List of largest United Kingdom employers


This is a list of largest United Kingdom employers. There are four main kinds of employer,
Partial statistics for public bodies are available from the Office for National Statistics. 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.
EmployerEst.SectorEmployees
NHS 1948Health1,400,000
NHS Scotland1948Health160,000
British Army1660Military125,430
Department of Work and Pensions2001Welfare111,000
HM Revenue & Customs2005Taxation76,890
NHS Wales1948Healthcare72,000
Ministry of Justice2007Law68,670
Ministry of Defence1940Military65,000
Metropolitan Police Service1829Police50,000
Royal Air Force1918Military37,200
Royal Navy1546Military36,320
Network Rail2002Transport34,000
BBC1927Media23,000
Home Office1782Security, immigration, etc.25,850
Scottish Government1999Devolved government17,000
Department for Transport2002Transport17,640
Welsh Government1999Devolved government5,682
Parliament of the United Kingdom1707Political representation1,475

Public listed company employers

Statistics are available on an ad hoc basis from public company annual reports.
Currently Tesco and Compass Group are the largest plc employers.

Private company employers

Statistics on staff numbers were compiled in the Sunday Times "Top Track 100" of private companies for 2012. The three largest private employers in that list were John Lewis Partnership, Swire Group and Alliance Boots.