Environment and agriculture : Typical employers

Big players

Private sector

Large companies with graduate recruitment schemes in environmental or agricultural management or consultancy, landscape architecture or fresh food production include:  

• Bovis Lend Lease
• British Sugar
• Gardline Marine Sciences
• Jacobs
• Magnox North and Magnox South
• Management Development Services Ltd (MDS Ltd)
• Mouchel
• MWH
• Parsons Brinckerhoff
• WRc

Many companies are developing in-house environmental teams and creating opportunities for employment.

Consultancies

Details of leading environmental and agricultural consultancies can be found in the ENDS Environmental Consultancy Directory . 

Central and local government

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), together with the Scottish Government and the National Assemblies for Northern Ireland and Wales, are responsible for regulating environmental protection and agriculture in the UK. Key delivery departments include:

• Countryside Council for Wales (CCW);
• Forestry Commission and the Forestry Commission Scotland ; 
• Natural England;
• Northern Ireland Environment Agency; 
• Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA); 
• Scottish Natural Heritage.

DEFRA employs graduates as scientific officers, plant health and seeds inspectors, statisticians, economists and information officers, covering topics such as policy formulation and implementation, food commodities, environmental protection, plant/animal health and land utilisation. There is also a fast stream route.

The Environment Agency (EA), an executive non-departmental public body, is the largest employer of environmental professionals in the UK, employing nearly 13,000 people (Environment Agency, 2010).

Non-governmental organisations (NGOs)

The following NGOs are responsible for managing land for wildlife conservation:

• Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG); 
• National Trust and the National Trust for Scotland ;
• The Wildlife Trusts;
• The Woodland Trust.

Large campaigning organisations, such as Friends of the Earth and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), also employ graduates.

Small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

SMEs are organisations with fewer than 250 employees and an annual turnover of no more than £26million. Working for a smaller company can be rewarding because you are more likely to forge a path for yourself within the company, although opportunities to try other departments may be limited.

SMEs are unlikely to use the testing and assessment techniques of larger companies, or follow lengthy recruitment procedures. SMEs are more likely to advertise their vacancies through the local press, university careers service bulletins, local graduate vacancy listings, jobcentres, and word of mouth, rather than rely on their reputation and a presence at graduate recruitment fairs.

Your university careers service should have listings of jobs with small firms. See also the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).

Around 96% of businesses in this sector employ fewer than ten people (Lantra Skills Assessment Report, 2009). Due to the high proportion of those working in SMEs and in self-employment, employers require a wide mix of skills, which might include technical skills and the ability to operate machinery. Skills such as teamwork, problem solving and communication are seen as increasingly important.

Management skills in areas such as finance and marketing are also important for SME employers who increasingly expect their employees to multitask.

Self-employment

Self-employment is a key feature of employment in this industry with around 42% of workers self-employed (Lantra Skills Assessment Report, 2009).

Find out more about self-employment.