimisation
• Financial risk management
• Covenant reporting and compliance
• Regulated business environments
• Treasury transformation and automation
• Stakeholder management with shareholders, lenders and senior executives

What was our solution?

Due to the seniority and specialist nature of the roles required, speed and precision were critical.

So, the Sanderson London team quickly set to work, immediately focusing our search on highly specialist Treasury expertise. We conducted a targeted search focused on candidates with experience covering:

• Treasury leadership within multinational organisations
• Private equity-backed or regulated businesses
• Complex debt structures and covenant management
• Global cash forecasting and liquidity optimisation
• FX, interest rate and wider financial risk management
• Treasury technology, automation and process improvement
• M&A and investment strategy support
• Building and transforming Treasury functions

We made sure to identify individuals who could not only manage the existing Treasury requirements, but who could also help shape the future operating model of our clients’ organisation.

What was the result?

With a targeted search process, we successfully delivered a strong pipeline of credible Treasury professionals for all the roles required, with the right combination of technical capability, transformation experience and commercial understanding.

The client successfully scaled their Treasury function with the right talent needed for their global organisation and to support them during a period of significant change.

Not only that, but the skills this new Treasury team brought helped them to establish a function capable of supporting not only their operational requirements, but their long-term strategic goals.

Key outcomes included:

• Identification of candidates with direct experience operating in complex global environments
• Shortlisted professionals aligned to the organisation’s strategic objectives
• Provided the exact leadership and operational Treasury expertise the client required
• A recruitment process managed with speed, precision and minimal business disruption
• Delivered significant cost savings by reducing contractor usage and cutting unnecessary third‑party spend.

Could we help you achieve similar outcomes?

Building specialist finance functions requires more than finding qualified candidates. It requires understanding the business challenge, the technical requirements and the future direction of the organisation.

Whether you’re strengthening your Treasury team, transforming finance operations or building specialist capability during a period of change, Sanderson can help you identify the talent needed to deliver critical business outcomes.

To discuss how we can support your next key hire, get in touch on [email protected]

Change & Transformation is no longer a one-off initiative, it’s now a continuous, business-critical function.

Our latest Salary Insights Report focusing on the Change & Transformation market explores how organisations are responding to this shift, and what it means for hiring, salaries and talent availability across London and the UK.

A Market Defined by Continuous Change

Driven by digital acceleration, AI and cloud adoption, organisations are investing heavily in transformation programmes that are ongoing rather than project-based.

The result? Sustained demand for experienced professionals who can deliver and embed change over the long term.

Competition for Talent Is Heating Up

Demand remains strong across key roles, with certain positions commanding particularly competitive salaries and day rates. For example, London contract rates are now reaching up to £875 for Programme Managers and up to £825 for Business Analysts.

At the same time, while London continues to be a major hub (with over 50% of Business Analyst talent based in the Capital), talent is more geographically diverse than many employers realise, opening new opportunities for those with flexible hiring strategies.

What Employers Need to Know

In a competitive market, attracting top talent requires more than just salary. Organisations that stand out are those offering:

• Clear career progression
• Flexibility and modern working practices
• Competitive, well-benchmarked remuneration

Get the Full Picture

This is just a snapshot of what’s happening in the Change & Transformation market.

Download the full Salary Insights Report to access detailed salary benchmarks, sector-specific insights and expert guidance to inform your hiring strategy in the form below.

Financial services recruitment has entered 2026 on a strong footing, with hiring activity increasing across insurance, banking and professional services.

While London remains the dominant centre for specialist talent, growth is becoming increasingly dispersed across the UK as employers respond to skills shortages, cost pressures and shifting business priorities. What’s emerging is a market shaped just as much by long-term structural change as by the wider economic environment.

But how is this playing out across different areas of financial services hiring?

At Sanderson, we keep our finger on the pulse of the latest market movements so we can help you understand how these trends may impact your hiring strategy and where the opportunities may lie.

That’s why we’re pleased to share our latest Report produced in partnership with VacancySoft, highlighting the key developments across the UK Financial Services market during May.

Here’s a sneak peek of some of the key insights:

Claims Hiring Driven by Talent Shortages

London claims vacancies were 12% higher in Q1 compared to last year, with March alone running approximately 30% ahead of March 2025, reflecting a widening experience gap, as retirements accelerate and insurers compete for highly specialised talent.

Northern Cities Continue to Attract Professional Roles

The North of England is seeing sustained growth, with professional vacancies reaching a record high in March and cities like Manchester and Leeds continuing to attract roles that would previously have been London-based.

Actuarial Demand Accelerates

Demand for actuarial talent remains elevated, particularly in London with vacancies running approximately 16% ahead of early 2025 levels.

Scottish Banking Market Sees Significant Growth

Scotland is emerging as a key growth area within banking with commercial banking vacancies roughly trebled since the beginning of 2025, now exceeding banking operations roles.

Underwriting Talent Shortages Intensify

London underwriter vacancies are running at almost double the volume of the next-largest role category, highlighting the scale of demand and ongoing talent shortages in this area.

If you’d like a more detailed overview of these trends, including the latest market data, vacancy totals and insights into the most in-demand roles, then download the full Report below.

Have any questions? Don’t hesitate to get in touch, we’re here to help you turn insight into action.

If you’re looking to increase your permanent hiring capacity and get the right people on board to achieve your goals, but your talent acquisition teams are stretched, you might need a partner that has the agility to fulfil your needs with a solution completely tailored to you.

This is exactly what Hargreaves Lansdown, a leading British financial services company based in Bristol were searching for.

They needed a partner who completely understood their business to work as an extension of their talent acquisition teams to help them overcome a period of increased hiring demand and get them the permanent talent they needed.

Building on our existing relationship, Sanderson were able to effectively implement a tailored RPO solution that seamlessly integrated with the existing TA team and hiring community.

The Challenge

Hargreaves Lansdown approached Sanderson to help address capacity challenges in their talent acquisition team, driven by high volumes of technology hiring. With a trusted existing partnership and strong integration already in place, Sanderson was able to step in quickly as an extension of their team, delivering a tailored solution at pace while maintaining quality.

The Solution

Building on our existing partnership with Hargreaves Lansdown, we set to work launching a tailored RPO solution to support their talent acquisition strategy during this period of increased hiring demand.

We implemented a fully embedded RPO model, designed to seamlessly integrate with the existing TA team and hiring community that focused on:

• Collaboration with hiring managers
• Detailed onboarding processes
• Enhancing candidate experience

The Result

Fill in the form below to read on and discover how we successfully helped them achieve results like delivering 15 hires in under 5 months across 6 different tech stacks supporting both legacy and greenfield product teams and reducing their time to hire from 60 days to an average of 34 days.