Each Year, Journalism firm The Times measures, ranks and publishes a list of the top 100 employers in the UK. The research is compiled from surveying over 20,000 students who graduated summer 2017. Checking the list out is a good way to see the current big guns in graduate employment. It can also help you discover additional employers to apply to that you hadn’t yet thought of. Without further adieu, here’s the list for 2017:
| Rank | 2016 | Employer | Industry or Business Sector | Graduate Jobs in 2018 | Starting Salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | PwC | Accounting & professional services | 1,200 | Competitive |
| 2 | 4 | Civil Service | Public sector | 1,000 | £25,000-£28,000 |
| 3 | 2 | Aldi | Retail | 100 | £44,000 |
| 4 | 3 | Teach First | Public sector | 1,750 | Competitive |
| 5 | 5 | IT & telecommunications | No fixed quota | Competitive | |
| 6 | 7 | Deloitte | Accounting & professional services | 900 | Competitive |
| 7 | 8 | NHS | Public sector | 200 | £23,000 |
| 8 | 6 | KPMG | Accounting & professional services | Around 1,000 | Competitive |
| 9 | 9 | EY | Accounting & professional services | 900 | Competitive |
| 10 | 13 | GSK | Chemicals & pharmaceuticals | 70+ | Competitive |
| 11 | 10 | BBC | Media | 130 | £20,800 |
| 12 | 11 | Unilever | Consumer goods | 45-50 | £30,000 |
| 13 | 14 | Lidl | Retail | 250+ | £36,000-£44,000 |
| 14 | 12 | J.P. Morgan | Investment banking & fund management | 400+ | Competitive |
| 15 | 23 | Rolls-Royce | Engineering & industrial | 200+ | £28,500 |
| 16 | 17 | Accenture | Consulting | 500+ | Competitive |
| 17 | 16 | HSBC | Banking & finance | 500+ | Competitive |
| 18 | 15 | Goldman Sachs | Investment banking & fund management | Around 300 | Competitive |
| 19 | 20 | Barclays | Banking & finance | 300+ | Competitive |
| 20 | 19 | Jaguar Land Rover | Engineering & industrial | 250-300 | £29,000 |
| 21 | 21 | McKinsey & Company | Consulting | No fixed quota | Competitive |
| 22 | 18 | John Lewis Partnership | Retail | Unknown | – |
| 23 | 26 | BP | Oil & energy | 100+ | £33,000+ |
| 24 | 22 | L’Oréal | Consumer goods | 28 | £30,000 |
| 25 | 24 | IBM | IT & telecommunications | 300+ | £30,000 |
| 26 | 27 | Shell | Oil & energy | 60+ | £33,000 |
| 27 | 33 | Arup | Engineering & industrial | 250+ | Competitive |
| 28 | 42 | Frontline | Public sector | 352 | Bursary of up to £19,500 |
| 29 | 25 | Lloyds Banking Group | Banking & finance | 300+ | £28,000+ |
| 30 | 36 | Allen & Overy | Law | No fixed quota | £44,000 |
| 31 | 43 | BAE Systems | Engineering & industrial | 350 | £28,000-£30,000 |
| 32 | 29 | Microsoft | IT & telecommunications | 40 | £34,700 |
| 33 | 34 | P&G | Consumer goods | 40 | Competitive |
| 34 | 35 | RBS | Banking & finance | 200+ | Competitive |
| 35 | 28 | Army | Armed Forces | 650 | £31,232 |
| 36 | 45 | Mars | Consumer goods | 40 | £30,000-£32,000 |
| 37 | 53 | Newton Europe | Consulting | 40 | £45,000-£50,000 |
| 38 | 52 | Amazon | Retail | 250+ | Competitive |
| 39 | 31 | Morgan Stanley | Investment banking & fund management | 200+ | Competitive |
| 40 | 37 | Boston Consulting Group | Consulting | No fixed quota | Competitive |
| 41 | 40 | Atkins | Engineering & industrial | 250+ | £22,000-£26,500 |
| 42 | 44 | Apple | Consumer goods | Varies | Competitive |
| 43 | 30 | Clifford Chance | Law | Unknown | £44,800 |
| 44 | 32 | Tesco | Retail | 100+ | £26,000-£32,000 |
| 45 | 38 | Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer | Law | Up to 80 | £43,000 |
| 46 | 39 | Linklaters | Law | 110 | £43,000 |
| 47 | 69 | Herbert Smith Freehills | Law | 60 | £44,000 |
| 48 | 41 | Sky | Media | 90+ | £25,000-£32,000 |
| 49 | 56 | Slaughter and May | Law | 80-85 | £43,000 |
| 50 | 54 | M&S | Retail | 200 | £23,500-£28,000 |
| 51 | 46 | AstraZeneca | Chemicals & pharmaceuticals | 80+ | £28,000+ |
| 52 | New | Dyson | Engineering & industrial | 100 | £26,500 |
| 53 | 91 | Cancer Research UK | Charity | 10 | £25,000 |
| 54 | 68 | Airbus | Engineering & industrial | 100+ | £27,000 |
| 55 | 63 | Santander | Banking & finance | Up to 50 | £30,000 |
| 56 | 83 | Siemens | Engineering & industrial | 70-80 | Competitive |
| 57 | 51 | ExxonMobil | Oil & energy | 20-30 | £38,500+ |
| 58 | 57 | Baker & McKenzie | Law | 33 | £45,000 |
| 59 | 59 | Citi | Investment banking & fund management | Varies | Competitive |
| 60 | 64 | Virgin Media | Media | 40+ | £29,000 |
| 61 | 49 | WPP | Media | Up to 10 | Competitive |
| 62 | NEW | Think Ahead | Public sector | 100 | £16,900-£18,800+ |
| 63 | 67 | Royal Navy | Armed Forces | No fixed quota | £25,984 |
| 64 | 74 | DLA Piper | Law | 70 | £27,000-£44,000 |
| 65 | 62 | Police | Public sector | 350 | £29,607 |
| 66 | 76 | Network Rail | Transport | Around 175 | £26,500 |
| 67 | 47 | BT | IT & telecommunications | 250+ | £28,250+ |
| 68 | 58 | Nestle | Consumer goods | 25 | £27,000 |
| 69 | 55 | MI5 – The Security Service | Public sector | 150 | £30,000 |
| 70 | 71 | Boots | Retail | 30-40 | £25,000 |
| 71 | NEW | Charityworks | Charity | 150 | £18,000-£20,000 |
| 72 | 88 | Local Government | Public sector | Over 150 | £24,174+ |
| 73 | 90 | IT & telecommunications | Unknown | – | |
| 74 | 50 | Bain & Company | Consulting | No fixed quota | Competitive |
| 75 | 99 | BMW Group | Engineering & industrial | 20-30 | £31,000 |
| 76 | 96 | Bloomberg | Banking & finance | 250+ | Competitive |
| 77 | 61 | Penguin Random House | Media | 20+ | Competitive |
| 78 | 66 | Bank of England | Public sector | 80+ | £30,000 |
| 79 | 80 | Diageo | Consumer goods | Varies | Competitive |
| 80 | 70 | AECOM | Engineering & industrial | 350 | £24,000-£27,000 |
| 81 | 72 | Wellcome | Charity | 10+ | £26,000+ |
| 82 | 65 | Deutsche Bank | Investment banking & fund management | 100+ | Competitive |
| 83 | 94 | Savills | Property | 90 | £26,000 |
| 84 | NEW | Centrica | Oil & energy | 50+ | £27,000-£38,000 |
| 85 | 60 | Danone | Consumer goods | Varies | £29,500 |
| 86 | 81 | Grant Thornton | Accounting & professional services | 200 | Competitive |
| 87 | 82 | Hogan Lovells | Law | 60 | £44,000 |
| 88 | 73 | RAF | Armed Forces | 500-600 | £30,000+ |
| 89 | NEW | GE | Engineering & industrial | Varies | Competitive |
| 90 | 75 | Mott MacDonald | Engineering & industrial | 250 | £25,000-£28,000 |
| 91 | NEW | White & Case | Law | 50 | £46,000 |
| 92 | 92 | UBS | Investment banking & fund management | 300 | Competitive |
| 93 | NEW | GCHQ | Public sector | 200+ | £25,000+ |
| 94 | 79 | Lloyd’s | Banking & finance | 10 | Competitive |
| 95 | 84 | Oxfam | Charity | 50+ voluntary internships | Voluntary |
| 96 | 78 | Norton Rose Fulbright | Law | 45 | £44,000 |
| 97 | 85 | Irwin Mitchell | Law | 45 | £25,000+ |
| 98 | 98 | McDonald’s Restaurants | Retail | 50 | £22,000 |
| 99 | NEW | CMS | Law | 65 | £26,000-£40,000 |
| 100 | NEW | E.ON | Oil & energy | Unknown | – |