The launch of new tech-savvy multilateral trading facilities has meant that competition to be the dominant stock exchange in Europe is heating up. Technology is key to gaining a competitive edge and recruiters predict hiring in the space will take off soon.

Turquoise, the European equity trading system set up by a consortium of nine investment banks, is set for full launch next week and has already suffered a technical glitch during prelimary trading that left brokers unable to trade for “a few minutes”.

Chi-X, Nasdaq OMX Europe and Bats Trading are among the other contenders looking to take a chunk out of the dominance of the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

The LSE itself has just launched an ultra-fast hosting service to provide the “ultimate solution” to reduce latency for high-frequency algorithmic traders. A millisecond can make all the difference to gaining a competitive advantage for these traders.

Simon Barnby, global marketing director at Fidessa Group, a provider of multi-asset trading, market data and global connectivity solutions, says: “Technology is essential for all these new venues and, as more appear, this will inevitably transfer to the job market.”

Andrew Keene, director of IT recruiters Thomson Keene Associates, says that ongoing investment in technology by the exchanges means there’s going to be a continuing demand for techies.

“They’re always looking to improve on usability, performance and latency. Building these systems in-house means they gain an edge over their competitors,” he explains.

There’s not much point in applying to Turquoise if you’re a developer, though, reckons Abigail Waudby, manager of the IT division at recruiters Project Partners.

“Around 90% of the development work for Turquoise was done in Sweden, so this obviously hasn’t had an effect on the UK job market. However, there’s a lot of interest in multilateral trading facilities and there will be jobs down the line.”

Barnby reckons the development roles are just the tip of the iceberg: “They need implementation managers, support staff and business analysts across all of these venues. Designing and configuring these systems in a real-time environment is going to require a lot of people.”