2027 UK salary guides.

A salary guide is a report showing what employers are paying for specific roles, based on real market data. Our 2027 UK salary guides cover marketing and sales, tech, IT and data, with 25th, 50th and 75th percentile salaries for each role across the UK and seven regions. Every guide also compares 2027 figures with 2026, projects pay for 2028 and summarises hiring trends and in-demand skills.

Our 2027 UK salary figures start with placement data from the roles we have filled across the UK, cross-checked against live job market data and our 2027 salary survey of professionals and employers. Each figure is set at role level and reviewed against demand for that role, including where AI and automation are changing it. We refresh the data every year and show the last updated date on each guide.

A salary guide is accurate for the roles, regions and date it covers. Ours are built from real placements and refreshed every year, so the salary ranges reflect what employers are paying now rather than relying on advertised figures alone. Treat them as a reliable starting point for the market rate, then adjust for the specifics of your role: sector, company size, skills mix and how hard the role is to fill.

Our salary benchmarks show the 25th, 50th and 75th percentiles for each role. The 25th percentile typically reflects professionals earlier in their career or still building experience in the role. The 50th percentile is the midpoint of the market, reflecting solid experience and the core skills expected. The 75th percentile reflects highly experienced professionals with specialist skills or greater responsibility. Where you sit depends on experience, skills, responsibilities, location and demand.

No. The figures in our salary guides are base salary only, so you can compare roles like for like. Bonuses, commission, pension contributions and benefits vary too much between employers to build into a single benchmark. This matters most in business development, sales and customer success, where commission can add a significant amount to total earnings. Factor these in separately when setting or comparing an offer.

Salary benchmarking is comparing what you pay, or plan to pay, for a role against what the wider market pays for the same role. It works by matching the role on responsibilities, seniority and location rather than job title alone, then checking where your figure sits against the 25th, 50th and 75th percentiles. The result tells you whether an offer is competitive before it reaches a candidate.

UK employers benchmark salaries by combining a published salary guide with live market signals: what candidates are asking for at interview, what competitors are advertising and where offers have been declined. The best time to benchmark is when a role is signed off, not after it has been advertised. According to our 2027 salary survey, 53.2% of UK employers are hiring now or plan to within six months, so early benchmarking matters.

Use regional data wherever the role is tied to a location. Our guides show figures for the UK as a whole and for London, the Midlands, the East, South and North of England, Scotland and Wales, and London sits well above the national median for most roles. Use the UK-wide figure for remote roles that hire nationally, then check the regional figure for wherever most of your candidates are likely to be based.

Find your job title in the relevant 2027 salary guide and check where your salary sits between the 25th, 50th and 75th percentile for your region. If you are below the 50th percentile despite having solid experience in the role, it may be worth looking more closely at how your pay compares. If you are above the 75th percentile, your salary is already towards the upper end of the market. Job titles vary between employers, so compare on responsibilities as well as title.

Yes. Take the 25th, 50th and 75th percentile figures for your role and region into a review or interview and be clear about where your experience places you within that salary range. Ask for a specific figure rather than a range. Our 2027 salary survey found that 45% of UK professionals feel their pay does not reflect the work they do, showing how common these concerns are. Keep the conversation evidence-led.

Start with the market rate for the role and region, then adjust for what makes your role different: the skills you need, the seniority you expect, how quickly you need to hire and how many employers are competing for the same people. Check the figure against internal pay bands so you do not create a gap with existing staff. Our 2027 survey found competitive salary is the top priority for 61.9% of UK professionals.

Yes. Our salary guides cover hundreds of roles, but some positions are harder to price: niche skills, unusual seniority, a specific industry background or a location outside the main hubs. For those, our bespoke salary benchmarking service builds a report around the exact role you are hiring for, based on job title, location, seniority and experience level. Request a bespoke salary report and we will do the rest.