Deerfoot is an IT recruitment agency covering Hampshire and the South Coast, placing permanent and contract technology staff with employers since 1997. Our consultants live and work here - across Southampton, the Solent and the New Forest - and we recruit for the county and the rest of the UK.
The consultant you speak to is the one doing the work. No researcher handing you to an account manager, and no branch network taking a cut.
The Hampshire technology market
Hampshire's technology employment does not look like London's, and hiring here rewards knowing the difference.
The county's strengths sit in maritime and defence around Portsmouth and the Solent, geospatial and data around Southampton, aerospace and engineering at Farnborough, and enterprise IT in the corporate cluster around Basingstoke and Winchester. The University of Southampton, the University of Portsmouth and Solent University supply a steady flow of graduates, and Southampton Science Park anchors a cluster of smaller software and research businesses. Just over the Dorset border, Bournemouth and Poole add a sizeable digital and financial services employer base that competes for the same candidates.
The practical consequence for employers: salaries here are lower than London but the candidate pool is thinner, security clearance appears far more often than it does nationally, and good people are usually approached rather than found applying. In the six months to September 2026, security clearance featured in more than one in five Southampton software engineering vacancies.
20.8%
of Southampton software engineering vacancies asked for security clearance in the six months to September 2026
94%
of our permanent placements still in post twelve months later, in our most recent audited period
19 years
average technology recruitment experience per consultant — nobody here is working from a script
INDEPENDENTLY ACCREDITED SINCE 1997
The roles we fill in Hampshire
We are a specialist IT consultancy, so this list is narrower than a generalist agency's and deeper in each area:
IT operations, service desk and support
Service desk analysts, first to third line support, desktop and infrastructure engineers, and the IT managers who run those teams.
Software and test engineering
Developers and test engineers, particularly in .NET and C#, from mid-level through to lead. Permanent and contract.
Business analysis
Business and systems analysts who can sit between technical teams and the business, including regulated and security-cleared environments.
Project, programme and PMO
Project and programme managers, PMO analysts and delivery leads, for technology change and wider business transformation.
Infrastructure, networking and cyber security
Network and infrastructure engineers, cloud and platform specialists, and information security roles from analyst to manager.
Data and analytics
Data engineers, data and BI analysts, and the reporting and insight leads who turn the numbers into decisions.
In the last two years we have filled IT operations, project management, business analysis and .NET development roles for employers in and around Southampton, on both permanent and contract terms.
We also recruit across artificial intelligence, cloud and DevOps, IT architecture and technology leadership, though that work sits more often with our national and London clients than locally, and we would rather say so than pretend otherwise.
How we work
Our process is documented, externally audited and the same every time.
ISO 9001 certified, audited by BSI
Our candidate assessment method is inspected annually by the British Standards Institution. Every candidate we submit has been identity-checked and reference-verified before you see the CV.
A six-month, 100% refund guarantee
If a permanent hire does not work out within six months, you get the entire fee back. Not a credit note, not a free replacement search — the fee.
Certified B Corporation™
We are independently assessed by B Lab™ against verified standards for social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability. In practice that shows up as fee-free recruitment for registered charities, carbon offsetting through Ecologi, and a donation to the Born Free Foundation for every CV we send. See our B Corp profile.
REC corporate member and FCSA recruiter partner
Contractors are engaged compliantly, with the IR35 position established before anyone starts.
Hampshire is not London.
Hiring here rewards knowing the difference, and we have been doing it since 1997.
What Hampshire employers are paying
Salary expectations are where most Hampshire hiring processes come unstuck. These medians are drawn from advertised vacancies across the county rather than from our own placements, so they reflect the market you are competing in.
Hampshire IT salaries — six months to September 2026
- Support Analyst — £30,000 median, up 3.4% on last year (75 salaries, 89 vacancies)
- .NET Developer — £58,750 median, up 8.3% (52 salaries, 53 vacancies)
- Business Analyst — £60,000 median, up 4.4% (10 salaries, 23 vacancies)
- Software Engineer — £65,000 median, unchanged on last year (59 salaries, 72 vacancies)
- Project Manager — £75,000 median, up 7.1% (43 salaries, 61 vacancies)
Source: IT Jobs Watch, Hampshire medians from advertised vacancies. Updated quarterly.
Who you will be dealing with
Marie Bundy · Lead IT Recruitment Partner · Hampshire and the South Coast · LinkedIn
Marie joined Deerfoot in 2006 and now leads our technology recruitment across Hampshire and the South Coast. She has lived in the Southampton area all her life, so she knows the local employers, who is hiring and what a realistic salary looks like here first hand. Clients tend to remember her for the same reason: she does not give up on a tricky hire.
Away from work she is a mum of two, most often found on the touchline at her daughters' football matches or walking the dog in the New Forest.
Our consultants average 19 years of experience each. That is the actual reason clients say we are not a typical agency: nobody here is working from a script, because nobody here is new.
To talk to Marie, call us on 023 8081 3001 and ask for her, or email hello@deerfoot.co.uk and it will reach her.
Common questions about hiring in Hampshire
Do you have an office in Hampshire?
Yes, in the sense that matters: our team is based here. We work remote-first rather than from a branch office, and our consultants live and work across the county - across Southampton, The Solent, and the New Forest. We meet clients on site or wherever is useful, and we would rather say that plainly than rent a meeting room and call it a branch.
What does it cost to use a recruitment agency in Hampshire?
Fees are a percentage of first-year salary and vary with the difficulty of the role. What is unusual about ours is what sits behind them: a six-month, 100% refund if the hire does not work out, and no fee at all for registered charities. We will give you a firm number before you commit to anything.
How long does it take to fill a technology role in Hampshire?
For most mid-level roles, a shortlist within a week to ten days and an offer inside four to six weeks. Security-cleared roles take longer, because clearance does. Anyone promising a shortlist in 24 hours is sending you CVs they already had.
Do you recruit contractors as well as permanent staff?
Yes, both. We are an FCSA recruiter partner, so contractors are engaged compliantly and the IR35 position is settled before anyone starts.
Which Hampshire towns do you cover?
Southampton, Portsmouth, Winchester, Basingstoke, Fareham, Eastleigh, Whiteley, Andover and Farnborough, across the New Forest, plus Bournemouth and Poole over the Dorset border and Salisbury over the Wiltshire one. In practice we recruit UK-wide and Hampshire is simply where we are.
What salary should I offer for a technology role in Hampshire?
The figures on this page give county medians by role. For anything more specific, ask us for a benchmark. We will pull comparable advertised and placed salaries for your exact role and location, at no cost and with no obligation.
Why does it matter that our recruiter is a B Corp™?
If you are a B Corp yourself, or working towards it, your suppliers count: B Lab's assessment scores you on the standards of the businesses you buy from, and a certified recruiter is an easy, evidenced win in the supply-chain section. If you are not, it still tells you something useful about who you are dealing with. Certification means an independent body has verified how we treat staff, candidates and the environment, not just what we say about it. In practice for a Hampshire employer that shows up as fee-free recruitment for registered charities, a Living Wage Employer commitment, and carbon offsetting on every placement.
Tell us what you are trying to hire and we will tell you honestly whether we are the right people for it.
023 8081 3001 · hello@deerfoot.co.uk
