As organisations continue to invest in AI, cloud technologies and data-driven transformation, demand for skilled Data & Architecture professionals remains strong. From Data Analysts and Data Engineers to Enterprise Architects and Data Architects, these roles are playing an increasingly critical role in helping organisations drive innovation, improve efficiency and build future-ready technology environments.

Our latest Data & Architecture Salary Insights Report provides an in-depth look at salary benchmarks, contractor rates, talent availability and market trends across Financial Services, Insurance and Banking. Here’s a sneak peak of the latest data…

What’s Driving Demand?

Businesses are increasingly focused on continuous transformation, with data, cloud and AI initiatives firmly on the agenda. As a result, organisations are competing for professionals who can develop scalable platforms, modernise technology estates and turn data into business value.

This demand is particularly evident at the senior end of the market, with Enterprise Architects commanding some of the highest salaries across the sectors analysed in our report.

London Remains the UK’s Data & Architecture Hub

While organisations can access talent across the UK, London continues to dominate when it comes to specialist Data & Architecture expertise. In fact, almost 79% of Infrastructure Architects within the UK’s talent pool are based in London, making the capital one of the most concentrated markets for senior architecture professionals (and creating both opportunity and competition for employers).

Diversity Progress Continues, But Challenges Remain

Creating more diverse technology teams remains a key focus for many organisations. Our latest data shows that Data Analyst roles have the strongest female representation at 29%, significantly higher than many architecture disciplines, where gender imbalances remain pronounced.

A Competitive Market for Employers

As organisations continue investing in scalable data platforms, AI capabilities and modern architecture frameworks, competition for talent remains high.The contractor market reflects this demand, with top London day rates reaching £1,300 for Enterprise Architects.

Download the Full Report

For employers looking to secure the best talent, having access to accurate market data has never been more important. So whether you’re hiring or benchmarking salaries, our Data & Architecture Salary Insights Report provides the latest market intelligence to support better decision-making.

Our full Data & Architecture Salary Insights Report contains detailed salary benchmarks, contractor rate insights, talent pool analysis and market trends across Financial Services, Insurance and Banking.

Download the full report today via the short form below to access the latest market intelligence and discover how organisations are adapting their hiring strategies in an increasingly competitive market.

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.

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.

Are you in the market to deliver real business value from your contingent workforce?

Perhaps you’ve started exploring Managed Service Programmes (MSPs) as talent solution?

You might be wondering where to start and are looking for a resource to help guide you through the process and to answer any questions on if this is the solution for you.

That’s why we’ve put together this new resource. A one-stop-shop of answers for all the questions you might have when considering deploying an MSP for the first time in your organisation such as:

• What might trigger a business to implement an MSP
• What are the key stages in a successful MSP deployment
• What you should consider when selecting an MSP partner
• Why stakeholder engagement is critical for MSP success
• How can you measure the success of your MSP programme

Grab your copy in the link below and if you’d like to chat further then don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.

We’re pleased to present Sanderson’s brand-new Hiring Trends Report focusing on Digital, Technology, Change and Transformation hiring in the Financial Services sector during 2025.

This much anticipated report provides an overview of which roles saw hiring surges and the most demand during 2025, insight into hiring conditions throughout the UK, our expert opinion on where demand might be headed for 2026 as well as data to help guide companies on where they can gain competitive advantages in the market to help them obtain the best candidates out there.

The beginning of 2025 saw many employers demonstrate hesitancy towards their permanent hiring, largely driven by budget restrictions and wider uncertainty in the economic environment. However by the end of the year thanks to factors like a prioritisation of digital transformation causing a surge in demand for AI skillsets, we were seeing hiring conditions improve significantly, even a permanent market that was 44% more active year on year by December 2025.

With market-wide data indicating that 2026 should open with more a more optimistic hiring outlook, now may be the time to reassess your hiring strategies, enhance your understanding of emerging technologies and then address your skills gaps with the right blend of permanent or contractor talent.

This report, using data from VacancySoft and LinkedIn and reviewed by Sanderson’s market-leading experts, reflects on how these trends have shaped hiring throughout the Financial Services sector in 2025, as well as providing predictions on how it may evolve throughout the remainder of 2026.

We’re pleased to present Sanderson’s brand-new Hiring Trends Report focusing on Digital, Technology, Change and Transformation hiring in the Financial Services sector in H1 2025.

This much anticipated report provides an overview of how hiring during the first half of 2025 compared to the previous year, how demand was distributed across the UK, and which roles were most sought after across banking, insurance, life & pensions, and investment management.

The first half of 2025 has seen many businesses proceed with caution in their permanent and contract hiring thanks to persistent inflation, concerns over US tariffs, ongoing geopolitical instability and the impact of National Insurance Contributions changing.

However despite this climate, strategic priorities across the financial services sector are sustaining demand for high-quality digital, technology, change, and transformation professionals. We’re also seeing businesses increase their investment in digital and artificial intelligence platforms to modernise legacy infrastructure, meet evolving regulatory requirements and enhance their customer experience.

As we approach the latter half of the year, now may be the time to reassess your hiring strategies, enhance your understanding of emerging technologies and then address your skills gaps with the right blend of permanent or contractor talent.

This report, using data from VacancySoft and LinkedIn and reviewed by Sanderson’s market-leading experts, reflects on how these trends have shaped hiring throughout the Financial Services sector in H1 2025, as well as providing predictions on how it may evolve throughout the remainder of the year.

We’re pleased to present our brand-new Change & Transformation Insights Report – Q2 Review 2025.

So, is there cause for optimism in this fast-paced market?

Our market-leading insights are hot off the press with data suggesting that 2025 is showing signs of increased momentum as more and more businesses are re-engaging with their transformation agendas thanks to budget approvals and team mobilisations.

With a focus on the uptick in merger and acquisition activity, the Report delves into the M&A market providing industry-leading data on talent pool location (did you know that London has over 50% of M&A change professionals?!) and talent growth as well as providing useful salary comparisons for this skilled talent.

We’ve also got an exclusive Q&A with our Managing Director of Recruitment Services William Boney giving us his take on the M&A market in the Financial Services Industry.

In this fast-paced environment businesses need candidates who can sit across multiple workstreams, and if the market continues to pick up, might you have to start paying premium rates to secure the best talent?

Get the knowledge you need right to your inbox – including a breakdown of key salary data for perm skill sets – by downloading your copy of this new report today!

We’re pleased to present Sanderson’s brand-new Technology & Digital Insights Report for Q1 2025.

With signs of growth on the horizon we get stuck into latest trends so you can get ahead of the curve and win the best talent in what’s shaping up to be a competitive market place.

Have you noticed the shift in businesses looking to invest in specialist skill sets?

According to our data the demand for Data Engineering roles specialising in Cloud Technologies like Azure is surging as many companies integrate big data, AI and machine learning into their operations.

But if you want to keep up with data security requirements, enable scalability and stay on top of emerging methodologies, you’ll need people who can work across multiple platforms with a focus on:

⚠️Python
⚠️JavaScript
⚠️Node
⚠️Typescript Languages

With these trends set to continue through 2025, 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.

We recently launched our much-anticipated Financial Services Hiring Trends Report which focuses on Digital, Technology, Change and Transformation hiring in the Financial Services sector. The Report delves into how hiring in 2024 compared to the previous year, how hiring demand was split across the UK and what the most in demand roles were across the financial services sector.

But what did the data show us about trends in London?

Permanent finance vacancies

According to data from VacancySoft and reviewed by our expert recruiters, the hiring demand for permanent vacancies covering digital, technology, change and transformation in the UK financial services sector has remained highest across Greater London and the South-East of England.

In 2023 there were 2194 vacancies in Greater London, and then an equally high 2099 in 2024. Looking at the South-East region, there were 782 vacancies in 2023 followed by 769 in 2024.

These vacancies are miles ahead in numbers compared to the rest of the UK. For example, the North-West only saw 359 and 296 vacancies in 2023 and 2024 respectively, and the West Midlands only had 291 and 256. This confirms that London and surrounding areas are a real hub of talent and that there continues to be a real demand for talent in the financial services sector.

Hiring trends in London

London is one of Sanderson’s largest markets in the financial services sector, with our expertise spanning across General Insurance, London Market Insurance, Life & Pensions, Investment Management, Banking and Building Societies.

When you look at the hiring trends in this region across the world of Finance, it’s clear that London continues to lead the way in UK in digital, technology, change and transformation hiring in the financial services sector. Hiring demand in London has also been more resilient to the impact of external factors like political uncertainty and economic challenges. This is demonstrated by vacancies across the UK declining by 8.5%, whereas they only declined by 4.4% in London – a clear indicator that the market in London remained strong. Also, the trend we saw back in 2023 of a shift away from London towards regional hubs such as Manchester has slowed.

What will the future look like?

It’s clear that London is at the centre of hiring demand in the financial services sector. But what else should we be aware of in this region and sector?

One thing we’ll be keeping a close eye on is the return to the office, particularly in Financial Services firms in London. We’re already seeing more consistent patterns of 3 days per week in the office and a some of our clients returning to as many as 4 days in London across all roles regardless of whether they’re in digital, technology or transformation.

This is a marked swing back towards the majority of the week being spent in the office, and while hybrid working is here to stay, it does mean less choice for job seekers requiring more remote roles.

I’d therefore expect that we start to see less movement in this sector based purely on what hybrid working schedules companies are offering and instead see trends returning to a more level playing field with other factors in the job offering holding more weight as we progress through 2025/2026.

Next steps

Are you ready to find out more?

As we leave Q1 behind, now is the time to start thinking about enhancing operational efficiencies, addressing your skills gaps and supporting the reskilling of your existing workforce with the right blend of permanent employees, contractors and consultancies.

Arm yourself with data produced by Sanderson’s market-leading experts by downloading a copy of our Financial Services Hiring Trends Annual Report by filling out the short form below.

Have any further questions or considering how your London based business can get ahead of these hiring trends? Don’t hesitate to get in touch with Joss Collins on [email protected]

We’re pleased to present Sanderson’s brand-new hiring trends report focusing on Digital, Technology, Change and Transformation hiring in the Financial Services sector in 2024.

This much anticipated report arms you with industry-leading data on how hiring in 2024 compared to the previous year, how hiring demand was split across the UK and what the most in demand roles were across the financial services sector.

It will have escaped no one’s attention that hiring trends in 2024 reflected a year of uncertainty. Thanks to economic challenges and political instability, the year saw many companies having to adopt a cautious approach to recruitment as business confidence was knocked.

Many companies in the financial services sector will currently be reassessing their hiring strategies in preparation for the changes in National Insurance contributions for employers set to take effect in April 2025, alongside ensuring they’re business strategies are aligned with the rapid digital transformation AI is bringing to the sector.

Now is the time to think about enhancing operational efficiencies, addressing your skills gaps and supporting the reskilling of your existing workforce with the right blend of permanent employees, contractors and consultancies.

This report, produced by Sanderson’s market-leading experts, reflects on how the business context has been impacted in the past and provides our predictions for the future of hiring in the financial services sector.

Download your copy by filling out the short form below and get all the data you need in your back pocket.

Have any further questions on the trends discussed in this report? Don’t hesitate to contact William Boney at [email protected]