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Fruition IT Yorkshire Skills & Staffing Report Mid Year 2016

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INTRO

Welcome to our mid-year 2016 IT staffing market reportThis report focusses on our home City of Leeds and surrounding areas, and is the first of many market reports we will be producing. This report will highlight the key trends we’ve seen in the first half of 2016 in the Leeds tech staffing market including what skills are in high demand and the direct impact on permanent salaries and contract rates. We will also include our analysis of the key players dominating the tech staffing market in Leeds with some tips on how companies can stay ahead of the game when attracting talent throughout the second half of 2016.

We’re incredibly proud to be part of such a thriving sector and located in the fantastic City of Leeds. We are also delighted to have received input and commentary on our report from some of the regions key employers and influencers; thank you to CallCredit, BJSS, cap hpi, NewRedo (Agile Yorkshire), Lowell Group, Ticket Arena, Sectrel and Herd for their contribution. We’d also like to thank ITJobsWatch for their contribution of data.

1,350

10,000 PEOPLE IN

DIGITAL SECTOR IN LEEDS

DIGITAL COMPANIES IN LEEDS

Leeds HAS HIGHEST AVERAGE DIGITAL SALARY OF ALL NORTHERN CITIES

H1 2015 H1 2016 Variance

Contract 5809 6245 +7.5% Perm 12247 14440 +15%

Number of advertised IT vacancies in Yorkshire:

source: Tech North Digital Powerhouse Report

http://www.callcredit.co.uk/

http://www.bjss.com/

http://www.cap.co.uk/

http://www.newredo.com/

http://www.agileyorkshire.org/

http://www.lowellgroup.co.uk/

http://www.ticketarena.co.uk/

http://sectrel.co.uk/

http://herd.careers/

http://www.itjobswatch.co.uk/

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UPDATE ON LEEDS TECH MARKET

In the Leeds City region, the digital and tech sector currently provides 70,000 jobs. That figure is expected to grow by 15% over the next 5 years. Half of those new jobs will be based close to the City centre; the value of the city’s tech sector to the economy of the region will grow to £2bn over the same period.

The editor of the Yorkshire Evening Post, Nicola Furbisher, referred to Leeds’ tech sector as one of Yorkhire’s “better kept secrets”. But as the digital economy continues to grow, the secret is out. Leeds is finally starting to shout about its achievements, and the job market has been boosted thanks to investment from some of the biggest brands in the UK.

UPDATE ON LEEDS TECH MARKET In the Leeds City region, the digital and tech sector currently provides 70,000 jobs. That figure is expected to grow by 15% over the next 5 years. Half of those new jobs will be based close to the City centre; the value of the city’s tech sector to the economy of the region will grow to £2bn over the same period.

The editor of the Yorkshire Evening Post, Nicola Furbisher, referred to Leeds’ tech sector as one of Yorkhire’s “better kept secrets”. But as the digital economy continues to grow, the secret is out. Leeds is finally starting to shout about its achievements, and the job market has been boosted thanks to investment from some of the biggest brands in the UK.

The Yorkshire digital scene is rapidly building up momentum. From our point of view, we are seeing the number of organisations engaged in digital delivery and products increasing almost on a day-by-day basis. Leeds and Sheffield have many big names who are driving the creation of hundreds of jobs. More importantly, the Yorkshire heritage as a hotspot for Retail, Law, Healthcare and Services is increasingly helping to turn the economy digital. Yorkshire is home to some of the most exciting pieces of digital delivery in the UK. We build and run significant chunks of NHS infrastructure which touch and improve patient experience on a day to day basis. We also deliver significant experiences in Gaming, in Retail, in Mobile and in Innovation. In the cities we are seeing an increase in innovation and openness – both through start-ups and through excellent networking around Yorkshire Agile, Leeds DevOps and innovation from leaders such as the Open Data Institute and Digital Leaders. We have the biggest, brightest and best companies from start-ups to companies like BJSS who are amongst the largest cloud and software delivery organisations in the country.

Comment from Mike Buck, Head of Delivery at BJSS https://uk.linkedin.com/in/mike-buck-33850a3

“The Yorkshire digital scene is rapidly building up momentum. From our point of view, we are seeing the number of organisations engaged in digital delivery and products increasing almost on a day-by-day basis. Leeds and Sheffield have many big names who are driving the creation of hundreds of jobs. More importantly, the Yorkshire heritage as a hotspot for Retail, Law, Healthcare and Services is increasingly helping to turn the economy digital. Yorkshire is home to some of the most exciting pieces of digital delivery in the UK. We build and run significant chunks of NHS infrastructure which touch and improve patient experience on a day to day basis. We also deliver significant experiences in Gaming, in Retail, in Mobile and in Innovation. In the cities we are seeing an increase in innovation and openness – both through start-ups and through excellent networking around Yorkshire Agile, Leeds DevOps and innovation from leaders such as the Open Data Institute and Digital Leaders. We have the biggest, brightest and best companies from start-ups to companies like BJSS who are amongst the largest cloud and software delivery organisations in the country.”

Mike BuckHead of Delivery at BJSS

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According to the Leeds Chamber of Commerce, there are 1,350 digital companies in Leeds, employing more than 10,000 people in salaried roles, on contracts, and on a freelance basis. RSA research suggests that 18% of the UK’s tech workers are based in the North, which equates to 1 in 10 people working in the digital economy.

As a result, there is a huge demand of tech talent among a range of different employers, from global brands to SMEs and start-ups. As a result of this huge demand for digital skills, we’re seeing a shortage, and a continual thirst for new talent.

Big hitters in the corporate world are driving investment.

Sky has set up a Tech Team at the Leeds Dock in order to provide a significant amount of Sky’s digital content. Its Yorkshire hub brings together coders who are native to the area, as well as people who have relocated specifically to be part of Sky’s digital future. Sky Bet, and its rival William Hill, are also key employers.

SkyBet and Pace have been identified as two of the region’s “unicorns”, according to GP Bullhound. It classes unicorns as companies that are worth more than $1 billion. Hot on their heels is EMIS Group, worth a cool $500 million.

cap hpi, providers of data for the auto industry, created 100 jobs in Leeds as part of its expansion project. It based its decision on the abundance of skills already available, as proven by Yorkshire’s expanding digital economy. And Callcredit – the credit reference agency behind the consumer web app, Noddle – has chosen Leeds for its 78,000 sq ft corporate HQ.

From Jet2.com and Rockstar Games to the Yorkshire Building Society, opportunities with big brands are diverse – and growing. Leeds is also the base for the DWP’s digital transformation project, in the wake of the shift to the new Universal Credit system. Provident Financial is headquartered in nearby Bradford, and is the brand behind Vanquis and Satsuma loans.

UPDATE ON LEEDS TECH STAFFING MARKET

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But what about SMEs?

Ticket Arena has been a key Leeds tech employer for over a decade, dealing exclusively in online ticket sales for tours and events. IceLolly.com provides innovative travel price comparison services, running its ecommerce operation from its office on Park Row.

MooD International is a York -based provider of enterprise software solutions, shipping its software across the UK and the globe. It’s just one of the many SMEs that have chosen the Yorkshire region as their primary location for expansion.

Of course, West Yorkshire benefits from excellent travel links, including easy access to nearby towns and cities. Trustmarque is based in York, and has been providing IT services to both public and private sector clients for almost three decades. In Harrogate, the Nostrum Group is a key provider of business lending solutions, specialising in cross-channel communication and a modern approach to consumer finance.

And there’s a healthy start-up community too.

Infinity Works (formerly Inmedia Solutions) – headquartered in Leeds - says that its focus is its reputation, so getting the right people on board is key. Cocoon, developers of “Internet of Things” home security products, expanded from five to 20 staff at its Leeds office within just four months.

The DataShed currently occupies office space in the regenerated Mabgate district, after four and a half years’ work honing its data-crunching technology.

UPDATE ON LEEDS TECH STAFFING MARKET

“Over 10,000 people work across the 1,350 digital companies in Leeds”

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SKILLS TRENDS ANALYSIS

DEVELOPMENTDevelopment will always be the most in demand role for any IT focussed organisation, and with good candidates in short supply, finding the right skills and experience is always challenging. Permanent .Net Developers have been consistently the most in demand developers throughout the first half of 2016, with demand for contract Java Developers and JavaScript Developers hugely increasing. Permanent vacancy numbers reducing is likely to reflect companies responding to what is a contract-led market; to ensure that projects are delivered without delay requires a shift in focus to securing the best development talent on a contract basis. JavaScript has evolved greatly over the past few years with a number of new libraries added meaning it is now a much more useful technology and recognised as a key skillset in its own right; demand for JS contractors has more than doubled in the first half of the year.

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.NET Java JavaScript AngularJS DevOps Amazon AWS Git (software) PHP Python CSS

Top 10 In Demand Skills

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.NET Java Jscript

“We have seen a number of changes in the recruitment market over the last six months. With the contract market so buoyant we are seeing a high proportion of experienced permanent candidates move towards contract roles. This has hit us hardest with our JavaScript (React) roles but we are also starting to see the same again in .Net. In order to hire the best talent we have embraced hiring contractors at a Senior Developer level to further boost our permanent team. The rise of JavaScript over the last few years has been significant but it is still relatively young. Commercial experience with libraries such as React.js and Angular.js is a valuable addition for any JS developer CV.”

Comment from Macs Dickinson

Head of Technology at Ticket Arena

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Permanent Automation Test Demand and Average Salaries

jobs salary 8

TESTINGAs more companies move towards full agile development and continuous integration, the demand for automation skills continues to rise. Whereas previously automation was a niche area of testing, we are starting to see these skills used within more and more roles and projects. Demand and salary fluctuations shown below are mostly due to seasonal variations, with uplifts in both demand and rates after the new financial year.

1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.

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Selenium BDD Git (software) TDD Automation Testing XML SQL Agile Cucumber SoapUI


Permanent Automation Test Demand and Average Salary

Contract Automation Test Demand and Rates


“The World Quality Report 2014/15 states that ‘less than half of the IT projects worldwide are successful partly because of inefficient testing practices’. This is quite a worrying statistic. I believe that Test automation can significantly reduce the cost of failure through earlier detection of defects and repeated verification of the software. Quality and reliability of the product is increased and so is productivity – which makes test automation a commercially viable investment.

The main challenge most companies will face in implementing automation is getting the buy-in from the business. There can be a substantial upfront cost in time and resources before any return on investment is seen so it is crucial to measure this against what has been planned.”

Comment from Mohammed BobatIT Quality Assurance Manager,

Lowell Group

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INFRASTRUCTUREDemand for infrastructure skills will always remain high, however the move towards Cloud based infrastructure, and the rise of the DevOps culture have meant that the number of roles advertised that don’t require experience of either is starting to decrease. Whilst it has always been important for both professionals and employers to keep up with evolving technologies, there is a real threat of being left behind if these two areas aren’t already being explored. Specifically within the DevOps space, Yorkshire has seen contract demand and rates both increase significantly during the first half of this year. Many organisations are realising the importance of bringing these skills into their projects, and continue to experience challenges due to high demand and short supply of permanent candidates with this experience.

Microsoft Linux Windows ITIL Active Directory Agile Software Development Amazon AWS Firewall DevOps VMware

Perm DevOps Demand and SalaryContract DevOps Demand and Salary

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Early days Five or six years ago DevOps was seen as the domain of the so-called “unicorn” companies, web-based start-ups in Silicon Valley, mostly running on Linux… Now DevOps has well and truly entered the mainstream. It’s actively being used effectively by multi-million pound enterprises and there are few places this is more true than Leeds and the Yorkshire area in general. Large technical and financial enterprises, running on Windows as much as Linux, are aggressively transforming the way they work and reaping the benefits of being able to be faster to market and deploy more often with greater reliability. There are now enough DevOps meetups across Yorkshire, where like-minded people go to talk about the change in culture and technologies, that it’s probably possible to attend several a week, every week, if you wanted! What’s in a role?So, what does this mean for the job market? The good news is there’s a lot of new opportunities for work in the DevOps world in the, often quoted, “Northern powerhouse”. Both salaries and demand are steadily increasing for those with the right experience. However, this change is also driving a need for people to change their skillset to fit with the new ways of working. Database administrators (DBA) no longer just need to be the database gurus; they need to be automation and monitoring experts able to support constant change on potentially huge legacy systems, and feedback potential issues and improvements as part of an autonomous product team. Infrastructure engineers are less and less about the physical servers and more about using Powershell, Bash and JSON to describe environments that are deployed to the Cloud or automating provision of on premise virtual machines (VM). The future It won’t be long now before DevOps is no longer a ‘thing’, rather the culture and method that any company needs to apply to be successful in an increasingly fast paced, technology driven world. Those companies and staff who have been first into this brave new world will be ahead of the game in gaining and preserving market share and being able to react fastest to changes in markets. In short, DevOps is here to stay.

THE RISE AND RISE OF DEVOPS IN YORKSHIRE The rise and rise of DevOps in Yorkshire Ian Watson, Head of DevOps, Callcredit Information Group https://uk.linkedin.com/in/ian-watson-75267112

Early days Five or six years ago DevOps was seen as the domain of the so-called "unicorn" companies, web-based start-ups in Silicon Valley, mostly running on Linux… Now DevOps has well and truly entered the mainstream. It's actively being used effectively by multi-million pound enterprises and there are few places this is more true than Leeds and the Yorkshire area in general. Large technical and financial enterprises, running on Windows as much as Linux, are aggressively transforming the way they work and reaping the benefits of being able to be faster to market and deploy more often with greater reliability. There are now enough DevOps meetups across Yorkshire, where like-minded people go to talk about the change in culture and technologies, that it's probably possible to attend several a week, every week, if you wanted! What’s in a role? So, what does this mean for the job market? The good news is there's a lot of new opportunities for work in the DevOps world in the, often quoted, "Northern powerhouse". Both salaries and demand are steadily increasing for those with the right experience. However, this change is also driving a need for people to change their skillset to fit with the new ways of working. Database administrators (DBA) no longer just need to be the database gurus; they need to be automation and monitoring experts able to support constant change on potentially huge legacy systems, and feed back potential issues and improvements as part of an autonomous product team. Infrastructure engineers are less and less about the physical servers and more about using Powershell, Bash and JSON to describe environments that are deployed to the Cloud or automating provision of on premise virtual machines (VM). The future It won't be long now before DevOps is no longer a 'thing', rather the culture and method that any company needs to apply to be successful in an increasingly fast paced, technology driven world. Those companies and staff who have been first into this brave new world will be ahead of the game in gaining and preserving market share and being able to react fastest to changes in markets. In short, DevOps is here to stay.

Ian WatsonHead of DevOps, Callcredit

Information Group

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PROJECT MANAGEMENTProject Management is now a very mature market, and the first half of the year has seen the number of permanent and contract vacancies not being too dissimilar. Whilst the below graphs show some fluctuation, this has been minimal across both contract and permanent markets, further reduced when taking seasonal trends into account.

Permanent Project Management Demand and Rates

Contract Project Management Demand and Rates

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Software Delivery Data Agile Prince 2 Service Management Stakeholder management Visio APMP Project Planning JIRA

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BUSINESS ANALYSISWhilst demand for Business Analysts appears to have reduced so far this year, the number of vacancies is still high, and rates / salaries have remained buoyant. The move towards more Agile ways of working is changing the role of the BA, elevating the profile of this role within organisations who bring together this and other roles within what Scrum defines as the development team. Business Analysts now play a bigger part throughout the entire product development lifecycle.

Contract Business Analysis Demand and Rates

Royd Brayshay Director at NewRedo and organiser of the Agile Yorkshire group

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“Role flexibility is a trait common to many highly effective teams because fewer hand-offs contribute to reduced lead times and therefore increased customer value, plus a reduction in business risk. This is especially true for the traditional BA role where asking the right up front questions can save money through work not done. Also working closely with developers, testers and customers can raise overall quality and validate assumptions around ongoing investment.”


BUSINESS ANALYSIS Whilst demand for Business Analysts appears to have reduced so far this year, the number of vacancies is still high, and rates / salaries have remained buoyant. The move towards more Agile ways of working is changing the role of the BA, elevating the profile of this role within organisations who bring together this and other roles within what Scrum defines as the development team. Business Analysts now play a bigger part throughout the entire product development lifecycle.

Role flexibility is a trait common to many highly effective teams purely because fewer hand offs contribute to reducing lead time, increase the value and reduce the risk of work being done. This is especially true for the traditional BA role where asking the right up front questions can save money through work not done. Also working closely with developers, testers and customers can raise overall quality and validate assumptions around ongoing investment .

Royd Brayshay

Director at NewRedo

and organiser of the

Agile Yorkshire group


BUSINESS ANALYSIS Whilst demand for Business Analysts appears to have reduced so far this year, the number of vacancies is still high, and rates / salaries have remained buoyant. The move towards more Agile ways of working is changing the role of the BA, elevating the profile of this role within organisations who bring together this and other roles within what Scrum defines as the development team. Business Analysts now play a bigger part throughout the entire product development lifecycle.

Role flexibility is a trait common to many highly effective teams purely because fewer hand offs contribute to reducing lead time, increase the value and reduce the risk of work being done. This is especially true for the traditional BA role where asking the right up front questions can save money through work not done. Also working closely with developers, testers and customers can raise overall quality and validate assumptions around ongoing investment .

Royd Brayshay

Director at NewRedo

and organiser of the

Agile Yorkshire group

13

INFORMATION SECURITY“Information Security is more important than ever in Yorkshire with many companies relocating to the main cities to take advantage of the large skills base. Increasingly, CISO positions are located in the Leeds and surrounding areas to directly support the growth in technology and development in the area. The CISO role is now more prominent in digitally enabled businesses and is driving an uplift in the demand for skilled and experienced information security professionals across many different disciplines. As the CISO takes on a greater responsibility within the organisation for strategic thinking and operational delivery, increasing their remit over traditional security management roles, there will be similar increase in the need for their supporting teams to have broader skills and knowledge. Consequently, the market for Information Security skills continues to thrive with a solid increase in the contract market in terms of both rates and positions being coupled with an overall increase in roles and salaries in the permanent market. I fully expect further growth in the Information Security market as large organisations continue to build out their security capabilities and demand from SMEs also continues to build as Information Security becomes a priority for those businesses.”


CISSP ISO/IEC 27001CISM Risk Management PCI DSS Data Protection CISA Microsoft Penetration Testing SecOps

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James Wood(Lead Security Consultant at

Sectrel Ltd)

“Leeds has highest average digital salary of all Northern cities”

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In a digitally transformed world, we’re seeing a need for increased pace, and a continual focus on quality. When offering new roles and growing your business, you’ll need to offer certain key components to engage the very best people.

Gen Y’s For employers, the influence of digital cannot be underestimated and this influence extends to the staff they recruit. Millennials – or Generation Y – are reshaping the way we live, work and relax. Engaging and integrating these key staff is essential. In 2016, Gen Ys make up a large proportion of the workforce, and their experience with digital technology makes them a natural fit for IT. We’re seeing people in this age group move into management and team leader positions, and they tend to have clear ideas about what they want from their career. If needs are not met, they will move on, because they place as much importance in the nature of their work as the environment that they want to work in. It takes a new approach to work to keep Gen Ys happy. Agile, flexible working arrangements are key with an expectation of a comfortable work-life balance as well as an environment that nurtures their skills. Having an open and flexible approach will be a huge boost to attracting the best

talent.

Employer branding Additionally, as an IT employer, your branding needs to clearly convey your vision and your ethics. You must humanise the business, and give candidates a glimpse of your culture, and what makes you tick. The motivation for this is clear: if you ensure a good fit long-term, you can avoid losing Gen Ys who are not getting what they expected. Reaching out for talent can take many forms, too. It pays to look beyond the job pages, and use PPC campaigns, LinkedIn and event sponsorship to give your brand legitimacy, personality and a higher profile among the right kind of people.

How to Stay Ahead of the Game When Attracting Talent

“At Herd, we’ve seen a boom in the local tech sector over the last 3 years which is mirroring other cities across the North. The job vacancies are being created by digital companies expanding as well as more traditional companies using technology as part of their business. This is great news for the economy as long as we have the talent to fulfil the demand. To ensure Leeds is well placed to meet the growing demand Leeds City Council launched the cities’ first Digital Skills Plan in April 2016, developed in partnership with senior business leaders. The plan focuses on supporting short-term activities such as Herd’s Leeds Digital Job Fair 2.0 that is being held at First Direct Arena on 20th October to retain talent in the city. Longer-term actions include the development of a Digital University Technical College for 14 to 18 year olds and a graduate Bootcamp lead by Leeds Beckett University.

It’s a really exciting time to be in tech in Leeds, there is collaboration happening across the city as well as the wider north to put Leeds on tech map.”

Amy De-BalsiHerd

16

Attracting GraduatesIn Leeds, we’re fortunate to be able to tap into talent from two major universities. That’s something every local employer should use to their benefit. You simply must engage with the next generation right from the beginning therefore interacting with undergraduates before they start their job search will help you be ahead of the game. Building close links with some of the fantastic Northern universities is essential for any company looking to future proof their staffing challenges so map your next generation talent pool and engage with them now. IT graduates tend to have a wish list of things they’re looking for in a career, and they expect to get what they want. Market rates are key, but so are benefits. Be candid about the project work they’ll be involved in. Let them grow their skills during work hours. Provide opportunities to work at the bleeding edge, and offer a modern, transformed workplace environment. That means a more relaxed approach to working hours, and fewer dress

codes to adhere to.

Building PartnershipsTo take advantage of the huge growth of digital and tech in Leeds, your recruitment partners should be offering you real value, and driving the best candidates towards each vacancy. Consistency of approach, brand promotion and up-to-date market information are essential. Salary rates and competitor information should be constantly fed back to your team.

Finally, don’t forget to find that all-important balance: Gen Ys and Gen X employees. The most successful employers foster an environment that supports the strengths of both groups. Get this right and you’ll be rewarded with a highly loyal and diverse workforce, and a mountain of retained knowledge to draw from in coming years.

Attracting Graduates

In Leeds, we’re fortunate to be able to tap into talent from two major universities. That’s something every local employer should use to their benefit. You simply must engage with the next generation right from the beginning therefore interacting with undergraduates before they start their job search will help you be ahead of the game. Building close links with some of the fantastic Northern universities is essential for any company looking to future proof their staffing challenges so map your next generation talent pool and engage with them now.

IT graduates tend to have a wish list of things they’re looking for in a career, and they expect to get what they want. Market rates are key, but so are benefits. Be candid about the pro-ject work they’ll be involved in. Let them grow their skills during work hours. Provide opportunities to work at the bleeding edge, and offer a modern, transformed workplace environ-ment. That means a more relaxed approach to working hours, and fewer dress codes to adhere to.

Building Partnerships

To take advantage of the huge growth of digital and tech in Leeds, your recruitment partners should be offering you real value, and driving the best candidates towards each vacancy. Consistency of approach, brand promotion and up-to-date market information are essential. Salary rates and competitor information should be constantly fed back to your team.

Finally, don’t forget to find that all-important balance: Gen Ys and Gen X employees. The most successful employers foster an environment that supports the strengths of both groups. Get this right and you’ll be rewarded with a highly loyal and diverse workforce, and a mountain of retained knowledge to draw from in coming years.

Candidate experience

With competition being so high for talent in and around Leeds, a positive and innovative candidate experience is key. In todays buoyant market the candidate experience starts from the second the interview is confirmed – what interaction do you have with them in the run up to the interview? You then need to give the candidate every chance to succeed in the interview without compromising on your standards or quality. Humanising your business is key and yes people do see beyond ping pong tables! So be prepared to demonstrate what its really like to work there and how that could be great match for the person attending the interview.

The market for candidates is vibrant at all levels – for those with experi-ence and those without. The demand for talent means that more compa-nies are becoming centres for learning and developing talent through things like our own BJSS Academy. This is good for Yorkshire and it’s great for our sector.

“The market for candidates is vibrant at all levels – for those with experience and those without. The demand for talent means that more companies are becoming centres for learning and developing talent through things like our own BJSS Academy. This is good for Yorkshire and it’s great for our sector.”


Mike BuckHead of Delivery at BJSS

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cap hpi recently merged the two brands and based its head office in the City of Leeds. This has created a digital hub that incorporated leading technologies and the quality of people you would expect from Solera’s flagship business.

Leeds has transformed itself over the last decade, becoming a business hub, a social hub, improved road and rail links and a region with a number of top universities attracting thousands of digital-led, modern thinking people. The Leeds City Region will benefit from a £54.6m investment between 2016 and 2021. This is in addition to the £572.9m of funding committed by the Government on 7 July 2014. Over the lifetime of its deal (2015- 2021) the Local Enter-prise Partnership estimates that up to 10000 new jobs could be created, 2000 new homes built and that it has the potential to generate £640m public and private investment. Furthermore, a £1bn West Yorkshire Transport Fund, to improve journey time and maximise economic productivity, has also been agreed.

In the last 12 months cap hpi has been hiring extensively as we develop into new business areas. We have seen an increase in salaries due to the influx of several big hirers, such as Sky, to the Leeds area and we are working hard to counter this by providing the best working environment that we can. This means a great social side, the latest technology & standards, a common sense approach to working hours and an excellent city centre location.

Will Porter

Product Development Director

Cap hpi

Amy from Herd

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"At Herd, we’ve seen a boom in the local tech sector over the last 3 years which is mirroring other cities across the North. The job vacancies are being created by digital companies expanding as well as more traditional companies using technology as part of their business. This is great news for the economy as long as we have the talent to fulfil the demand. To ensure Leeds is well placed to meet the growing demand Leeds City Council launched the cities’ first Digital Skills Plan in April 2016, developed in partnership with senior business leaders.

The plan focuses on supporting short-term activities such as Herd’s Leeds Digital Job Fair 2.0 that is being held at First Direct Arena on 20th October to retain talent in the city. Longer-term actions include the development of a Digital University Technical College for 14 to 18 year olds and a graduate Bootcamp lead by Leeds Beckett University.

It’s a really exciting time to be in tech in Leeds, there is collaboration happening across the city as well as the wider north to put Leeds on tech map."

Candidate experience With competition being so high for talent in and around Leeds, a positive and innovative candidate experience is key. In today’s buoyant market the candidate experience starts from the second the interview is confirmed – what interaction do you have with them in the run up to the interview? You then need to give the candidate every chance to succeed in the interview without compromising on your standards or quality. Humanising your business is key and yes people do see beyond ping pong tables! So be prepared to demonstrate what it’s really like to work there and how that could be great match for the person attending the interview.


Will Porter Product Development Director cap hpi

“cap hpi recently merged the two brands and based its head office in the City of Leeds. This has created a digital hub that incorporated leading technologies and the quality of people you would expect from Solera’s flagship business. Leeds has transformed itself over the last decade, becoming a business hub, a social hub, improved road and rail links and a region with a number of top universities attracting thousands of digital-led, modern thinking people. The Leeds City Region will benefit from a £54.6m investment between 2016 and 2021. This is in addition to the £572.9m of funding committed by the Government on 7 July 2014. Over the lifetime of its deal (2015- 2021) the Local Enterprise Partnership estimates that up to 10000 new jobs could be created, 2000 new homes built and that it has the potential to generate £640m public and private investment. Furthermore, a £1bn West Yorkshire Transport Fund, to improve journey time and maximise economic productivity, has also been agreed. In the last 12 months cap hpi has been hiring extensively as we develop into new business areas. We have seen an increase in salaries due to the influx of several big hirers, such as Sky, to the Leeds area and we are working hard to counter this by providing the best working environment that we can. This means a great social side, the latest technology & standards, a common sense approach to working hours and an excellent city centre location.”

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ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Fruition IT is a Leeds based specialist IT recruitment agency who are passionate and dedicated to delivering a consistent, highly personal recruitment service to clients and candidates. We love being part of such a vibrant, innovative and buoyant sector in the heart of our fabulous City of Leeds. We believe it’s really important to contribute to tackling the IT skills shortage and hope this report helps to highlight what companies need to do to attract talent as well as helping candidates gauge their value in the market place.

If you’re a company looking for more specific tailored information to the roles you typically hire, we are more than happy to help you with some bespoke benchmarking. Get in touch and find out more about how we can help you with recruiting IT staff, whether you’re expanding your team, or moving into new markets, Fruition IT can support your business growth whatever stage you’re at, from start-up to global brand.

Alternatively, if you are a candidate looking for a new IT or Change role – permanent or contract, talk to us today. We’ll get to know you personally, offer constructive advice, and suggest only those roles that match your skillset and meet your aspirations. Fruition IT has the contacts, experience and knowledge to ensure you achieve your career objectives, from writing your CV to negotiating the best salary for you.

Martin JonesAssociate Director

Sarah PawsonManaging Director

0113 323 [email protected]

www.fruitionit.co.uk

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