Overview of the business sector in the UK

The UK's private business sector is incredibly broad, meaning graduates with the right qualifications have plenty of scope when choosing a career. Discover what it's like to work in a sector that boasts high starting salaries and early responsibility

What is the business sector?

The business sector comprises individuals and organisations that engage in similar economic activities or adopt comparable business models, such as retailers, manufacturers, or service providers.

There are plenty of opportunities to specialise in this sector, with diverse finance, marketing, and operations roles.

Read more about the different types of business.

How big is the UK's business sector?

According to the government's Business population estimates for the UK and regions 2024: statistical release (October 2024), the private business sector contributed an estimated £2.8trillion to the UK economy in 2024, accounting for over half (52%) of all turnover.

The report also revealed that 5.5 million private-sector businesses were operating in the UK at the start of 2024.

The corporate sector, as it's also known, can be broken down into:

• Small businesses with less than 50 employees - the majority, standing at 5.45 million.
• Medium-sized enterprises with 50 to 249 employees - totalling 37,750.
• Large organisations with 250 or more employees - numbering 8,250.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) accounted for 60% of the business population in the UK, with small businesses accounting for 48%.

The UK labour market statistics (March 2025) revealed that in December 2024, 28 million people worked in the private sector - compared to nearly six million working in the public services sector.

What areas of business can I work in?

Employment opportunities can generally be split into two main areas: business management and consultancy.

You don't need to restrict yourself solely to the business sector, as many organisations require managers and consultants to operate effectively. Because of this, graduates have plenty of job opportunities to choose from.

Business managers

They usually work in general management jobs or hold specific responsibilities for a particular area of an organisation, such as:

• human resources (HR)
• information technology (IT)
• marketing
• operations management
• strategy planning
• talent management.

Some roles focus on people management, while others are concerned with project management. However, most managers will require skills in both areas.

Business management consultants

This role involves advising organisations to help them solve problems and enhance performance. They either work in large companies or consultancy firms.

Organisations can be general, specialise in strategy or offer advice to a specific industry, such as:

• HR
• IT
• marketing and public relations (PR)
• media.

Consultancy is highly competitive, with firms looking for bright, high achievers. However, you may find it helpful to move into a role where you can build up business knowledge and maturity before heading into consultancy. Read about consulting graduate schemes.

Alternatively, consider other business jobs that offer specialist information, advice and support to companies, such as data mining or market research.

These advisory roles include:

• business adviser
• economist
• operational researcher
• risk manager.

For more examples of what's on offer, see business, consulting and management jobs.

When researching potential work areas, you'll likely find overlaps with the accountancy, banking and finance sector. Professionals from both sectors work together to ensure the best outcome for the client and the lines between the two industries can become blurred.

Who are the leading graduate employers?

Most large companies offer business management jobs to graduates, while there are opportunities to work within the public sector for employers such as:

• the Civil Service
• National Health Service (NHS) - Graduate Management Training Scheme (GMTS)
• local government - Local Government Graduate Programme.

There are plenty of opportunities in the financial sector to work for a consultancy company.

The 'big four' accountancy firms are among the most well-known organisations offering graduate consultancy roles:

• Deloitte
• EY
• KPMG
• PwC.

Other notable consultancy organisations include:

• Accenture
• Bain & Company
• Boston Consulting Group
• Capgemini
• FTI Consulting
• Grayce
• Hymans Robertson
• McKinsey & Company
• Oliver Wyman
• PA Consulting Group
• Roland Berger.

Consultants can be found in other sectors too, including:

• energy and utilities
• healthcare
• retail.

However, these roles are often for those with expertise and experience in the specific industry rather than entry-level graduates.

While large organisations in the sector often advertise impressive graduate packages, it's also worth sending speculative applications to SMEs. Smaller companies have a lot to offer.

Read about working for a small business.

What's it like working in the sector?

Graduates entering business management or consultancy jobs can expect:

• roles to be available across the UK, with the majority of work centred in cities such as Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds and London
• tough targets and tight deadlines
• a varied working life that involves a substantial amount of travel, with time spent at client sites and periods away from home
• high starting salaries, typically between £25,000 and £35,000 excluding bonuses - rising quickly to around £50,000
• to work in a high-pressured environment, where quick decision-making and confidence in your abilities is essential
• long working hours with a focus on meeting deadlines and completing projects
• an immediate high level of responsibility and opportunities for rapid career progression
• self-employment or freelance work to be an option within several years.

To discover what to expect from specific roles, browse our business, consulting and management job profiles.

What are the business industry trends?

UK business outlook for 2025

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) report on Business insights and impact on the UK economy (March 2025) showed that UK businesses face multiple challenges in 2025 concerning their:

• business resilience - the ability to adapt to disruptions
• financial performance
• workforce.

Against this harsh economic backdrop, it's no surprise that businesses were unsure about their performance over the coming year.

The ONS Business Insights and Conditions Survey (March 2025) found that 18.7% of respondents expect their performance to increase over the next 12 months, while 17.1% think it will decrease.

Business skills shortages

Research by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) on The Business Barometer: An analysis of the UK skills landscape (June 2024) revealed the top skills shortage roles for UK businesses:

• Engineers - mechanical, electrical, software, project.
• Sales - general, technical, digital, customer service, and business development.
• Managers - general, supervisors, site, contracts.
• Marketing - general, creative, digital, social media, PR.
• Design - system design, electronics hardware designers, design engineers.
• Electricians - see trade apprenticeships.
• Administration - general, admin support, office staff.

Adopting AI for business

The BCC report warned about low business confidence in adopting artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Only around a third (30%) of respondents had used chatbots such as ChatGPT and Copilot in their business.

AI was mainly used for:

• coding
• data analysis
• content generation
• or use as a personal assistant or sounding board.

However, as these AI models improve, we're likely to see more widespread usage of AI across many business sectors in 2025 and beyond, including the following sectors:

• accounting
• banking
• business consulting
• HR
• law
• marketing.

In particular, IT consultants with knowledge of big data, AI, data analytics, and cloud services will be in high demand. Explore big data courses.

Remote hybrid working

Following the end of the pandemic restrictions, many UK businesses continued to allow their staff to work from home, mainly through a hybrid-working model - splitting time between working in the office and at home.

While the trend of working solely from home has fallen since 2021, the ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (March 2025) showed how remote hybrid working has become the 'new normal' for around a quarter of employees.

Diversity in the business sector

Many companies have committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices that tackle issues surrounding diversity in business. The DIAL Global Diversity Review 2024, which questioned 38 UK businesses, showed how significant improvements have been made in:

• gender diversity
• race and ethnicity
• mental health.

The FTSE Women Leaders Review: Achieving Gender Balance (January 2025) explained that since the Review started, there has been a huge shift in the gender balance of British boardrooms. It has changed from FTSE 350 women directors taking up nearly 10% of positions in 2011 to 43% in 2025.

Despite these positive steps in the right direction, the government's Women and the UK economy research briefing (February 2025) found that in 2023, only 15% of SMEs with employees were led by women, and around 10% of working-age women were early-stage entrepreneurs.

Get the lowdown on how to start a business and learn what is an entrepreneur?

Read about diversity in the workplace.

Find out more

• Discover the 7 skills for a successful management career.
• Consider what you can do with your business management degree.
• Explore business apprenticeships.