Daily News

View All News

UK – Regional tech hubs challenging London’s dominance as top IT recruiter

30 January 2015

Over a quarter (28%) of the latest technology jobs are advertised outside of London, revealing the heated battle between the UK’s so-called ‘Tech Cities’, according to the Tech Cities Job Watch, a new quarterly survey from professional resourcing specialist Experis.

The survey revealed that the hunt for top IT skills is extending to all corners of Britain, in line with the government’s drive for nationwide tech growth. 

The report, which analysed over 54,000 UK IT jobs advertised between October and December 2014, found that London’s ‘Tech City’ model is fast gathering pace throughout the UK. Cambridge, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, and Glasgow are among the ‘tech hotspots’ emerging from the shadows, accounting for over 11,000 jobs.

Companies in these cities are offering competitive salaries to attract the best people and are vying to challenge London’s position as the country’s main tech hub.

While the capital continues to lead on salaries for every technology discipline (with an average of £51,588 for permanent roles), other cities aren’t far behind considering their significantly lower cost of living, with Cambridge leading the cities outside of London on £40,994, followed by Birmingham (£39,733) and Glasgow (£39,143).

Geoff Smith, Managing Director of Experis Europe, commented: “The government has declared its ambition for the UK to be the technology centre of Europe and for technology to bring prosperity to “every corner of the country”. Great progress has been made towards this in the past few years and as technology continues to filtrate into every aspect of a business, regardless of industry sector, this trend is only likely to gather pace in 2015 and beyond.”

“There are strong indications to suggest that tech job opportunities are on the rise throughout the UK. We’re seeing an increasing number of London-based companies establishing remote working centres to ensure their hunt for IT skills doesn’t miss out on talent that sees more appeal in the quality of life outside the capital – this could be one of the factors driving this shift. And with the continued investment in rail and road infrastructure to better connect northern towns and cities, the future is looking bright for businesses that take the right steps to manage their talent pool.”

The report revealed that mobile and web development skills are highest in demand both in and outside of London, accounting for two-thirds of roles advertised. In contrast, roles requiring big data skills were more scarce (only 8% of the total roles advertised). However, these jobs commanded the highest salaries.