List of largest United Kingdom employers
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of largest United Kingdom employers. There are four main kinds of employers,
- public sector bodies
- public listed companies (plc) such as those on the FTSE 100
- private companies (ltd), partnerships (often LLP) or other traders
- charitable sector organisations
Public sector employers
Partial statistics for public bodies are available from the Office for National Statistics.[1] As of September 2018, public sector employees represent 16.5% of all people in paid work, with the remaining 83.5% employed in the private sector.[2]
| Employer | Est. | Sector | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|
| NHS England | 1948 | Health | 1,400,000 |
| NHS Scotland | 1948 | Health | 160,000 |
| Department for Work and Pensions | 2001 | Welfare | 84,550[3] |
| British Army | 1660 | Military | 109,086[4] |
| HM Revenue & Customs | 2005 | Taxation | 76,890[4] |
| NHS Wales | 1948 | Healthcare | 72,000 |
| Ministry of Justice | 2007 | Law | 68,670 |
| Ministry of Defence | 1940 | Military | 65,000 |
| Metropolitan Police Service | 1829 | Police | 50,000 (approx.) |
| Network Rail | 2002 | Transport | 42,206 (2020)[5] |
| Royal Air Force | 1918 | Military | 37,200[6] |
| Royal Navy | 1546 | Military | 36,320[7] |
| BBC | 1927 | Media | 23,000 |
| Home Office | 1782 | Security, immigration, etc. | 25,850 |
| Scottish Government | 1999 | Devolved government | 17,000 |
| Department for Transport | 2002 | Transport | 17,640 |
| Welsh Government | 1999 | Devolved government | 5,682 |
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | 1707 | Political representation | 1,475 |
Public listed company employers
Statistics are available on an ad hoc basis from public company annual reports.[8]
Currently[when?] Tesco and Compass Group are the largest plc employers.[citation needed]
Private company employers
Statistics on staff numbers were compiled in the Sunday Times' "Top Track 100" of private companies for 2012.[9] The three largest private employers in that list were John Lewis Partnership, Swire Group and Alliance Boots.