noun
Definition 1
Wholesale stockbrokers who controlled the London Stock Exchange prior to the reform of 1986. Retail brokers acting on behalf of investors were obliged to buy/sell stocks from/to the jobbers, who made their money on the spread between the buy and sell price of quoted stocks. Having to pay for two intermediaries raised costs for investors, hindering the growth of stock market investment, which rose spectacularly when jobbers' privileges were removed and retail stockbrokers were allowed to deal directly with their opposite numbers. 'Jobber' was the somewhat derogatory term used by brokers and the press; on the LSE itself they were known as dealers. In their defence it should be pointed out that jobbers often provided the minimum liquidity to enable trades to take place at all, regardless of costs, an important factor before electronic order matching became technically possible.
Source: Invertext
Context: Similar practices were introduced into the City after the "Big Bang" in 1986, which allowed securities brokers and jobbers - market-makers in securities - to deal under one roof.
Source: Financial Times 30/10/2008