Marketing roles within agencies in the UK increased by 35% year-on-year to March 2018, according to data from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies and Vacancysoft. The increase comes as organisations increasingly look towards outsourcing.

The data from APSCo and Vacancysoft also showed that the number of marketing vacancies as a percentage of all available roles, increased by 1.68% year-on-year.

“The continued rise in marketing vacancies comes as no surprise,” Ann Swain, chief executive of APSCo, said. “In the digital age investment in marketing is business imperative as organisations vie for the attention of increasingly fragmented audiences. No longer confined to big business, now even relatively small companies are investing in building brand awareness to boost revenues.”

“Rather than bring talent in-house, many companies are choosing to outsource to focus on core business, solve capacity issues, cut costs and bring in expert skills to enhance service quality,” Swain said.

Among regions, the fastest growth in marketing vacancies was found in the North West (35%), West Midlands (41%) and North East (22%), year-on-year. Meanwhile, Greater London was the leading location for marketing vacancies with a combined total of 58%.

“Equally, in terms of geography, significant vacancy growth outside of London is not unexpected,” Swain said. “The North West and Midlands are well established regional hubs for creative skillsets, with Salford for example, home to MediaCityUK and other specialist agencies.”