If you’re working in the Financial Services industry, then it will have been hard to ignore the latest changes set to take shape across the UK pensions market.

And the changes are big. The entire UK pension landscape is now on the cusp of a transformation that will have far-reaching implications, not just for savers, but for the entire financial services sector.

In this blog we’ll lay out exactly what the proposed changes are and what they might mean for talent and hiring across the financial services sector.

Let’s go.

What is the UK Pension Reform?

Well, the 2025 Pension Investment Review and the Mansion House Accord have recently set ambitious targets designed to turbocharge investment in the UK economy and reshape how retirement savings are managed. This is set to have implications across many businesses and how they run and manage their employee pension pots.

What impact will the Pension Reform have?

Under the current system, by 2030 all multi-employer defined contribution schemes and Local Government Pension Scheme pools are expected to hit £25 billion in assets under management, which will create what’s known in the industry as “megafunds.”

However, the new Mansion House Accord (which has been signed by 17 of the UK’s largest pension providers), will commit these providers to invest 10% of default fund assets into private markets, with 5% earmarked for UK-based opportunities.

Collectively, this could unlock up to £50 billion for infrastructure, private equity, venture capital, and other “productive finance” in the UK by the end of the decade.

This change represents a fundamental shift in how UK pensions are managed, how capital flows through the UK economy and what skills the sector will need.

What changes might the UK see after the Pension Reform comes into effect?

Today, only a handful of UK pension providers manage default funds above the £25bn threshold. But by 2030, that number is set to double. We’ll see smaller schemes merge or wind down, and the defined contribution market will consolidate into a small number of heavyweight “megafunds” instead.

At the same time, pension portfolios are set to pivot.

Currently, only about 2% of defined contribution pension assets are invested in private markets and that figure is expected to quintuple to 10% by 2030 which is a dramatic shift into asset classes such as unlisted companies, infrastructure projects, and renewable energy.

Will the Reform cause demand for specific job roles and skills?

So, what exactly does this Pension Reform mean for talent and hiring?

Well, according to our data we’re predicting an increased demand for the following skills:

Change and Transformation

The drive to merge dozens of smaller schemes into megafunds will create a demand for specialist skills to manage this transformation. Providers will need Project Managers, Business Analysts, Actuaries, and Integration specialists who can navigate bulk transfers, align systems, and manage cultural integration across merged schemes.

Investments

Megafunds will need to manage increasingly complex portfolios. This will drive a surge in demand for Investment Managers to source, evaluate, and structure deals in private equity, venture capital, infrastructure, and private debt and Project Finance Specialists to analyse and fund major UK projects in transport, energy, and housing.

Governance, Risk & Compliance

Higher allocations to different asset classes will bring increased scrutiny. Pension funds will bolster their risk management and compliance functions, seeking professionals who can manage stress testing, oversee charge-cap compliance, and ensure investments stay aligned with fiduciary duties.

What challenges might there be for hiring?

While an increasing demand for certain skill sets might be a good thing for the market, these changes and surges do present additional challenges.

Mainly that these skills are already in high demand. Private markets analysts, actuaries, infrastructure finance specialists, and risk experts are among the most sought-after profiles in the financial services workforce today.

For HR and Talent teams, this comes at a time when they are already juggling business-as-usual hiring, driving internal mobility programmes, and spearheading reskilling initiatives to futureproof their organisations. Layer on top the ongoing need to assess how AI will reshape roles and processes, and it’s clear that talent strategies will need to be sharper, more creative, and more competitive than ever to secure the expertise required for this pensions-driven shift.

How we can help

At Sanderson, our team are well versed in navigating the often-murky waters of the UK financial services hiring market. Not only do we have access to some of the best talent pools in the UK to get you the skills you need and fast, but we understand the complexities of future-proofing your hiring strategies while trying to manage day-to-day talent management tasks.

If you’re looking for support, or would just like to chat to us about what the Pension Reform might mean for you and your business, then reach out to us today and let’s chat about how we can help.

If you and your organisation are wanting to grow your headcount and enhance your permanent capability, you might be looking for a bit of a helping hand to get you started.

Perhaps you’ve gone through a rapid growth spike or an M&A and need to rapidly integrate new teams into your business structure?

Or maybe hiring niche skill sets for a brand new service line is making you want to pull your hair out?

Whatever challenge you’re facing, if you’re not looking to outsource everything and just want a bit of support or an extension of your team, then a Project RPO could be the key you’re looking for to unlock the start of a more streamlined recruitment process…

In our BRAND-NEW GUIDE we lay out the ins and outs of Project RPO. From what is does, the benefits to how to get started – it’s like having us in your back pocket whenever you have a Project RPO question!

Is momentum finally starting to build across the Change & Transformation market?

You might have seen that we recently launched our latest Change & Transformation Insights Report where we dipped into data suggesting that 2025 is showing signs of increased activity as more and more businesses are re-engaging with their transformation agendas thanks to budget approvals and team mobilisations.

In this blog we’ll explore the noticeable uptick in M&A activity within financial services and lay out the key insights you need to know on what this means for hiring in the Change & Transformation sector.

What does the M&A market currently look like?

Looking at our data as well as sources such as KPMG’s 2025 M&A Outlook, 2024 was somewhat of a turnaround year for M&A markets. By the back end of 2024 the value of domestic M&A reached a whopping £8.6 billion and thanks to this we are seeing a huge surge in M&A activity this year.

For example, in the financial services space we’ve seen the likes of Nationwide acquire Virgin Money, Coventry Building Society acquire Co-Op Bank, Barclays acquire Tesco Bank to name just a few. And it’s looking like this growth in activity is set to continue through the rest of 2025.

What is driving this high rate of M&A activity in the financial services sector?

It largely comes down to economies of scale. Smaller financial services firms are finding it increasingly difficult to keep up with regulatory requirements, the increased need for digitalisation and wider competitive pressures.

M&A offers them the opportunity to become part of something larger and more resilient. We’re seeing strong evidence of the industry gravitating towards consolidation and a “safety in numbers” mentality as they prioritise stability over disruption.

What does all this M&A activity mean from a hiring perspective?

Well, when an M&A is initiated at a business, we usually then tend to see a significant spike in contract hiring at the beginning of this process.

Permanent roles are still important, but in our experience, we often see companies feel hesitant in committing to permanent positions while they navigate the start of such a fluid situation. Instead, hiring activity is initially focused on contractual positions and often there’s a preference for candidates who have a familiarity with “Part VII” of the Financial Services and Markets Act i.e. the legal framework for transferring assets and liabilities from one company to another. Businesses find themselves needing contractors who can fill positions like Business Analysts, Project Managers and HR professionals who can help guide them through the integration process.

With an initial focus on internal systems, as this stabilises resourcing then starts to look to permanent hires or consultancy services as they put their energy into filling customer facing roles.

What skills and attributes do employers look for when hiring for large transformation programmes like M&A?

In our experience, the skills employers look to hire for during a transformation project vary depending on the specific phase of the transformation project they’re at.

For example, if a business comes to us with a hard deadline such as getting their acquired company onto their payroll system, then delivery-focused candidates are a must.

But on the other hand, if their focus is on people and organisational change then soft skills like empathy, communication and stakeholder management become crucial.

What is the Top 5 industries for M&A talent right now?

According to data, we’re seeing a lot of activity in sectors like:

• Asset Management
• Banking
• Payments
• Fintech
• Insurance

How can you attract M&A talent to your organisation?

Looking at our data sources, while things like excellent compensation and benefits packages are still important, candidates are also favouring added benefits like flexible work arrangements, the opportunity to get stuck into impactful work and even things like collaboration in the company culture.

Are you looking to find out more?

If this blog has whetted your appetite to find out even more about the Change & Transformation market, then why not take a look at the full Report? Chockers full of industry-leading data (including salary benchmarking stats), it’s like having our expertise in your back pocket to set you up for hiring success.

And if you have any questions or would like to dig a little deeper into anything discussed in this blog, feel free to reach out to me on [email protected]

So, you’re looking to grow your headcount?

Maybe you’re looking to hire a team of specialist job roles? For example, your company is being impacted by new regulatory changes, and you’re in need of an expert team of finance and actuarial experts, but nailing down these niche skill set is starting to feel like searching for a needle in a haystack?

Perhaps you’re going through a huge transformation programme, and you need to scale your project and change teams pretty quickly?

Or maybe you’ve recently seen a rapid spike in the growth of your business or have undergone a merger or acquisition and need to rapidly integrate new teams into your existing business structure?

Whatever your challenge, if your People team are stretched already with BAU and need a helping hand or an extension of their team that comes with a large network of resources that’s yours to use flexibly, then a Project RPO could be the key you’re looking for to unlock the start of a more streamlined recruitment process.

In this blog we’ll walk you through the ins and outs of a Project RPO. We’ll get stuck into what it is, the main benefits, how this solution can help get you set up for the future and how you can get started.

Let’s go!

What is a Project RPO?

First things first, what exactly is a Project RPO?

Well, a Project RPO is a flexible recruitment solution that offers many of the benefits of outsourcing all your recruitment to a resourcing partner, but without the long-term commitment.

This is a solution that can take the form of a “one off” engagement, working as an extension of your in-house talent acquisition team to source, screen and deliver the right candidates or teams as and when you need them. Basically, acting as a helping hand, saving time for you to navigate your people strategies and day to day BAU.

Benefits of a Project RPO

It’s sounding pretty good right? Let’s dive into exactly what some of the benefits are that you get when working with a recruitment partner via a Project RPO:

Flexibility & Scalability

With this model you can deploy talent quickly and scale rapidly to meet peaks in hiring demand or as your services evolve in line with your strategic goals. You’ll also get a dedicated team always at the end of the phone if you’ve got any questions or ever want to make any changes.

Improved Quality of Hire

By using the services of a recruitment partner via a Project RPO, you’re getting access to an incredible network of talent. Using the RPOs candidate attraction process and assessment tools, you’ll have access to the best active and passive talent available. We’re talking psychometric testing and technical assessments – really getting into the details to ensure the perfect candidate fit.

Employer Brand Amplification

With a Project RPO your employer brand will be actively promoted to help you stand out in a competitive market. Your Project RPO partner will amplify your company values and brand and use marketing expertise to put together a proposition that ensures candidates see you as a desirable place to work.

Enhanced Candidate Experience

Your delivery team will take the reins to provide an enhanced candidate experience. When you’re up to your ears in admin, sometimes those key candidate touch points can slip through the cracks but with a Project RPO solution, you’ll get a personalised experience for each candidate throughout the entire recruitment process – ultimately helping to keep them engaged.

Reporting & Talent Intelligence

You’ll have access to enhanced reporting capabilities and talent intelligence platforms, empowering you to make data-drive recruitment decisions. This could be for anything from the best location to open a new office, what salaries competitors are offering to where your chosen talent demographic is based.

Reduce Costs

By streamlining the recruitment process, a Project RPO will provide you with huge cost savings. Thanks to direct sourcing and a more targeted approach to your recruitment, you’ll have more control over your budget than you would with a traditional recruitment model.

Time Saving

As well as the rapid deployment of talent, don’t forget that one of the main benefits of this model is the huge savings in time your talent acquisition team will receive. With a Project RPO you’ll be getting an extension to your team to help share the load and take some admin tasks off your desk. Imagine having someone else to sift through applications and find candidates for you PLUS getting into the nitty gritty like dealing with video interviews and all that logistical admin you’d rather not do.

Support Future Workforce Planning

A Project RPO can help enhance and shape the future of your talent acquisition strategy. Taking what you’ve learnt at the start of the project, you can use this knowledge to facilitate future workforce planning and even support your planned DE&I initiatives, remote working strategies or career pathways.

What can a Project RPO be used for?

So, there’s obviously lots of benefits. But are you wondering whether it’s the right solution for you? Here’s just a few examples of how you could use a Project RPO to smash your business goals:

Deliver project-based recruitment campaigns

Maybe you’re launching a new product or service or going through transformation and need a project team to get this off the ground? Enter: The Project RPO.

Support spikes in recruitment activity or the needs of a specific department

Do you experience seasonal fluxes of business activity and need some extra hands-on deck? Whatever reason you have a spike in hiring for, a Project RPO can help.

Support diversity and inclusion programmes

A Project RPO can be used in a variety of ways to support your DE&I initiatives. Maybe you’re pushing your early careers programme or want to make sure you’re attracting the next generation of talent? This solution can really help you break through the noise.

How to get started with a Project RPO

If you’ve got to the end of this blog and a Project RPO is sounding like the answer to your prayers and you just want to get started, we’d recommend thinking about 3 key things:

1. Determine your hiring needs and goals. Have a think about how quickly you need this talent hired. Do you want to outsource everything or just need a few extra hands on deck? Laying out your requirements early on will help you make informed decisions when it comes to selecting a partner.
2. Decide which metrics you want to track. Are you wanting to dramatically reduce time to hire? More focused on the quality of the candidates? Or maybe you’re keen to tap into the market intelligence extras you’ll get from a Project RPO partner.
3. Choose your provider. Do your research into the providers out there, making sure they have experience in your field and industry, and can even offer the sort of technology you’re looking to take advantage of.

Are you ready to get started?

If you’d like to get the ball rolling with a Project RPO solution of your own, get in touch with our team today and let’s have a chat about your requirements and how we can help you reach your goals.

In case you missed it, we recently launched a Spotlight Report focussing in on the world of Product Owners.

And with this role surging in popularity, can we take this to mean there is a growing demand for more Agile skill sets in general?

In this blog we get stuck into why our data is demonstrating a broader openness to Agile methodologies and job functions across the UK, as well as highlighting how Scotland in particular is becoming a hotspot for this talent pool.

Are you ready to take advantage of this surging demand? Let’s find out…

The rising demand for Agile skill sets

We’re now seeing that a lot of these skills are required for Product Owners (which we discussed in this blog), a job function that’s had undeniable growth. To put this into perspective, LinkedIn has reported a 2% nationwide increase in headcount for Product Owners, and as a role it’s now ranking in the Top 5 in VacancySoft’s 2024 Financial Services Review – a 30% year-on-year increase. Plus, Sanderson’s own data has shown that our hiring volume for Product Owners has gone up by a whopping 50%! This is clearly a hot market right now.

But it’s not just product focused roles that are surging. In Scotland (especially in tech hubs like Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen) we have found that Agile roles in general are picking up pace, particularly across the development, software engineering and testing space.

A distinct trend here is also how the candidates themselves are seeing the value of agile skills for their own self-development. We’re talking to candidates who want to be able to move seamlessly into different roles, “hit the ground running” and be an effective conduit between different business units and teams thanks to amassing an arsenal of agile skills.

Which industries are leading the way?

The Banking industry is leading the charge here with a 60% surge in demand for Agile roles like Product Owner, followed closely behind by the Information and Media industry where demand has risen by 52% and a 36% rise in demand in the Insurance sector.

This can be seen as a clear reflection of highly regulated industries showing a significant shift from favouring traditional project management skills and attributes to looking for more agile focused and diverse skill sets as they hope to become more efficient and capable in their future business operations.

Where is this agile talent based?

So, looking across the UK market, are there any hotspots for this Agile talent, and in particular Product Owners?

In a nutshell, yes.

London has a significant chunk boasting 33% of the total talent pool. A huge proportion as this is followed up by Manchester with 5%, then Edinburgh with 4%, Glasgow and Bristol with 3%, and Cardiff having just 2% of the total talent pool.

Changing trends in agile talent location

But while London does have the largest share of this agile talent, is there better hiring opportunity elsewhere in the UK?

We think so!

Other UK hubs, and especially in Scotland, are worth exploring for agile talent thanks to the high competition you’ll face in the capital making hiring extremely costly, not to mention the fight for talent amongst your competitors.

But which hubs in particular?

Data from LinkedIn Talent Insights identifies Northern hotspots such as Edinburgh and Leeds as the strongest opportunity markets for this talent pool.

While London has high demand for agile talent, both Edinburgh and Leeds are currently only experiencing medium to low demand. These cities have also experienced a recent growth in their agile talent populations by at least 4%, whereas our data has shown that growth in London is starting to stagnate. This means lots of candidates for you to choose from and little competition from other companies – good news for businesses wanting to expand their agile capabilities with their pick of the talent!

Combine this with the fact that there’s been an obvious push for growing agile skills across the Scottish digital and tech sectors shown by meet ups like Agile Scotland and Product Tank Edinburgh, we believe that Scotland isn’t just “adopting” agile as a fad, but have fully embraced it for now and the future – a positive sign for hiring for these skills here in 2025 and beyond.

Looking to find out more?

If you’re interested in ramping up the agile skillsets in your team, and want to dive a little deeper into these trends to make sure your offer stands out in the crowd, then why not check out our full Report which is chockers full of market-leading salary data and industry trends. Just fill out the short form below.

If you have any further questions on this topic, want to find out more about agile skillsets and their prevalence in the Scottish market, or are looking for a bit of help in expanding your team then please do get in touch with me on [email protected]

We recently launched our Product Owner Spotlight Report which took a deep-dive into the world of Product Owners to provide you with insight into everything from candidate location through to salary data.

But when it comes to career progression and benefits, what is it exactly that really makes this candidate pool tick?

In this blog we’ll walk you through the necessary skills you should look for in a Product Owner, the typical career path these candidates take as well as the work styles this talent pool utilises so you can make sure your offer remains competitive in the market.

Let’s get tucked in…

What skills should Product Owners have?

For candidates to succeed in the Product Owner role (and to stand out in the market), they need to be pragmatic, possess strong communication skills and ideally be well versed in agile methodologies and prioritisation techniques. They may also have obtained relevant certifications such as CSPO and PSPO.

This is important because the fundamental aspect of Product Ownership is being the conduit between business units and teams. Whether that is between UX and Software engineering or business stakeholders and technology functions, they are the central point of engagement. These are candidates who have chosen to move from development teams to Product Ownership and so will often have excellent soft skills and enjoy stakeholder management responsibilities.

What does a career path look like for a Product Owner?

So, what does a typical Product Owner career path look like?

Generally speaking, there seems to be two core starting points for a Product Owner to take the first steps in their career:

• Business Analyst
• Software Development

As they gain experience, they often undertake increased strategic responsibility and can evolve into a Senior Product Owner role, this typical means working more closely with senior stakeholders or owning multiple products.

In our experience, it’s at this point that many candidates want to continue to progress up the ladder, and so we begin to see them move into Product Management roles and Senior Product Management roles which have far broader scope and allows the candidate to be more strategic in nature. In these roles there will be more of focus on shaping and influencing the Product roadmap but also what that means for the wider business as well as technical or product strategies.

After this, the career path can evolve, but we find the job title can be subjective to the scale and size of the organisation, product or software engineering teams and the business teams in the organisation.

But is the opportunity to widen their scope of work and skill sets all that’s important to these candidates?

How to make your offer stand out

In our experience, while opportunities to work on exciting projects or products and getting stuck into cutting-edge tech stacks are still important to candidates, now more than ever we’re seeing these candidates care more about the nature of the work they’re doing, and the type of company they’re working for.

We’ve seen high-quality professionals prioritising important social or ethically impactful Products within domains such HealthTech, FinTech, MedTech and even tending to shy away from potentially controversial industries like gambling or tobacco.

It’s also interesting to note the working style Product Owners are tending to favour. According to our data from 400+ job boards in this market, we’re seeing 6.8% of these roles advertised as fully remote, 26.8% as hybrid and 66.4% as fully in the office. From conversations with candidates and clients alike, there seems to be a real preference towards Hybrid approach.

In our experience, almost all of the high-quality Product specialists we’ve placed in the last 18 months from junior to CPO level, have a preference for some time on site. Due to the sheer nature of the role, they are the middle person between various people and teams. These sought after candidates find they can perform their role better with some face time and a human touch, so make sure that’s an option for them.

Looking to find out more?

If you want to tap into the Product Owner, we’d love to hear from you. Our data is showing a 2% nationwide increase in Product Owner headcount PLUS Sanderson hiring volume for this role has gone up by a whopping 50%, so now is more important than ever to get a solid grasp on this market so you’re ready to make your next move.

Please do reach out to Khalid Razouki on [email protected] to carry on the conversation, and why not dive a little deeper into the Product Owner market by downloading a copy of the full report in the short form below.

If you’ve arrived on this blog, then it’s likely your business operations involve managing a contingent workforce.

And that means you’re aware of how many moving parts this entails and that you probably have a never-ending list of administrative tasks piling up on your desk.

If you saw our recent blog on how an MSP (Managed Service Programme) can take the pain points away when you’re managing your contingent workers, then you’re undoubtedly ready and waiting to get started with an MSP of your own.

But where do you start?

In this blog we’ll walk you through a simple five step process of everything you need to consider to start the journey of making managing your contingent workforce a breeze. (And if you get to the end and find you might actually need a bit of help auditing your contingent workforce – just get in touch).

Let’s go!

Step 1: Audit Your Contingent Workforce Needs

Volume of Contingent Workers

First things first, it’s important to begin by getting a clear picture of what your contingent workforce population currently looks like. Understanding not only how many contingent workers you have, but also what their worker status is, how much you’re spending on contingent workers, and their tenure will help to identify your current requirements.

You can use this information to map out how this might change in the future based on your business needs and ensure that you’re picking an MSP partner with the financial stability to manage your contingent worker spend.

Diversity of Skills and Roles

During your initial audit, you should also consider the range of skills and the types of roles you’re hiring for.

Do you need a variety of different skills or are you focusing in on once niche skill set? Do you need these roles to be based across multiple locations or are they all centralised?

Mapping out these requirements and handing them over to an MSP partner will help to streamline the process and avoid you having to keep multiple plates spinning.

Flexibility and Scalability Needs

During this step you should also have a think about your future business plans. Do you anticipate any fluctuations in demand? Maybe you’re looking to expand one of your business lines and you need people on the ground to make it happen?

By utilising an MSP you’ll be supported in strategic workforce planning and be far better set up to rapidly scale your business by getting feet on the ground, where you need them.

Step 2: Define Your Goals & Priorities

Key Objectives

So now you know where you’re currently at with your contingent workforce, it’s time to take a look at where you want to go and lay out on paper exactly what you want to achieve with an MSP.

This might be cost savings, ensuring compliance with necessary regulations, getting better access to quality talent or maybe even reducing the administrative burden on you and your teams.

Current Pain Points

During this step you should also assess what challenges you’re currently facing while managing your contingent workforce.

Maybe there’s a lack of visibility across the business on what’s going on with the contingent worker population, maybe you’ve got concerns about IR35 or maybe it’s just that you’re finding it difficult managing multiple talent suppliers and the quality of people you’re currently getting isn’t quite what you’re after.

Desired Level of Control

You should also try and decide exactly how much direct control you want over your contingent workers versus how much you’re comfortable completely outsourcing.

MSPs can vary in how they manage vendor relationships so make sure you know exactly what you’re after at the outset. Would an automated and ‘technology first’ approach work for you and your business, or do you think your hiring managers would prefer an MSP partner who can be onsite when deploying new workers to offer more hands-on support?

Step 3: Research MSP Models & Service Options

Choose the Right MSP Model

Next up its time to do your research and scope out what sort of MSP might be the best fit for you. Consider the needs that you defined in Step 2, and with these in mind determine which MSP model might be the best fit. (You can remind yourself on the differences between a master, neutral or hybrid MSP model in this blog).

Consider Statement of Work (SOW) Management

Do you use SOW contracts for your project-based work? If you do it’s worth making note of this during your research phase as you might benefit from an MSP that integrates both contingent labour and SOW management.

With an MSP this could be a day one service or even part of a continuous improvement programme, so make sure you know if it’s relevant to your work.

Ability to Influence the Solution

Now you’ve nailed Step 2 and decided what level of control you require, take the research phase as an opportunity to assess what level of influence you need over your MSP provider. If you want this to be a little more customisable, keep a look out for MSP partners who can tailor their solutions to your specific industry, workforce needs and the location you want the talent to be based.

Step 4: Calculate ROI and Budget Considerations

Estimate Potential Savings

If you’re looking to get started with an MSP of your own, then you’re probably already aware of the potential cost savings that this can bring you and your business. With benefits such as competitive supplier negotiations, rate card management, direct sourcing discounts and even just more streamlined processes, MSPs can deliver you a huge range of possible savings.

During this step, have a go at evaluating the potential financial impact you could get from an MSP to make sure you’re getting the most bang for your buck as you get started.

Budget for Implementation Costs

You should also take the time to consider any upfront costs your business will have to make when initially implementing your MSP. This might be anything from new technology that will need to be integrated, supplier transition costs or even factoring in the cost of training.

Compare MSP Costs to In-House Management

Finally, it would be worth factoring in the costs of managing your contingent workers in-house versus the fees associated with an MSP. Having this laid out will help you demonstrate the cost saving benefits to the stakeholders in your business.

Step 5: Evaluate Potential MSP Providers

Industry Expertise

And now we get to the fifth and final step in getting started with an MSP. When you’re looking to get started with rolling out an MSP it’s important that you do your research on potential providers. It’s recommended to look for MSPs with experience in your industry (or similar industry) as this will ensure they have specialist knowledge and can tap into relevant networks for you.

We’d recommend looking for suppliers who are happy to introduce you to current clients and invite you to meet their teams so you can take any references you need and meet the people who will be delivering your service.

Service Level Support

When comparing potential MSP providers, one of the aspects you should evaluate is the level of support you’ll be offered, particularly during implementation and for ongoing account management.

Do you have the option of on-site support if you need it? What sort of resources are available to you for troubleshooting? These are important things to get answers to out the outset to avoid any last-minute panic down the line.

Plan Your RFP Process

Last but my no means least, make sure you set yourself up for success in the RFP (Request For Proposal) process by planning out what questions you need to ask.

During this stage, you need to be able to adequately ascertain whether the MSP providers you’re considering have not only the size, financial stability and experience to meet your needs, but also that they align with your company values and that you can feel confident they’ll represent and communicate your employer brand effectively.

Top Tip – Why not ask the providers you’re considering if they’ll share their RFP templates with you so you can get more of an idea of the key questions you need to be asking?

Ready to get started?

A Managed Service Programme (MSP) can help you to ditch the admin and deliver real business value from your contingent workforce.

Now you know what steps you need to take to get started, why not get stuck into figuring out which MSP model is right for you? We’re on hand to help guide you on which MSP model might work for you and your business, as well as what each of their benefits are.

Our mission is to deliver a best-in-class MSP service, and we use our unique combination of brilliant people, effective processes, innovative technologies and seamless collaboration to deliver this. As part of this mission, we’ve put together our Ultimate Guide to MSPs to set you up for success – and all you need to do is fill in the short form below.

Have any more questions? Please do reach out to Elizabeth Hawkins for a chat about how you can get started with managing your contingent workforce today on [email protected]

We’re pleased to present our brand new Monthly Spotlight Report focusing on Product Owners.

In this Report we deep-dive into the Product Owner market to provide you market-leading insights into everything from candidate location through to salary data to make sure your offer stands out in the crowd.

With our data showing a 2% nationwide increase in Product Owner headcount AND our hiring volume for this role going up by a whopping 50%, now is more important than ever to get a solid grasp on this market so you’re ready to make your next move.

We even lay out what a typical career path is for this role to give you an insight into what makes these candidates tick. Is it now more about the nature of the work vs a cutting edge tech stack?

Set yourself up for success by downloading your copy via the form below!

In case you missed it, we recently launched our 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 job market looked like across the financial services sector.

But what exactly were the most in demand and most hired roles in this sector, and what does this tell us about trends we can predict for the rest of the year?

Most Hired Roles

Software Engineer and Developer

Our data showed us that Software Engineer and Developer roles soared above Business Analysts as the most in demand roles for 2024. This is likely thanks to the significant investment We have seen this trend in action already during Q1 of 2025 by placing 42% more Developer roles than we have Business Analysts.

Business Analyst

The demand for Business Analysts has traditionally always been high in the financial sector thanks to companies looking to optimise their processes, improve efficiencies and integrate the latest technologies, and this was yet again the case in 2024.

Data Analyst

The role of Data Analysts remained essential as many financial services organisations searched for candidates who can turn huge amounts of data into actionable insights. As, data underpins the business strategies of many financial organisations moving forwards, this continued surge in demand is expected.

Data Engineer

As data-driven decision-making continued to take hold of businesses, there was a continued necessity for clean and well-structured data, especially among those companies in the financial services sector who are hoping to leverage AI tools. We therefore saw a huge growth in the demand for Data Engineers both on a permanent and interim basis in addition to a desire to grow their own data talent through innovative capability development models.

Hiring Predictions for 2025

In terms of hiring demand, I believe we can head into the rest of 2025 with a cautious optimism. Throughout the first few months of the year, we saw resourcing requirements for permanent hiring improve by 6% during Q1 of 2025 compared to Q4 2024 and contingent talent demand improve by 2%. Already a lot of our clients are expressing an interest in hiring in greater numbers this year, and a particular theme we are seeing is hiring for Artificial Intelligence skill sets. Many of our clients have indicated they are considering how this will impact their ways of working and how they can transform to successfully leverage any benefits AI may offer in a compliant and ethical manner.

I believe there will continue to be a strong demand for talent in the financial services space, particularly for data roles.

However, I do predict that employer preferences will start to shift away from a skill sets focus, and more towards the capability of candidates.

The word ‘Curiosity’ is coming up more and more frequently in discussions with Financial Services technology clients in relation to the type of person they would like to hire; be that permanent or non-permanent.  In a world where technological advancements are fast evolving, our clients want to hire adaptable talent with a hunger to learn and to have a keen interest in ‘Why’ and ‘What Value’ the products they are building will deliver to the end user; be that the end customer or colleagues.

Increasingly during our briefings for individuals and teams, our clients are looking for a baseline technical skillset but the adaptability of the candidate to grow.  This means that we not only need to select candidates for their skillset and background, but also for behavioural characteristics like aptitude and agility.

We are already advancing in this direction through our Sanderson Projects service and also our exclusive permanent campaigns whereby cognitive behavioural testing and behavioural interviewing are embedded into the selection process.

This approach will provide clients with an approach that promotes cultural fit and alignment to company values, and retention and satisfaction within their workforce into the future.

In addition to hiring for capability at the experienced end of the market, we are also seeing a ‘grow your own’ approach to talent for the future.  This is due to the rise in organisations identifying their future talent shortages and focusing on how they can prepare for this via capability development programmes in order to hire more junior, diverse and talented individuals, develop them in role and ensure they have the skills their teams need both now and into the future.

Next steps

Are you ready to find out more?

As we start Q2 and look to the summer, 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 including exact talent pool numbers, tenue statistics, gender breakdowns and regional hot spots for the roles discussed above by downloading a copy of our Financial Services Hiring Trends Annual Report via the short form below.

Have any further questions or considering how your business can get ahead of these predictions? Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me on [email protected]

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.