Winners announced at the AllAboutSchoolLeavers Top 100 Employers for School & College Leavers Awards

Emma Finamore
Last updated 20 Jun 2016

The awards celebrated everything from skills development, career progression, training and company culture – as decided by surveys completed by apprentices and school leaver trainees from 100 UK organisations – and even gained a few words of support from London's new mayor, Sadiq Khan.

The UK’s top employers for school leavers were revealed last night, when the results of a nationwide survey were announced at an awards ceremony in London’s City Hall, gaining words of support from the city’s new mayor, Sadiq Khan.

AllAboutSchoolLeavers.co.uk’s Top 100 Employers for School & College Leavers 2016 – 17 Awards, sponsored by EY and supported by Laing O’Rourke, announced the winners in 29 categories – including skills development, career progression, training and company culture – as decided by surveys completed by apprentices and school leaver trainees from 100 UK organisations.

In the fourth annual ceremony, Mercedes-Benz was named Top Employer for School & College Leavers, and Amber Westmoreland of EY won the School or College Leaver of the Year award.

“It’s really exciting to win an award – I definitely made the right career choice. I chose the school leaver route because I didn’t want to go to university when I left college,” said Amber. “When I found out there was a route to get a professional job – one that I would have thought you’d need a degree for – without having to go to university, I jumped at it.

“It’s quite hard work to juggle your professional qualification exams alongside working but I have loved my first two years at EY and am excited to keep learning and stretching myself!”

The School or College Leaver of the Year award was one of four awards judged by a panel of industry experts, who described Amber as stepping “outside of her remit”, demonstrating “qualities of leadership” and “incredible initiative”. They said she was proof that it is possible to succeed and excel without going to university.

The industry panel included senior figures from the Association of Graduate Recruiters, the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), Skills for Health and Justice, the National Skills Academy for Creative & Cultural Skills and the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI).

This year AllAboutSchoolLeavers.co.uk added a new Degree Apprenticeships category – the programmes were launched nationally in 2015 – as well as new industry-specific categories acknowledging the top employers in their particular fields.

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, offered his support to the event, saying how important skills training is for school leavers: “I will be a Mayor who leads a new agenda for London, making sure young people and businesses get the skills they need to succeed.

“To achieve that, I am looking forward to working with the employers celebrated tonight to bring as many young people as possible into the London workforce, so our great city can continue to grow.”

Jack Denton, director and co-founder of AllAboutSchoolLeavers.co.uk, said: “Our awards, solely based on the opinions of the people currently participating in these training programmes, help other young people see which areas employers are excelling in, and who offers them the best opportunities.

“By adding new industry specific categories we’re helping young people identify the best employers in the sectors they are most interested in.”

Award winners in full

Top 100 Employers for School & College Leavers

1. Mercedes-Benz

2. Schroders

3. Savers

4. TUI UK & Ireland

5. EE

6. Be Wiser Insurance

7. Nomura

8. JLL

9. Peugeot Citroen Retail Group

10. Hays Travel

11. J.P. Morgan

12. Haymarket Media Group

13. Visa Europe

14. Sky

15. Smith & Williamson

15.= NG Bailey

15.= British Sugar

15.= AXA

19. Hanson

20. Coventry City Council

21.= The National Physical Laboratory

21.= Mazars

23. EY

24. BMW

25. Royal Mail Group

26.= Capgemini

26.= 3M

28. Barclays

29. Autonet Insurance

30. Henderson Global Investors

31. Marshall Aerospace

32.= DSTL

32.= Barratt Developments

34. Hazlewoods

35. Busy Bees Training Academy

36. BP

37. InterContinental Hotels Group

38. Kennedys

39.= National Grid

39.= Greene King

41 DHL

42 Morgan Sindall

43 Escalla

44 GSK

45.= Superdrug

45.= Connells Group

47. Accenture

48. Bentley Motors

49.= PwC

49.= Anchor

51.= Transport for London

51.= Boots

53.= Jaguar Land Rover

53.= ITV

54.= Commerzbank

56. RBS

57. EDF Energy

58. Arup

59.= Crowe Clark Whitehill

59.= Asquith Day Nurseries & Pre-Schools

61. MHA MacIntyre Hudson

62. Ginger Nut Media

63. Virgin Media

64. IFDS

65. Thales

66. RSM

67.= IBM

67.= Anglian Water

67.= Alstom

70. Nottingham City Council

71. Grant Thornton

71 .= BT

73. Lloyds Banking Group

74. Arqiva

75. KFC

76 . Fujitsu

77. National Audit Office

78. =Gist / Deloitte

80. Aecom

81. Empiric

82. BDO

83. Volvo

84. Harrods

85. Laing O'Rourke

86. CGI

87.= Hill Dickinson

87.= Balfour Beatty

89. Severn Trent Water

90. A4G

91. Tangerine

92. BBC

93. Civil Service

94. 5E

95. BAM Nuttall

96. Shoosmiths

97. Marks & Spencer

97.= Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

99. Creative Pioneers

100. Gordons LLP

Top Intermediate Apprenticeship Employers

1. Peugeot Citroen Retail Group

2. Savers

3. Barratt Developments

4. Hays Travel

5. Sky

6. Coventry City Council

7. Autonet Insurance

8. DSTL

9. Busy Bees Training Academy

10. Greene King

11. DHL

12. Morgan Sindall

13. Anglian Water

14. Connells Group

15. Superdrug

16. Anchor

17. KFC

18. Asquith Day Nurseries & Pre-Schools

19. IFDS

20. Gist

21. Lloyds Banking Group

22. Fujitsu

23. BMW

24. Transport for London

25. Volvo

26. Nottingham City Council

27. Balfour Beatty

28. Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

29. Shoosmiths

Top Advanced Apprenticeship Employers

1. Mercedes-Benz

2. BMW

3. Barclays

4. EE

5. Be Wiser Insurance

6. Nomura

7. J.P. Morgan

8. JLL

9. Greene King

10. Haymarket Media Group

11. AXA

12. British Sugar

13. NG Bailey

14. The National Physical Laboratory

15. Jaguar Land Rover

16. Coventry City Council

17. KFC

18. Nottingham City Council

19. Royal Mail Group

20. 3M

21. Marshall Aerospace

22. Kennedys

23. Transport for London

24. Escalla

25. ITV

26. National Grid

27. Thales

28. RBS

29. Bentley Motors

30. EDF Energy

31. Arup

32. Ginger Nut Media

33. Virgin Media

34. IFDS

35. GSK

36. Alstom

37. DSTL

38. Aecom

39. BT

40. Fujitsu

41. Anglian Water

42. Lloyds Banking Group

43. Gist

44. Volvo

45. Hill Dickinson

46. Severn Trent Water

47. Creative Pioneers

48. Tangerine

49. 5E

50. Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Top Higher Apprenticeship Employers

1. Barclays

2. National Grid

3. Visa Europe

4. J.P. Morgan

5. Smith & Williamson

6. Hanson

7. 3M

8. GSK

9. Sky

10. Bentley Motors

11. PwC

12. BT

13. Boots

14. Accenture

15. MHA MacIntyre Hudson

16. Transport for London

17. Greene King

18. IBM

19. CGI

20. Arqiva

21. Lloyds Banking Group

22. Thales

23. Fujitsu

24. Aecom

25. BBC

26. Civil Service

27. BAM Nuttall

28. Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

29. Creative Pioneers

30. Gordons LLP

Top Degree Apprenticeship Employers

1. Lloyds Banking Group

2. Capgemini

3. BT

4. Jaguar Land Rover

5. Barclays

6. IBM

7. RBS

Top School Leaver Programme Employers

1. Schroders

2. TUI UK & Ireland

3. Accenture

4. National Grid

5. EY

6. Mazars

7. Peugeot Citroen Retail Group

8. IBM

9. Henderson Global Investors

10. Hazlewoods

11. BP

12. InterContinental Hotels Group

13. Commerzbank

14. Boots

15. Crowe Clark Whitehill

15.= Morgan Sindall

16. RSM

17. Grant Thornton

18. National Audit Office

19. Deloitte

20. Empiric

21. BDO

22. Harrods

23. A4G

24. Marks & Spencer

Top Sponsored Degree Employers

1. Morgan Sindall

2. Barratt Developments

3. EY

4. PwC

5. Laing O'Rourke

6. Aecom

7. CGI

8. KFC

Top Employer for School & College Leavers

Winner: Mercedes-Benz

Best Intermediate Apprenticeship

Winner: Peugeot Citroen Retail Group

Best Advanced Apprenticeship

Winner: Mercedes-Benz

Best Higher Apprenticeship

Winner: Barclays

Best Degree Apprenticeship

Winner: Lloyds Banking Group

Best School Leaver Programme

Winner: Schroders

Best Sponsored Degree

Winner: Morgan Sindall

Best Training

Winner: Mercedes-Benz

Best for Skills Development

Winner: TUI UK & Ireland

Best for Career Progression

Winner: Mercedes-Benz

Best Level of Support

Winner: Savers

Best for Job Satisfaction

Winner: Savers

Best Company Culture

Winner: EE

Awards decided by an independent judging panel

School or College Leaver of the Year

Winner: Amber Westmoreland, EY

Best School & College Leaver Recruitment Campaign

Winner: Jaguar Land Rover

Best Use of School & College Engagement in a Recruitment Campaign

Winner: Jaguar Land Rover

Most Innovative School & College Leaver Recruitment Campaign

Winner: Marks & Spencer

Awards decided by an independent student panel

Best School & College Leaver Recruitment Website

Winner: Laing O'Rourke

Best Use of Social Media in a School & College Leaver Recruitment Campaign

Winner: Sky

Top Employers by industry

Top Employer - Accounting & Professional Services

Winner: Smith & Williamson

Top Employer - Banking & Financial Services

Winner: Schroders

Top Employer - Creative Industries

Winner: Haymarket Media Group

Top Employer - Energy & Utilities

Winner: BP

Top Employer – Engineering

Winner: Mercedes-Benz

Top Employer - Hospitality & Tourism

Winner: TUI UK & Ireland

Top Employer - IT & Technology

Winner: Visa Europe

Top Employer - Property & Construction

Winner: JLL

Top Employer - Public Sector

Winner: Coventry City Council

Top Employer – Retail

Winner: Savers

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