UK 300: top retail employers
…as voted for by students and graduates
The UK 300 features the largest and most comprehensive annual survey of student opinion on graduate careers, employers and their own job hunts. The survey determines not only the most popular 300 graduate employers in the UK overall, but also the most popular graduate employers in a range of career sectors, including retail.
The top graduate employers for retail are listed in the table below. There are three new entrants this year and the remaining employers (with the exception of Amazon, which remains the most popular retail employer) move down in the ranks to accommodate them.
The students and graduates surveyed who were interested in retail careers:
- were likely to be studying a business subject (30%) or a degree related to computer science (15%).
- were more likely than average to have undertaken an internship by their final year (50% of finalists had versus an average of 46%) and also more likely to have had a part-time job (71% versus 68%).
- would probably compare a retailer’s brands, products and services when choosing where to apply: 74% said ‘attractive products/services’ were an ‘important’ or ‘very important’ factor when choosing between employers, compared to a 68% average.
Percentages have been rounded.
Over 74,700 students and graduates took part in the Trendence UK Graduate Survey, which formed the basis of the results in the UK 300.

Apple
IT and technology

John Lewis Partnership
Last year: 2
Retail, buying and merchandising

BMW Group
Engineering

Aldi
Last year: 5
Retail, buying and merchandising

Boots
Last year: 6
Retail, buying and merchandising

Abercrombie & Fitch
Last year: 7
Retail, buying and merchandising
Tesco
Retail, buying and merchandising