Pinsent Masons has offered the most new roles in the technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) sector this year, new data shows, with the firm topping the vacancies table ahead of second-placed TLT.

Since the beginning of 2015 Pinsents has advertised for eight TMT lawyers in the UK, according to a report by data provider Vacancysoft and consultants JLegal. TLT has looked for five, with CMS Cameron McKenna, Taylor Wessing and Bond Dickinson all seeking four.

Since the beginning of 2014 Pinsents has advertised the most TMT lawyer roles with 17, ahead of DLA Piper in second with 15 and Taylor Wessing with 12, according to the report.

The head of Pinsents' TMT team, Clive Seddon, said: "We have always had a growing team but haven't shouted about it… This year we have picked up a lot of work from financial institutions that have been a lot more active in terms of TMT-driven ways to reconnect with their customers."

Pinsents sits on several bank panels for TMT work, and Seddon added that government procurement projects have also been a lucrative source of work for law firms in the sector.

Compared to the year to date in 2014, there has been a 71% increase in the volume of London-based TMT vacancies, as the proportion of regional TMT lawyer vacancies has dipped from 44% in 2014 to 33% so far in 2015.

The greatest demand is for transactional IT lawyers.

TMT has been the second most active hiring sector in 2015, the report shows, behind company/commercial and ahead of regulatory practices.

In-house, the biggest hirers were the BBC, with 25 new jobs posted in the year to date, Vodafone with 18 and BT with 10.

Patent litigators remain highly sought after, particularly those with an academic background in science or engineering, the report reveals.

So far in 2015 in-house vacancies within TMT-focused businesses are predominantly based in London and the South, and account for 92% of the market.