Deerfoot is a specialist IT recruitment agency, placing permanent and contract technology staff with employers since 1997. We have dedicated recruiters covering London, who meet clients in the capital whenever that is useful, and we recruit from central London and the City out to the Home Counties and the M25 and M4 commuter belt.
You deal with the consultant doing the search, from brief to offer, with no hand-offs to a researcher or account manager.
The London technology market
London is the UK's largest and most crowded technology job market, and hiring here rewards knowing where you stand in it.
Finance runs through it, cited in 23% of London's permanent technology vacancies in the six months to September 2026, according to IT Jobs Watch. Around the City and Canary Wharf that means banks, insurers, and wealth and asset managers; around Shoreditch and King's Cross, start-ups, scale-ups and AI businesses; and around Westminster, government digital programmes, where security clearance now features in 6% of London vacancies, up from 4% a year earlier.
The practical consequence for employers: London pays the highest technology salaries in the UK, but demand is shifting. AI featured in almost one in seven London permanent tech vacancies in the six months to September 2026, up from one in seventeen two years earlier, while advertised medians for generalist roles such as business analysts and project managers fell year on year. Strong candidates are usually weighing several approaches at once, and good people are more often approached than found applying.
14.6%
of London permanent tech vacancies cited AI in the six months to September 2026, up from 5.9% two years earlier
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, so nobody here is working from a script
INDEPENDENTLY ACCREDITED SINCE 1997
The roles we fill in London
These are the areas where London employers most often come to us:
Software and full-stack engineering
Software, full-stack and Python engineers for product companies, banks and scale-ups, from mid-level to principal.
Data engineering and analytics
Data engineers, analytics engineers and BI specialists, one of the fastest-growing areas of London hiring across the City and fintech.
AI and machine learning
Machine learning and AI engineers, plus the data and platform people who get models into production.
Solutions and cloud architecture
Solutions, cloud and data architects for transformation programmes in financial services and the public sector.
Business analysis and change delivery
Business analysts, project and programme managers for regulated change in banking, insurance and wealth management.
More on business analysis and project management recruitment
Security and infrastructure
Security engineers, cloud and network engineers, and the IT managers who keep City firms running and compliant.
More on cyber security and infrastructure recruitment
In the last twelve months we have placed technology professionals with a range of London employers, including a global bank, wealth and investment managers, and a major consultancy delivering government digital services. The roles ranged from IT support and endpoint engineering to business analysis, performance analysis, interaction design, data leadership, ServiceNow architecture and senior infrastructure programme management.
We also recruit across cloud and DevOps, product and specialist roles and technology leadership.
How we work
Our process is documented, externally audited and the same every time. See how we recruit.
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 a fee-free placement each month for a registered charity or non-profit, 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.
London hiring moves fast.
Strong candidates here rarely wait for a second call, and we have been recruiting technology people since 1997.
What London employers are paying
Salary expectations are where most London hiring processes come unstuck. These medians are drawn from advertised vacancies across London rather than from our own placements, so they reflect the market you are competing in.
London IT salaries - six months to September 2026
- Software Engineer - £100,000 median, down 9.1% on last year (865 salaries, 1,274 vacancies)
- Solutions Architect - £100,000 median, up 5.3% (577 salaries, 871 vacancies)
- Data Engineer - £80,000 median, unchanged on last year (467 salaries, 613 vacancies)
- Business Analyst - £67,500 median, down 15.6% (317 salaries, 419 vacancies)
- IT Manager - £65,000 median, unchanged on last year (342 salaries, 418 vacancies)
- Project Manager - £67,500 median, down 12.9% (302 salaries, 416 vacancies)
The six most-advertised technology job titles in London over the period, in order of demand. Source: IT Jobs Watch, London medians from advertised vacancies. Updated quarterly.
Who you will be dealing with
Nick Gordon · Founder · LinkedIn
Nick founded Deerfoot in 1997 and has been immersed in the recruitment industry for more than 25 years. He remains hands-on, and particularly enjoys advising organisations with complex hiring needs. Running an ethical recruitment service matters a great deal to him, and it shapes how Deerfoot works with clients and candidates alike.
Away from work you will usually find him heading out into the forest or onto the beach with his dog, playing tennis, doing yoga, or cooking something plant-based.
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 Nick, call us on 020 3701 5510 and ask for him, or email hello@deerfoot.co.uk and it will reach him.
Common questions about hiring in London
Do you have an office in London?
No. We are a remote-first business and do not rent a London office. Our London clients deal with dedicated recruiters who come into town to meet them whenever a face-to-face conversation helps, at your offices in the City, Canary Wharf or wherever suits.
What does a London recruitment agency cost?
Our fees are a percentage of first-year salary, set by how hard the role is to fill, and we agree a firm figure before any work starts. Behind it sits a six-month, 100% refund on our standard permanent terms, and one fee-free placement each month for a registered charity or non-profit.
How quickly can you fill a technology role in London?
The candidate pool is deep but heavily approached, so speed comes from reaching people first. For most mid-level roles expect a shortlist within a week to ten days and an offer within four to six weeks; senior and security-cleared roles take longer.
Do you recruit for fintech and regulated financial services?
Yes. Much of our London work is in banking, wealth management and fintech, where candidates need to understand regulation, controls and change governance as well as the technology.
Can you supply contractors in London?
Yes. We are an FCSA Recruiter Partner, so every contractor is engaged compliantly and their IR35 status is agreed before day one.
Which parts of London do you cover?
Central London and the City, out through the Home Counties and the M25 and M4 commuter belt. In practice we recruit UK-wide, including IT recruitment across Hampshire and the South Coast, Manchester and the North West and Bristol and the South West.
How do I know what salary to offer in London?
Start with the medians on this page, then ask us for a benchmark for your exact role. London pay varies widely between the City, tech scale-ups and the public sector, so a like-for-like comparison is worth having. It is free and carries no obligation.
Why does it matter that our recruiter is a B Corp™?
More London employers now report on supply-chain standards, and B Lab’s assessment counts the businesses you buy from, so a certified recruiter is an easy, evidenced win if you are a B Corp or working towards it. Either way, it means an independent body has verified how we treat staff, candidates and the environment. In practice that means a fee-free placement each month for registered charities, a Living Wage Employer commitment and carbon offsetting on every placement.
Tell us who you need in London and we will tell you honestly if we are the right people to find them.
020 3701 5510 · hello@deerfoot.co.uk
