LinkedIn Top Companies 2017: Where the UK wants to work now
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LinkedIn Top Companies 2017: Where the UK wants to work now

Retail, tech, banking or media... this year's LinkedIn Top Companies span 12 industries. They are on every British high street, lending to 1 in 4 first-time homebuyers or reaching nearly every one of our sitting rooms. They do vastly different things, but they have one thing in common: they are where the UK wants to work now.

The Top Companies list is based on the billions of actions taken by LinkedIn's 500+ million members. Our data team, working with our global editorial team, analysed those actions to come up with a blended score ranking the winners in each country.

Our methodology takes into consideration three main pillars to uncover the companies our members are most interested in now: job applications, both views and applies on postings; engagement, with employees as well as with the company directly; and retention, how many employees are sticking around for a year or longer. Some final points: Our analysis was only run on companies with over 500 employees; included only actions taken in the 12 months ending in February; and — as with all LinkedIn Lists — excluded LinkedIn and its parent, Microsoft, from consideration. You can read more about our methodology here.

Share the list and join the conversation using #LinkedInTopCompanies.

Here are this year's top 25 companies in the UK:

The John Lewis Partnership, parent company of John Lewis and Waitrose, has secured the top slot for the second year running — despite a rollercoaster period that includes reduced bonuses and redundancies, and on the flip side, John Lewis’s best sales week ever. As technology and changing customer demands upend the retail industry, the Partnership is transforming itself. Perhaps the biggest sign it is embracing a new era was the January ascension of Paula Nickolds at John Lewis. The chain’s first female managing director started at the company as a graduate trainee in the haberdashery department 22 years ago and, like many of the company’s employees, has “the partnership in her DNA.” But she isn’t stuck in the glorious past: “The era of channel [either online or in store] is over,” she told the BBC. “What we're really embarking on now is a world where for consumers, channels are completely merged and we need to think that way.”

Number of employees: 86,700 Partners, who co-own the business

Pioneering organisation: John Spedan Lewis, son of the Oxford Street store’s founder, turned ownership to employees in 1929. The business is still governed by the constitution he wrote.

Partner perks: Partners can take advantage of JLP’s holiday centres around the UK, sailing clubs, exclusive suites at venues like the O2, a golf course, campsite, and more.

Explore jobs at the John Lewis Partnership.

Brexit has added yet another hurdle to an already challenging retail environment — unless you’re ASOS. The Millennial-focused e-commerce powerhouse “is one of the few companies to report actually benefiting” from the flagging pound, upgrading this year’s growth forecast in its half-year results. ASOS plans to open more manufacturing centres in the UK over the next few years and is adding 40,000 square feet to its Camden HQ, where it will create 1,500 new jobs.

Number of employees: 2,700

Nice digs: ASOS’s expanded Camden base, a former tobacco factory, will include multiple cafés, workout facilities, a library, concierge service, and other perks for employees.

Short and sweet: Before becoming the easier-to-type ASOS, the company was called AsSeenOnScreen. It was meant to be a store for people to buy clothing and accessories they’d seen on celebrities.

Explore jobs at Asos.

With declining clothing purchases and concerns over the growing BHS pension scheme deficit not quite put to rest despite a new £50 million a year commitment, Arcadia has had a rough year. But the apparel company behind high street brands such as Topshop and Burton is still a major employer, especially of young people wanting to put a foot in the door in fashion. If you’re looking for a role at corporate headquarters, try coming in through the store. Arcadia says it looks for retail experience on your CV – a sign you know the customers – when you apply for buying or merchandising roles.

Number of employees: 24,000 worldwide

Early benefits: Company founder Montague Burton received a knighthood for services to industrial relations back in 1931. Because close needlework strained eyes, he hired an eye specialist to look after his tailors. 

Fur-free: Arcadia does not sell any items with real fur and requires all suppliers to sign an animal welfare declaration.

Explore jobs at the Arcadia Group.

The iconic Knightsbridge store is an experience for shoppers – check out the new £20 million entrance hall! – but also for employees. Harrods works to nurture them with recognition schemes, a newly expanded benefits package (including daily discounts with over 6,000 retailers), and a two-week career programme about the business, CV writing, and more.

Number of employees: More than 5,000

Hot jobs: When it comes to hiring, Harrods is paying special attention to e-commerce this year. They’re looking for candidates with a mix of tech and retail skills — digital marketers, online stylists, UX designers, UI developers, and UEX architects.

I’d like to thank the Academy… The ‘Oscars-style’ Harrods Awards for Excellence give colleagues and managers the opportunity to recognise people in the business who go the extra mile.

Explore jobs at Harrods.

The world’s largest international TV and broadband provider is also the UK’s, under the Virgin Media brand it acquired in 2013. And while it’s no longer owned by Richard Branson, the brand has kept its Virgin flair with company values like “Red hot” and “Straight up.” (You’ll have to look here to find out what those terms mean.) Liberty Global may have even more room to grow: A merger with Vodafone failed last year but could yet be revived.

Number of employees: 38,000 globally with headquarters in Denver, London, and Amsterdam

Continuous learning: The company sends its top senior talent to IMD Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland, for some extra training.

Adventurous bosses: Liberty Global chairman and majority owner John Malone has just acquired Formula One and could expand into more motorsports. Inspired perhaps by Branson?

Explore jobs at Liberty Global and Virgin Media.

The UK’s second largest supermarket chain offers opportunities for those who want to be on the front lines of the rapidly transforming retail industry. One in 12 employees at Sainsbury’s now works in its online division. And while the company just announced it’s eliminating 400 price controller positions – the decidedly brick-and-mortar job of checking labels in stores – it’s planning to hire 480 people in digital roles: data scientists, mobile developers, and even a change communication consultant.

Number of employees: More than 160,000

Long tenures: Sainsbury’s employees stick around: over 1 in 6 Sainsbury’s “colleagues” has been with the company for 15 years or more.

Training en masse: Sainsbury’s has trained more than 33,000 people in its 7 Food Colleges since 2010.

Explore jobs at Sainsbury's.

Virgin Group is the “engine room” behind more than 60 different businesses, from space tourism to health clubs, with a mind-boggling ownership structure but one thing in common — swashbuckling founder Richard Branson. “I’ve always believed that by taking care of people in my companies, the rest will take care of itself,” Branson recently wrote on LinkedIn. Happy employees make happy customers make happy shareholders.

Number of employees: Nearly 50,000 in the UK, out of more than 70,000 worldwide

Fun perks: Virgin Active employees get two free gym memberships. At Virgin Management, they get flexible hours, unlimited time off, and 52 weeks parental leave. And at Virgin Hotels, new employees get… a free night’s stay for Valentine’s Day.

Quirky workplace detail: The Virgin Atlantic headquarters in Crawley, West Sussex, are home to three rigs for cabin crew training. They are so realistic they’ve been hired out for aeroplane scenes in films like Casino Royale. Richard Branson also has a cameo in that movie, shown being frisked at the Miami airport.

Explore jobs at Virgin.

The social media juggernaut has nearly 1.9 billion monthly active users. And CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s vision for the company is just as gargantuan: to “build the new social infrastructure to create the world we want for generations to come.” That mission has helped drive a 96% satisfaction rate among Facebook employees. Facebook staffers also get to work on some of the Internet’s most vexing challenges, like how to fight fake news and online extremism.

Global headcount: 17,000

In-demand job areas: Software engineering, infrastructure, machine learning, data analytics and marketing.

Application advice: "My advice is, know or explore your passion around connecting the world, because it is at the heart of every single thing we do here," says Miranda Kalinowski, Facebook’s Global Head of Recruiting. "Once you know it, be able to demonstrate it.”

Intriguing interview question: One question Facebook likes to ask in its interview process is “What does your best day of work look like?” to get insight into what matters to a candidate and why.

Explore jobs at Facebook.

No, not everyone at “the Beeb” gets to travel to the Galapagos with Sir David Attenborough or design the TARDIS. But their work reaches more of the world than any other media brand and they know that everyone here will know of it — and have an opinion about it: 96% of the UK population spends time with the BBC every week, an average of 19 hours.

Number of employees: Close to 20,000

A learning hub for a whole industry: The BBC Academy offers employees several hundreds of guides and courses in production, journalism and other job skills. The online resources are available to the wider public and in 23 languages besides English.

Want to start a career there? The Beeb has made a particular effort to be approachable to entry-level applicants with a series of videos and advice about how to apply and interview with them; a welcome boost of confidence for young candidates and no doubt a timesaver for recruiters.

Explore jobs at the BBC.

The culture at Google — now Alphabet — is the stuff of workplace legend. The bright-coloured bikes, the table football; you’ve heard it a million times. But, what really attracts top talent is the opportunity to tackle massive problems. In just the past year, Alphabet launched its Internet Citizens programme to help teenagers counter hate speech, debuted its Google Home assistant in the UK, and gave marketers more control over advert placements to avoid being shown alongside derogatory content.

Number of employees: More than 70,000 globally

A few words from the founder: “In the technology industry, where revolutionary ideas drive the next big growth areas, you need to be a bit uncomfortable to stay relevant,” says Larry Page.

Going green: Alphabet set a long-term goal in 2012 to use 100% renewable energy for its operations. It’s on track to hit that goal this year.

Explore jobs at Alphabet.

PwC is managing to do both well and good. In 2016, the accounting and professional services firm brought in £3.4 billion in revenue, up 11% from the previous year. And still, PwC UK employees spent 71,729 hours volunteering during the work day. Socially minded projects include advising Coca-Cola on its 5by20 initiative to train and support 5 million women entrepreneurs by 2020 or doing pro-bono work for Trees for Cities.

Number of employees: More than 20,000

Keep us honest: PwC UK published its gender pay gap – 15.2% and 2.6% when adjusted by grades – and recruitment targets to bring more gender and ethnic diversity into its leadership. It’s here, warts and all.

A job title for the future: Partner Euan Cameron was just named PwC UK’s artificial intelligence leader. His team of more than 30 will help clients and PwC itself adapt to AI, automation and machine learning. They’re hiring – the team should grow to 200 by 2020!

Explore jobs at PwC UK.

Britain’s largest television operator is waiting on regulatory approval for its full purchase by Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox, which already owns 39% of Sky. But it’s not sitting back in the meantime. More than 3,500 lucky employees have moved into Sky Central, the stunning new 37,700-square-metre, eco-friendly timber building on the Osterley campus. It boasts a cinema, Waitrose’s first cashless store, and a “glass box” broadcast studio with robotic cameras hanging from the ceiling for a 360 news set design.

Number of employees: 25,000 across the UK and Ireland

Don't ever pay a broadband bill again: Employees receive free Sky Q television service, broadband, and discounted phone service.

Standing up to Netflix and Amazon: Sky just signed a $250 million, multiyear deal with HBO to co-develop two dramas.

Explore jobs at Sky.

After a near-collapse in 2013, the cooperative retailer and services firm is in the third year of a rebranding that has put employees at the centre. The Co-op launched a new membership card by first “dogfooding” it with staff. All 69,000+ were invited to events to introduce the new corporate identity, discuss ethics and reset the company culture. This paid off for the cooperative, with an improved employee engagement score of 78%, from 74% the year before and just 67% in 2014.

Number of employees: Nearly 70,000

A varied business: The ubiquitous food store chain is also the UK’s top provider of… funeral services. The Co-op is also an insurer, a legal services firm, an electrical retailer and, increasingly, a tech company!

Is loneliness costing you? The Co-op raised £4.5 million to tackle loneliness last year. In a joint study with the New Economics Foundation, it found loneliness affects at least 1 million workers and costs UK employers £2.5 billion a year in sick or carer leave, lost productivity, and staff turnover.

Explore jobs at The Co-op.

Richemont may not sound familiar to you, but the luxury group’s maisons will: Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Piaget… At the recently refurbished East London facility for Dunhill, Richemont’s British flag bearer, craftspeople make by hand all of the brand’s leather accessories. Master craftsman Rick Read recently told the blog Manufacture & Industry that Dunhill’s hottest commodity is young talent: “They could finish their apprenticeship and go ‘I think I’ll try this on my own’. They could take their skills away. It’s up to the company to make it worthwhile staying."

Number of employees: 29,000 people worldwide, two-thirds of them in Europe, where most goods are manufactured

Mastering the craft: To train the highly skilled professionals it requires, Richemont supports or runs campuses in Milan, Dallas, Hong Kong, Manchester, and Shanghai. Most recently, it opened a watchmaking school and apprenticeship centre coupled at its facilities in Geneva.

A dying art: The East London factory is also a mecca for pipemaking. White Spot pipes, which have been part of the range from Dunhill’s early days, are still considered the best in the world… by the few who smoke them.

Explore jobs at Richemont.

Professional services firm Deloitte UK onboarded more than 4,000 new employees to its practice areas in 2016 alone. These staffers find themselves working on a diverse array of projects, like helping Transport for London update old processes and improve customer service in Underground stations. They also take a moment to give back: Deloitte raised £2.65 million for its national charity partners — Mind, Alzheimer's Society and Prostate Cancer UK — in 2016 and donated some 7,000 hours of pro-bono work to those organizations in addition to its other charitable work.

Number of UK employees: 17,000

Leveling the playing field: Deloitte’s Brightstart programme offers apprenticeship opportunities for those who didn’t follow a traditional educational path. In 2016, the company hired 146 participants.

Noteworthy work: The firm conducts research on a range of topics that get attention. One study of the UK population showed the higher up you go on the professional – and compensation – ladder, the more workers value flexible work arrangements over a secure job. As an employer, Deloitte prizes both: The firm allows employees to take a four-week unpaid leave annually for any reason, one example of its flexibility policies.

Explore jobs at Deloitte UK.

KPMG UK is one of the largest members of the company’s global network, which provides audit, tax and advisory expertise. It’s also working to address its clients’ concerns regarding Brexit. Such a diversity of services demands a diverse workforce. KPMG’s new Launch Pad programme condenses the graduate recruitment process to three working days, down from a process that used to take months. The approach should help, as Chairman Simon Collins notes that “a protracted recruitment process can be unappealing to less advantaged applicants.”

Number of UK employees: More than 13,000, including its 615 partners

Stiff competition: In 2016, over 28,000 graduates applied to KPMG for just 1,200 places.

A unique job title: Head of Brexit. Karen Briggs was appointed to the role in the immediate aftermath of the vote. “Brexit is now amongst the most significant issues facing our clients and the firm,” she says.

Explore jobs at KPMG UK.

Lloyds has closed the book on the financial crisis: The British government has sold its remaining 2% stake after taxpayers more than recouped their £20 billion bailout. Another crisis closely follows – Brexit. Lloyds will reportedly convert its Berlin office into a subsidiary to keep an EU hub, but remains the most domestically focused of the UK’s big four banks. And on the back of a resilient British economy, the group nearly doubled its profits in the first quarter.

Number of UK employees: 75,000

An inclusive workplace: Lloyds was named employer of the year for LGBT people in the Stonewall Top 100. Last year, the company started covering the cost of gender reassignment surgery through its employee healthcare plans.

An industry in upheaval: Financial firms must turn in their Brexit plans to the Bank of England by 14 July. More than a quarter of those tracked by EY have already announced plans to shift staff and resources away from London. Job loss estimates in the industry go from a few thousands to… 232,000!

Explore jobs at Lloyds Banking Group.

In the past 12 months, Amazon won its first BAFTA film award, grew its Prime service by some “tens of millions” of new members and even delivered its first package by drone to a customer in Cambridge. These innovations require a growing workforce, and Amazon is currently on a hiring binge. It plans to add 5,000 new jobs across the UK this year, increasing its country headcount by 25%.

Number of UK employees: nearly 20,000

Parents perk: The company offers “leave share,” which allows employees to give six weeks of paid leave to a spouse or partner who isn’t eligible for parental leave at their employer.

Learning the business: Amazon encourages employees to participate in its Associate Experience Week, which lets employees spend a week working in a fulfilment centre to see first-hand how products reach customers.

Explore jobs at Amazon.

“There’s no fun like work,” the department store’s illustrious founder Harry Gordon Selfridge once said. You may picture him as Jeremy Piven in the recently concluded ITV drama Mr Selfridge – talk about employer branding! More than 100 years after it opened in 1909, the company is now investing £300 million to completely revamp its London flagship store on Oxford Street. A new stage for another century of “retail theatre.”

Number of employees: 10,000 across Selfridges Group, which includes Selfridge’s four stores in the UK, as well as Brown Thomas and Arnotts in Ireland, Holt Renfrew in Canada, and de Bijenkorf in the Netherlands.

Bottom up: The company’s Work It Lab brings together forward-thinking employees to come up with and champion new ways of working across the company.

Giving back: Selfridges employees volunteer with Dress for Success, an organisation that helps unemployed women get back in the workplace. The store also donates interview-appropriate clothing.

Explore jobs at Selfridges Group.

Marco Gobbetti will take the reins at the iconic fashion giant in July, while Christopher Bailey will become president and keep his chief creative officer role. Vogue called the pairing “an astute fashion match.” The moves come as Burberry plans to relocate 300 jobs from London to Leeds to cut costs. But the brand’s diverse staff will help it retain its cosmopolitan edge: Burberry employees work in 34 countries, represent 112 nationalities, and range in age from 16 to 74 years.

Number of employees: Nearly 11,000 global employees

Celebrating diversity: As of last March, women accounted for 40% of senior management roles and 67% of the company’s overall workforce. Burberry is also a corporate member of OUTstanding, a network of LGBT senior executives.

Developing talent: Burberry offers corporate and retail development programmes, from individual mentoring to courses to digital training. It also works to provide future leaders opportunities for international experience.

Explore jobs at Burberry.

While many construction groups have struggled amid economic uncertainty and labour shortages, Kier has seen profits rise. The company is “in demand” and amping up hiring. One key to Kier’s success? Its emphasis on training: “Instead of waiting for young people to learn the skills we want, we strive to provide those opportunities,” the company says. Those opportunities include trade apprenticeships, leadership programmes, and degree programmes for graduates who want to learn on the job.

Number of employees: More than 21,000 in the UK, Middle East, Australia, and Hong Kong

Regional approach: Kier’s regional structure gives employees the “flexibility and innovation of a smaller company together with the backing and support of a major PLC,” the firm says.

Doors wide open: Kier included a record 40 sites (more than any other participating company) in this year’s Open Doors Week, which opens construction projects to members of the public. This year’s theme was careers — highlighting the industry’s wide range of job opportunities.

Explore jobs at Kier Group.

A new era opens at the construction and support services firm Interserve as Debbie White prepares to come in as CEO on 1 September. Adrian Ringrose is stepping down after 13 years at the helm and a troubled exit from the energy-from-waste business. Despite headwinds, Interserve still has plenty to offer prospective employees. Its growing apprenticeship programme in particular provides a path toward employment for those who have decided to not attend university.

Number of employees: About 80,000 worldwide

Deep roots: In 1884, Edmund and Augustus Hughes founded London and Tilbury Lighterage Company Limited, a company that specialised in the transfer of cargo between vessels. That company was the precursor for Interserve.

Giving back: The Interserve Employee Foundation encourages employees to give a day of paid leave to community organisations. Last year, they completed 5,950 volunteering days and raised £246,000 in support of 320 charities.

Explore jobs at Interserve.

BT became the UK’s largest mobile network after acquiring EE last year, on top of its existing telecom operations from fibre broadband to TV. It takes a workforce of some 102,500 employees in 180 countries to power BT’s services under the BT, EE and Plusnet brands. And growing: BT recruited 4,200 new workers in the UK last year and has plans to create 1,000 more permanent UK jobs as part of its commitment to answer 90% of BT Consumer customers’ calls from within the UK.

Number of UK employees: More than 80,000

Retraining workers: To avoid redundancies, the company retrains workers through its BT transition centre. Last year in the UK, 1,000 workers were redeployed into new roles.

New mums stick around: 86% of mums stay at the company at least a year after coming back from maternity leave.

Explore jobs at BT.

PA Consulting Group’s aim is to uncover innovative solutions to its clients’ biggest challenges. In the past year, PA helped John Lewis (another UK Top Company) build a new e-commerce platform and organised Etihad’s transition from a single entity airline to a global aviation group. But PA isn’t quite your average consulting firm. It also heavily invests in technology and innovation research at its Cambridge Technology Centre, which houses 250 engineers, designers, scientists and technologists that develop unique products for clients. Think bespoke 3-D printed glasses and NASA-approved space hackathons.

Number of UK employees: 1,820

Most desired skills: Business development, digital, agile

How to get PA’s attention: Candidates “need to have personal impact, drive, be passionate about what they do and be someone who embraces our values,” according to the company.

Explore jobs at PA Consulting Group.

Worldpay, the UK's largest payment processor, handles some 31 million mobile, online and in-store transactions every day. That added up to nearly 15 billion transactions worth £451 billion in 2016, which were managed by Worldpay workers from as far away as Brazil to right around the corner at its London headquarters. The company goes above and beyond to prepare its teams for the future of payments, including developing a unique master’s programme with Middlesex University for employees to study the international payments ecosystem.

Number of employees: 5,000 worldwide, including 3,000 in the UK

Focus on gender diversity: Worldpay is a founding member of the FT 125 Women’s Forum, which was launched last year and helps promote mid-career women into leadership positions.

Giving back: The company launched a new partnership with The Prince’s Trust last year that supports young entrepreneurs by providing them with payments technology and mentoring to set up their own businesses.

Explore jobs at Worldpay.

Photo credits: Getty Images and WireImage

Jennifer Simon

International English Test

6mo

Check English level and get your level on the CEFR scale which you can use on your CV. https://internationalenglishtest.com/blog/check-english-level/

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Maciej Alexander Bajko

Associate at Enforcement and Market Oversight - Financial Conduct Authority

6y

I am surprised to see that no law firms appeared as favourite employers.

NANDITA DASGUPTA

Former Principal at Global Indian International School,Noida

6y

great insight

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Robin Baldwin

Voluntee at News From Nowhere

6y

I hope I am not too much of a nuisance - just passing the time. I have worked in the past and really would love another job as an accounts clerk/administrator. I cannot work on my benefits, which have been under appointee ship since 2011. I have been in the care of Newham Social Services for 16 years - I was diagnosed with acute Asperger's Syndrome in 2000. (A long length of time despite alcohol dependence.) I am also under a court oder preventing me to leave my house alone. This will be the last menage or you may complain but before I go, I feel 16 years of Social Services manipulation. Mainstream adult care is normally 2 - 3 years. All the best for Christmas. Many thanks, Robin...

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Mbugua N.

Innovation | Product | Payments | Operations | Experience across Sub-Saharan Africa

6y

Brenda Thomas DipM MCIM This list is insightful, wow!

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