Where Are the UK's Visa Sponsors? A 2026 Breakdown by Sector and City

There are 127,371 organisations on the Home Office register licensed to sponsor workers in the UK. If you need a visa to work here, every job you apply for should be with one of them. Most job hunters search by job title, not by which employers can actually sponsor them.

We analysed the full register to answer a simple question: where are the sponsors? The answer is not where most people look.

The key numbers

• 127,371 organisations hold a licence to sponsor workers.
• 122,023 of them are licensed for the Skilled Worker route, the main work visa.
• Wholesale and retail is the biggest sector, with 21,771 sponsors. That is almost twice as many as IT.
• London has 36,418 sponsors, more than twice as many as the next ten cities combined.
• Even so, about 7 in 10 sponsors are based outside London.

What the register actually counts

The register lists every organisation that holds a sponsor licence, along with the routes it can sponsor. Most licences cover the Skilled Worker route. The rest cover more specialist routes, such as Global Business Mobility, Creative Worker, Charity Worker, Religious Worker and International Sportsperson. Some organisations hold several.

A licence tells you an employer can sponsor. It does not tell you how many people they sponsor, or which roles. A small restaurant and a national supermarket chain each count once.

Sponsors by sector

Most people picture tech companies and the NHS when they think of visa sponsors. The register tells a broader story.

Retail and hospitality each have more licensed sponsors than IT. Employers in these sectors hire for head office, management, finance, logistics and technology roles too, not only for shop floors and kitchens.

A licence is not the whole story

This is the part many applicants miss. An employer having a licence does not mean every job they advertise can be sponsored. The role itself has to qualify.

Since 22 July 2025, new Skilled Worker applications generally need:

• A job at graduate level (RQF level 6 or above). Some roles below that level are allowed only if they appear on the Temporary Shortage List.
• A salary that meets the threshold. The general threshold is £41,700 a year, or the going rate for the job if that is higher. Lower rates apply in some cases, such as new entrants.

The same changes closed the care worker route to new applicants from overseas. So a care company being on the register does not mean it can sponsor you from abroad as a care worker.

In practice: in retail and hospitality, focus on graduate-level roles such as management, finance, buying, data and IT. In every sector, check the job's occupation code and salary before you apply.

Immigration rules change often. Always check the latest Skilled Worker guidance on GOV.UK before you apply.

Sponsors by city

London dominates, with more sponsors than Birmingham, Manchester and the next eight cities put together, twice over. But that still leaves over 90,000 sponsors elsewhere. If you only search London, you are ignoring most of the market.

The register records the address on the licence, which is often a head office. A company registered in London may hire across the country, so check where the job is based, not just where the employer is registered.

How to use this in your job search

1. Check the employer before you apply. Search the employer's name in our UK sponsor list. If it is not on the register, it cannot sponsor you.
2. Check the route. For most jobs you need an employer licensed for the Skilled Worker route. The register shows which routes each employer can sponsor.
3. Check the rating. Most sponsors are A-rated. A B-rated sponsor is working through an action plan with the Home Office and generally cannot assign new certificates of sponsorship until it is back to an A rating.
4. Check the role. Make sure the job meets the skill level and salary rules above.
5. Search smarter. Our free Chrome extension marks licensed sponsors as you browse Indeed, LinkedIn, Glassdoor and Totaljobs, so you can skip listings from employers that cannot sponsor you.

The register keeps changing

The Home Office updates the register regularly. Employers are added when they get a licence and removed when a licence ends, is surrendered or is revoked. An employer that sponsored someone last year may not be able to sponsor you now, so check close to the time you apply.

Start your search

Search all 127,371 licensed sponsors by name, sector or city, and browse sponsored job listings, free at workvisasponsors.co.uk.

About the data: figures come from the Home Office register of licensed sponsors (workers) as published on 11 September 2026. Sectors are assigned by Work Visa Sponsors using Companies House records and company names, so they are our classification, not an official one. Towns and cities are as recorded on the register.