SaaS & B2B Software sector
B2B SaaS is now the dominant scale-up engine of the Northern commercial economy. Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield, Liverpool and York between them host hundreds of post-Series A software businesses across vertical SaaS (HealthTech, EdTech, LegalTech, GovTech), horizontal B2B (CRM, MarTech, Data, FinOps) and increasingly PLG-led products with enterprise upgrades. The depth of the SaaS commercial talent pool here has grown materially since 2018 and now rivals any UK region outside London.
Most SaaS commercial hires in the North are still made via a London-headquartered search firm with a junior consultant on the file. Evara's partners are operators who have led commercial functions in B2B SaaS personally, including post-Series A scale, expansion to North America, and PE-backed buy-and-build. We bring an operator's view of what good looks like at every stage, not a generic competency framework.
Sky Betting & Gaming (Flutter)
Tech
One of the largest SaaS-adjacent tech employers in Leeds.
Twinkl
EdTech
Sheffield-headquartered global EdTech with a substantial commercial function.
Tribepad
HR Tech
Sheffield SaaS scale-up serving large enterprise recruitment.
WANdisco
Data tech
Sheffield-rooted data infrastructure business.
BJSS
Tech consultancy and software
Leeds-headquartered, a major commercial bench.
TPP
HealthTech SaaS
Major Leeds HealthTech business serving the NHS.
The Hut Group (THG)
Commerce SaaS
Manchester-headquartered global commerce platform.
BookingGo (Rentalcars)
Travel SaaS
Manchester-headquartered travel-tech business.
Peak
AI / Decision intelligence
Manchester-headquartered enterprise AI scale-up.
Sauce
B2B SaaS
Hull-based SaaS scale-up emblematic of the C4DI cluster.
SaaS commercial talent supply at SDR, AE and Customer Success Manager level is now genuinely competitive in Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield, with healthy graduate inflow. Senior SaaS leadership (Sales Director and above) is thinner and most strong candidates are passive, equity-locked and approached on warm referrals. Hybrid working two or three days a week is the dominant pattern for senior SaaS roles in the North; full-remote is more common in pure scale-ups than in PE-backed businesses.
SaaS comp in the North runs broadly 10-20% below London for equivalent seats but the gap closes at CRO and VP level where the market is genuinely national. A typical Series A-Series B Head of Sales in Leeds or Manchester earns £90k-£130k base with OTE £140k-£200k. CRO seats in PE-backed Northern SaaS businesses commonly hit £150k-£200k base with OTE of £250k-£400k plus equity.
Yorkshire
Leeds and Sheffield together form the densest SaaS scale-up cluster in Yorkshire. Leeds anchors FinTech, HealthTech and LegalTech (Sky Betting alumni network, TPP, BJSS, First Direct); Sheffield leads on EdTech and HR Tech (Twinkl, Tribepad, WANdisco). York adds a smaller but disproportionately senior layer thanks to Aviva and a strong applied-sciences graduate flow.
North West
Manchester is the senior-SaaS gravity centre of the North West, with Liverpool and Salford complementing on commerce, AdTech and B2B partnerships. THG, BookingGo, Peak and a deep wider SaaS scale-up community give Greater Manchester the largest single SaaS talent pool in the North.
Services
Retained search for SaaS Sales Directors, VP Sales, Heads of Customer Success and CROs. Each search is anchored by a named partner who has personally led the equivalent function in a SaaS business.
RevOps, Sales Engineering, GTM Engineering, Demand Gen and Enablement hires for B2B SaaS scale-ups. We help scope the seat as well as fill it, particularly for first-of-kind hires.
Strategic Revenue Audit, fractional CRO and CRO-mentor engagements for SaaS scale-ups pre and post Series A and for PE-backed buy-and-build platforms.
Locations
FAQs
Yes. We support both pre-Series A scale-ups (often via fractional CRO before a permanent hire) and PE-backed SaaS businesses through retained executive search. Our partners have personally led commercial functions in both stages.
Broadly 10-20% below London at SDR, AE and Director level for equivalent seats. The gap closes materially at VP and CRO level, where the market is national and most candidates compare across regions.
Yes, increasingly so. Hybrid working, the cost-of-living differential and the maturity of the Northern SaaS scene make Leeds and Manchester credible bases for senior London-resident commercial talent. Evara has run multiple successful searches on this model.
Operator playbooks
8 to 10 weeks
How to hire a Head of Sales in the North of England
Read playbook →
Three to five weeks per shortlisted candidate
How to run a CRO interview loop
Read playbook →
One working week
How to build a commercial scorecard in week one
Read playbook →
Decision guides
Email Rachel Lunn and the Evara team. We will reply within one working day with a sector-specific market read for the role you have in mind.
Email Rachel Lunn/industries/saas
Sales recruitment, GTM recruitment and revenue advisory for SMEs UK-wide. We reply within one working day.
Email Rachel Lunn