August was hot for IT contractors

August proved to be a good month for IT contractors with hourly rates reaching a high for the year, and contractors fluent in SAP software proved particularly highly sought after.

For the month of August, those in the most commonly requested positions found their hourly rates had edged up by 2 percent to £28.93.

This followed a similar two percent rise in July when the hourly rate moved to £28.21.

The data is based on average rates for contractors working in the ten most commonly requested roles — ranging from project manager to analyst to Unix consultant — as defined and recorded by the Contractor UK Web site.

The best placed mover in the top 10, according to Contractor UK, are those in the role of SAP consultant. Average SAP hourly rates have moved by 17 percent from £34.83 to £41.76 in the last month with quoted rates for SAP Basis and SAP HR getting as high as £100.

Jobs in the City also continued to show steady growth, with average quoted rates there reaching £28.01, which is a 5 percent rise over the last six months.