These are the most admired companies in the UK
The findings of the 2025 Britain’s Most Admired Companies study have been published, with institutional names like Rolls-Royce and Wetherspoons featuring on the list.
The Britain’s Most Admired Companies study is the UK’s longest-running peer-and analyst-review measure of corporate reputation and is widely regarded as a leading indicator of trust, investment confidence and long-term value potential.
The study is now in its 36th year, with a continuous dataset back to 1990 giving boards and investors a rare time-series view of how admiration is built, sustained and lost.
Produced in partnership with the London Stock Exchange and drawing on more than 350 interviews with board-level executives, financial analysts and City commentators, the study provides a high-validity view of which companies are most respected by the people who scrutinise them most closely: competitors and financial influencers. Fieldwork was conducted between July and October 2025.
The data shows Octopus Energy is Britain’s Most Admired Company 2025. Tufan Erginbilgiç (Chief Executive of Rolls-Royce), was voted Britain’s Most Admired Leader for 2025 by peers and analysts.
“Britain’s Most Admired Companies offers a uniquely robust window into what the UK’s business and investment community values most and what builds confidence in long-term performance,” said Dame Julia Hoggett (CEO of the London Stock Exchange).
“In 2025, the results highlight the importance of strategic clarity, strong management and the ability to deliver in a fast-changing environment. These insights are valuable not only for boards and investors, but for anyone focused on creating the conditions for sustainable growth in UK plc.”
The full list of winning companies by sector can be found below:
AEROSPACE & DEFENCE
- Airbus (Gold)
- Rolls-Royce (Silver)
- BAE Systems (Bronze)
AUTOMOTIVE MANUFACTURERS
- BMW (Gold)
- JLR (Silver)
- Bentley/McLaren (Bronze)
BEVERAGES / DRINKS
- Heineken (Gold)
- Fever-Tree (Silver)
- Coca-Cola Bottlers (Bronze)
BUSINESS SUPPORT SERVICES
- Arup (Gold)
- Experian (Silver)
- Rentokil Initial (Bronze)
CHEMICALS
- Croda (Gold)
- Johnson Matthey (Silver)
- Elementis (Bronze)
DIGITAL RETAIL & CONSUMER SERVICES
- Amazon.co.uk (Gold)
- eBay (Silver)
- Rightmove (Bronze)
ENERGY DISTRIBUTION & SUPPLY
- Octopus Energy (Gold)
- Iberdrola (Silver)
- SSE (Bronze)
ENGINEERING & MACHINERY
- Halma (Gold)
- WEIR (Silver)
- Rolls-Royce (Bronze)
FINANCIAL SERVICES
- L&G (Gold)
- AJ Bell (Silver)
- ICG (Bronze)
FOOD PRODUCERS & PROVIDERS
- Unilever (Gold)
- Hilton Food (Silver)
- Cranswick (Bronze)
HEALTHCARE
- AstraZeneca (Gold)
- Pfizer (Silver)
- Haleon (Bronze)
HEAVY CONSTRUCTION
- Morgan Sindall Group (Gold)
- Balfour Beatty/Kier (Silver)
HOME CONSTRUCTION
- Berkeley (Gold)
- Barratt Redrow (Silver)
- Bellway (Bronze)
LIFE ASSURANCE & INSURANCE
- Phoenix (Gold)
- Allianz (Silver)
- Hiscox (Bronze)
MEDIA
- Informa (Gold)
- BBC GM (Silver)
METALS & MINING
- BHP (Gold)
- Rio Tinto (Silver)
- Anglo American (Bronze)
OIL & GAS
- TotalEnergies (Gold)
- Harbour Energy (Silver)
- Shell (Bronze)
PROPERTY / RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL REIT
- Shaftesbury Capital (Gold)
- SEGRO (Silver)
- Landsec (Bronze)
RESTAURANTS & PUBS
- McDonald’s (Gold)
- Greggs (Silver)
- Wetherspoon (Bronze)
RETAIL BANKING
- Nationwide (Gold)
- Lloyds Banking Group (Silver)
- NatWest Group (Bronze)
RETAILERS (BROADLINE & HOME)
- M&S (Gold)
- Next (Silver)
- John Lewis Partnership (Bronze)
RETAILERS (FOOD & PERSONAL)
- Tesco (Gold)
- Aldi (Silver)
- Sainsbury’s (Bronze)
SOFTWARE & IT SERVICES
- Sage (Gold)
- Arm (Silver)
- Computacenter (Bronze)
SUPPORT SERVICES (PEOPLE & PLACE)
- Serco (Gold)
- Mitie (Silver)
- Page Group (Bronze)
TELECOMS
- Vodafone (Gold)
- BT (Silver)
- TelecomPlus (Bronze)
TRANSPORT (PEOPLE)
- Go-Ahead (Gold)
- IAG (Silver)
- Ryanair (Bronze)
TRAVEL & LEISURE
- bet365 (Gold)
- Rank Group (Silver)
- Whitbread (Bronze)
WATER UTILITIES
- Scottish Water (Gold)
- Northumbrian Living Water (Silver)
- Anglian Water (Bronze)
