Service Management Contract Job Trends in the UK excluding London

Service Management
UK > UK excluding London

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs advertised in the UK excluding London requiring Service Management skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 21 November 2025, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
21 Nov 2025
Same period 2024 Same period 2023
Rank 52 74 63
Rank change year-on-year +22 -11 +2
Contract jobs citing Service Management 736 468 694
As % of all contract jobs in the UK excluding London 4.18% 2.83% 3.36%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 4.76% 3.36% 3.81%
Number of daily rates quoted 472 306 518
10th Percentile £185 £200 £230
25th Percentile £299 £350 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £501 £525
Median % change year-on-year -0.10% -4.67% +7.86%
75th Percentile £575 £600 £600
90th Percentile £654 £675 £676
UK median daily rate £500 £523 £528
% change year-on-year -4.31% -0.99% +5.55%
Number of hourly rates quoted 93 26 9
10th Percentile £12.62 £21.05 £19.49
25th Percentile £16.06 £26.25 £20.50
Median hourly rate £20.79 £31.48 £21.31
Median % change year-on-year -33.95% +47.70% -0.30%
75th Percentile £60.00 £48.75 £48.75
90th Percentile £74.26 £61.25 £58.00
UK median hourly rate £20.81 £30.45 £41.38
% change year-on-year -31.66% -26.40% +92.44%

All Process and Methodology Skills
UK excluding London

Service Management falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills in the UK excluding London.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 15,454 13,933 18,227
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK excluding London 87.80% 84.29% 88.31%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,387 7,965 11,881
10th Percentile £220 £247 £250
25th Percentile £368 £381 £400
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £475 £500 £500
Median % change year-on-year -5.00% - -
75th Percentile £575 £600 £600
90th Percentile £675 £688 £688
UK median daily rate £500 £525 £530
% change year-on-year -4.76% -0.94% -3.64%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,762 886 1,280
10th Percentile £14.25 £15.00 £14.25
25th Percentile £17.30 £19.32 £17.72
Median hourly rate £22.63 £33.00 £44.25
Median % change year-on-year -31.42% -25.42% +42.74%
75th Percentile £44.69 £65.00 £65.00
90th Percentile £67.25 £72.50 £77.50
UK median hourly rate £25.15 £35.00 £43.90
% change year-on-year -28.14% -20.27% +25.43%

Service Management
Job Vacancy Trend in the UK excluding London

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

Service Management job vacancy trend in the UK excluding London

Service Management
Daily Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Service Management.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Service Management

Service Management
Daily Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Service Management in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 21 November 2025.

Daily rate histogram for Service Management in the UK excluding London

Service Management
Hourly Rate Trend in the UK excluding London

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Service Management.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK excluding London citing Service Management

Service Management
Hourly Rate Histogram in the UK excluding London

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Service Management in the UK excluding London over the 6 months to 21 November 2025.

Hourly rate histogram for Service Management in the UK excluding London

Service Management
Contract Job Locations in the UK excluding London

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Service Management within the UK excluding London region over the 6 months to 21 November 2025. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Matching
Contract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
North of England +8 197 £447 +5.18% 76
South East +22 179 £488 -7.14% 134
South West +24 141 £560 -2.61% 52
Midlands +22 128 £500 -11.74% 72
North West +22 126 £466 +16.38% 47
West Midlands +19 102 £510 -10.65% 45
Yorkshire -26 57 £355 -29.74% 19
Scotland -3 41 £463 +3.93% 26
East of England -3 39 £541 +1.89% 39
East Midlands +4 26 £419 -20.24% 27
North East 0 17 £270 +38.46% 10
Wales -11 7 £205 +2.50% 18
Northern Ireland -4 5 £325 -40.91% 10
Channel Islands - 3 £725 -
Service Management
UK

Service Management
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities in the UK excluding London by Category

The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:

Application Platforms
1 55 (7.47%) Microsoft Exchange
2 54 (7.34%) Confluence
3 44 (5.98%) SharePoint
4 21 (2.85%) Apache
5 14 (1.90%) WebLogic
6 10 (1.36%) Skype for Business
7 7 (0.95%) IIS
7 7 (0.95%) WebSphere
8 5 (0.68%) SharePoint Server
9 2 (0.27%) JBoss
10 1 (0.14%) CMS
10 1 (0.14%) HCL Notes
10 1 (0.14%) Oracle Self-Service HR
10 1 (0.14%) Oracle Workflow
Applications
1 83 (11.28%) Microsoft Office
2 28 (3.80%) Microsoft Excel
3 20 (2.72%) Microsoft Project
4 12 (1.63%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 12 (1.63%) MS Visio
5 1 (0.14%) Trello
Business Applications
1 18 (2.45%) Remedy ITSM
2 9 (1.22%) Oracle EBS
3 7 (0.95%) Maximo
4 5 (0.68%) assyst
4 5 (0.68%) SAP S/4HANA
5 3 (0.41%) Dynamics CRM
6 2 (0.27%) Oracle ERP
6 2 (0.27%) Salesforce CRM
7 1 (0.14%) SAP ERP
7 1 (0.14%) SAP HR
7 1 (0.14%) SAP LE
7 1 (0.14%) SAP PM
7 1 (0.14%) SAP WM
7 1 (0.14%) SystmOne
Cloud Services
1 105 (14.27%) Azure
2 76 (10.33%) Microsoft 365
3 73 (9.92%) AWS
4 26 (3.53%) GCP
5 23 (3.13%) Entra ID
6 20 (2.72%) Power Platform
7 16 (2.17%) OneDrive
7 16 (2.17%) SaaS
8 14 (1.90%) Azure Monitor
9 11 (1.49%) Azure DevOps
10 7 (0.95%) PowerApps
11 6 (0.82%) Salesforce Service Cloud
12 5 (0.68%) Power Automate
12 5 (0.68%) Serverless
13 4 (0.54%) Amazon S3
13 4 (0.54%) Lucidchart
13 4 (0.54%) OpenShift
14 3 (0.41%) Amazon EC2
14 3 (0.41%) AWS Lambda
14 3 (0.41%) IaaS
Communications & Networking
1 54 (7.34%) DNS
2 42 (5.71%) Firewall
3 33 (4.48%) DHCP
4 26 (3.53%) WAN
5 25 (3.40%) LAN
6 24 (3.26%) VPN
7 22 (2.99%) VLAN
8 20 (2.72%) Skype
8 20 (2.72%) TCP/IP
9 17 (2.31%) Cisco Firepower
9 17 (2.31%) Cisco IOS
9 17 (2.31%) Cisco ISE
9 17 (2.31%) Junos
10 14 (1.90%) Network Security
11 13 (1.77%) BGP
12 12 (1.63%) Unified Communications
13 10 (1.36%) Wi-Fi
13 10 (1.36%) Wireless
14 8 (1.09%) MPLS
14 8 (1.09%) WebEx
Database & Business Intelligence
1 18 (2.45%) Relational Database
2 17 (2.31%) SQL Server
3 15 (2.04%) Power BI
4 11 (1.49%) Amazon RDS
5 9 (1.22%) DB2
6 4 (0.54%) Data Mining
6 4 (0.54%) Metadata
6 4 (0.54%) Oracle Reports
7 3 (0.41%) InfluxDB
8 2 (0.27%) Amazon Aurora
8 2 (0.27%) Azure SQL Database
8 2 (0.27%) Big Data
8 2 (0.27%) Data Warehouse
8 2 (0.27%) MariaDB
8 2 (0.27%) MySQL
8 2 (0.27%) PostgreSQL
9 1 (0.14%) BusinessObjects
9 1 (0.14%) OLTP
9 1 (0.14%) Oracle Discoverer
9 1 (0.14%) RDBMS
Development Applications
1 92 (12.50%) JIRA
2 14 (1.90%) Jenkins
3 5 (0.68%) webpack
4 4 (0.54%) Bitbucket
4 4 (0.54%) Git
5 1 (0.14%) Cucumber
5 1 (0.14%) GitLab
5 1 (0.14%) MLflow
5 1 (0.14%) Selenium
5 1 (0.14%) SoapUI
5 1 (0.14%) WebDriver
General
1 283 (38.45%) Social Skills
2 156 (21.20%) Analytical Skills
3 91 (12.36%) Finance
4 83 (11.28%) Public Sector
5 33 (4.48%) Military
6 32 (4.35%) Legal
7 29 (3.94%) Manufacturing
8 28 (3.80%) Telecoms
9 20 (2.72%) Banking
10 19 (2.58%) Documentation Skills
10 19 (2.58%) Influencing Skills
11 18 (2.45%) Organisational Skills
12 17 (2.31%) Inclusion and Diversity
13 15 (2.04%) Presentation Skills
14 14 (1.90%) Marketing
15 12 (1.63%) Electronics
16 11 (1.49%) Retail
17 10 (1.36%) Police
18 8 (1.09%) Investment Banking
19 5 (0.68%) Billing
Job Titles
1 112 (15.22%) Analyst
2 74 (10.05%) Architect
3 60 (8.15%) Support Engineer
4 56 (7.61%) Lead
5 54 (7.34%) Service Manager
6 47 (6.39%) Service Architect
7 44 (5.98%) Support Analyst
8 43 (5.84%) IT Support
9 38 (5.16%) 2nd Line Support
10 36 (4.89%) Network Engineer
11 34 (4.62%) Desktop Support
12 26 (3.53%) IT Analyst
13 25 (3.40%) Consultant
13 25 (3.40%) Platform Engineer
14 24 (3.26%) Senior
15 23 (3.13%) Delivery Manager
15 23 (3.13%) Project Manager
15 23 (3.13%) Service Analyst
16 21 (2.85%) IT Technician
16 21 (2.85%) Service Delivery Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 19 (2.58%) REST
2 14 (1.90%) RFC 2544
2 14 (1.90%) Web Services
3 12 (1.63%) SOAP
4 11 (1.49%) CSS
4 11 (1.49%) HTML
5 8 (1.09%) XML
5 8 (1.09%) XMPP
6 7 (0.95%) NETCONF
6 7 (0.95%) RESTCONF
7 6 (0.82%) Elastic Stack
7 6 (0.82%) RESTful
8 5 (0.68%) CSS3
8 5 (0.68%) HTML5
8 5 (0.68%) Node.js
8 5 (0.68%) React
8 5 (0.68%) Redux
9 4 (0.54%) .NET
9 4 (0.54%) AngularJS
10 3 (0.41%) LDAP
Miscellaneous
1 41 (5.57%) Product Ownership
2 40 (5.43%) Data Centre
3 38 (5.16%) Management Information System
4 28 (3.80%) PKI
5 24 (3.26%) CMDB
6 20 (2.72%) Self-Motivation
7 19 (2.58%) Onboarding
8 18 (2.45%) Virtual Team
9 15 (2.04%) Analytical Mindset
10 14 (1.90%) Driving Licence
11 12 (1.63%) Mainframe
12 11 (1.49%) Fibre Optics
12 11 (1.49%) NHS
13 7 (0.95%) Public Cloud
14 6 (0.82%) Enterprise Software
14 6 (0.82%) Tandem
14 6 (0.82%) Video Conferencing
15 5 (0.68%) Distributed Systems
15 5 (0.68%) PMI
16 4 (0.54%) iPhone
Operating Systems
1 182 (24.73%) Windows
2 63 (8.56%) Linux
3 57 (7.74%) Windows Server
4 42 (5.71%) Windows 10
5 24 (3.26%) Unix
6 12 (1.63%) Mac OS
6 12 (1.63%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
7 9 (1.22%) Apple iOS
8 7 (0.95%) Windows Server 2012
9 6 (0.82%) Android
10 5 (0.68%) Windows 7
11 4 (0.54%) Windows Server 2003
11 4 (0.54%) Windows Server 2016
12 3 (0.41%) CentOS
12 3 (0.41%) Windows Server 2008
12 3 (0.41%) Windows Server 2019
13 2 (0.27%) Ubuntu
14 1 (0.14%) AIX
14 1 (0.14%) Solaris
Processes & Methodologies
1 426 (57.88%) ITIL
2 332 (45.11%) ITSM
3 154 (20.92%) Problem-Solving
4 125 (16.98%) Change Management
5 104 (14.13%) Agile
6 102 (13.86%) Stakeholder Management
7 101 (13.72%) Continuous Improvement
8 100 (13.59%) Customer Service
9 99 (13.45%) Service Delivery
10 91 (12.36%) Service Design
11 76 (10.33%) Stakeholder Engagement
12 73 (9.92%) Incident Management
13 69 (9.38%) Project Management
14 68 (9.24%) Project Delivery
15 58 (7.88%) DevOps
16 50 (6.79%) Problem Management
17 44 (5.98%) Analytics
17 44 (5.98%) Business Intelligence
18 42 (5.71%) Incident Response
18 42 (5.71%) Performance Metrics
Programming Languages
1 68 (9.24%) SQL
2 62 (8.42%) Python
3 59 (8.02%) PowerShell
4 21 (2.85%) JavaScript
5 15 (2.04%) Perl
6 14 (1.90%) Shell Script
7 13 (1.77%) Bash
8 12 (1.63%) Java
9 5 (0.68%) TypeScript
9 5 (0.68%) VB
9 5 (0.68%) VBScript
10 3 (0.41%) Go
11 2 (0.27%) Apex Code
12 1 (0.14%) C#
12 1 (0.14%) PL/SQL
12 1 (0.14%) T-SQL
12 1 (0.14%) VBA
Qualifications
1 323 (43.89%) Security Cleared
2 262 (35.60%) SC Cleared
3 101 (13.72%) Degree
4 61 (8.29%) DV Cleared
5 47 (6.39%) ITIL Certification
6 42 (5.71%) Microsoft Certification
7 28 (3.80%) Cisco Certification
8 25 (3.40%) CCNP
9 19 (2.58%) A+ Certification
10 16 (2.17%) Computer Science Degree
11 15 (2.04%) Azure Certification
11 15 (2.04%) MCSE
12 14 (1.90%) Server+ Certification
13 13 (1.77%) TOGAF Certification
14 12 (1.63%) CCNA
15 11 (1.49%) BPSS Clearance
15 11 (1.49%) Network+ Certification
15 11 (1.49%) PMP
16 10 (1.36%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
16 10 (1.36%) PMI Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 51 (6.93%) SLA
2 31 (4.21%) ISO/IEC 20000
3 15 (2.04%) GDPR
4 11 (1.49%) QA
5 10 (1.36%) PMO
6 9 (1.22%) ISO/IEC 27001
7 8 (1.09%) Data Quality
7 8 (1.09%) NCSC
8 5 (0.68%) Disclosure Scotland
8 5 (0.68%) GxP
8 5 (0.68%) ISO 9001
8 5 (0.68%) Sarbanes-Oxley
9 3 (0.41%) COBIT
9 3 (0.41%) GRC
10 2 (0.27%) Accessibility
10 2 (0.27%) Cyber Essentials
10 2 (0.27%) HIPAA
11 1 (0.14%) Actionable Recommendations
11 1 (0.14%) NIST
11 1 (0.14%) WCAG
System Software
1 91 (12.36%) Active Directory
2 35 (4.76%) VMware Infrastructure
3 21 (2.85%) VMware NSX
4 14 (1.90%) Hyper-V
5 11 (1.49%) VMware ESXi
6 6 (0.82%) Docker
6 6 (0.82%) Virtual Desktop
6 6 (0.82%) Virtual Servers
7 5 (0.68%) BitLocker
7 5 (0.68%) Microsoft Virtual Server
8 3 (0.41%) Virtual Machines
9 1 (0.14%) Slurm Workload Manager
Systems Management
1 25 (3.40%) vCenter Server
2 20 (2.72%) Ansible
3 18 (2.45%) SCCM
4 15 (2.04%) OPNET
5 14 (1.90%) Microsoft Intune
6 13 (1.77%) Terraform
7 12 (1.63%) Kubernetes
8 11 (1.49%) Active Directory Federation Services
8 11 (1.49%) WSUS
9 4 (0.54%) Grafana
9 4 (0.54%) OpenView
9 4 (0.54%) Prometheus
10 3 (0.41%) Check_MK
10 3 (0.41%) Jamf Pro
10 3 (0.41%) NSN NetAct
10 3 (0.41%) Progress Chef
10 3 (0.41%) Single Sign-On
11 2 (0.27%) FortiGate
11 2 (0.27%) Nessus
11 2 (0.27%) SCOM
Vendors
1 170 (23.10%) Microsoft
2 167 (22.69%) ServiceNow
3 97 (13.18%) Cisco
4 46 (6.25%) VMware
5 44 (5.98%) Oracle
6 42 (5.71%) Atlassian
7 37 (5.03%) Remedy
8 35 (4.76%) Splunk
9 32 (4.35%) SolarWinds
10 29 (3.94%) SAP
11 28 (3.80%) Google
12 23 (3.13%) Juniper
13 19 (2.58%) AppDynamics
13 19 (2.58%) Dynatrace
14 17 (2.31%) IBM
15 14 (1.90%) Red Hat
15 14 (1.90%) Veeam
16 12 (1.63%) Salesforce
17 10 (1.36%) Citrix
18 7 (0.95%) Fortinet