Overview of the UK's financial sector
The UK's leading financial institutions are investing in cyber security, AI and cloud services to remain competitive - so join the new generation of finance graduates equipped with these skills and be part of the sector's digital future
What is the UK financial sector?
It brings together all the companies and institutions that offer financial services to retail and commercial customers in the UK and beyond. The economy relies heavily on a strong financial sector due to the revenue it brings in from mortgages and loans.
How big is the finance sector in the UK?
According to the City of London's State of the sector: annual review of UK financial services 2024 report, the finance sector generated 拢294billion in 2023, over a tenth (13%) of the UK's income.
What are the four key areas of finance?
- Corporate finance - primarily concerned with how corporations make decisions on investments, funding sources and capital structuring. Its main aim is to maximise shareholder value while balancing profitability with risk.
- International finance - deals with the financial interactions that happen between two or more nations. For example, it could relate to currency exchange rates or an investment made by a company in a different country. Read about the benefits of studying international business.
- Investments - how firms use money to generate income and increase its value over time. As well as company investments, individuals also dedicate savings towards real estate, stocks and bonds.
- Financial institutions - helping to regulate the economy, these include the banks, credit unions, insurers and brokerage companies that carry out a range of business operations within the sector. The financial services they provide range from business and personal loans to mortgages.
What are the main types of financial institutions?
- brokerage firms
- central banks
- commercial and retail banks
- credit unions
- insurance companies
- investment banks and firms
- mortgage lenders
- savings and loans associations (S&Ls).
Who are the key graduate employers?
The 'big four' accountancy and professional services firms are:
- Deloitte
- Ernst & Young (EY)
- KPMG
- PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
Get the lowdown on accounting apprenticeships.
Many well-known high street brands can be found among the UK's retail banks and building societies, including:
- Barclays
- HSBC
- Lloyds Banking Group
- Nationwide Building Society
- NatWest Group (includes the Royal Bank of Scotland)
- Santander.
Consider doing a banking apprenticeship.
In investment banking, large companies that employ graduates include:
- Barclays Investment Bank
- Citigroup
- Deutsche Bank
- Goldman Sachs
- J.P. Morgan
- Morgan Stanley
- Rothschild & Co.
Read our 5 tips on getting into investment banking.
The main insurers operating in the UK are:
- Admiral
- Allianz
- American International Group (AIG)
- Aviva
- AXA
- Direct Line Insurance Group
- Legal & General Group
- Liverpool Victoria (LV=)
- Prudential
- RSA Insurance Group
- Standard Life.
You may also be able to find graduate roles with major insurance brokers such as GoCompare.com, MoneySuperMarket.com and the BLG Group (Comparethemarket.com).
Many of the largest financial companies are multinational and offer generous starting salaries for graduates. Explore what's on offer with a finance graduate scheme.
There may be opportunities to work overseas, although these jobs typically require specific language skills.
In the UK, there are more small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) than large companies, and small businesses often enable graduates to get a foot in the door through finance internships.
Graduate jobs in accountancy do exist within charities and not-for-profit organisations, but most opportunities are with profit-generating businesses.
Explore our finance job profiles and discover the full range of graduate finance jobs.
What are the key issues in the financial industry?
The Hays UK Salary & Recruiting Trends 2025 guide revealed that a staggering 92% of employers had experienced skills shortages over the past year, with half (50%) admitting this has negatively impacted the productivity of their business.
Despite this challenging economic environment, 69% of employers still planned to recruit in 2025.
Approximately 1.1 million people work in the UK's financial industry, rising to 2.5 million when including related professional services.
As digital-first banking services become the norm, this increases the demand for suitably qualified candidates with the required level of technical experience in areas such as:
- automation
- artificial intelligence (AI)
- cloud computing
- cyber security
- data analysis.
Those choosing finance careers will be expected to keep pace with these latest developments and build technical, accounting and finance skills. Read more about relevant IT courses, accounting courses and finance qualifications.
Almost half (46%) of the staff surveyed by Hays would not accept a role that didn't offer hybrid working. Workforce skills shortages will need to be addressed, while striking a work/life balance has become a higher priority for finance professionals.
What about diversity in the finance industry?
Data from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) shows that Black and Asian employees account for just 10% and 7% of the UK finance sector workforce, respectively.
Regarding gender, Statista reported that as of October 2024, 42% (587,000) of people working in finance and insurance were women.
Despite these lower representation figures, Progress Together's Shaping the Sector: Socio-economic Diversity and Senior Roles in Financial Services report (October 2024), carried out by the Bridge Group, found that the proportion of those from a lower socio-economic background (SEB) working in senior financial services roles had increased from 26% in 2023 to 28% the following year.
In addition, the FTSE Women Leaders Review (February 2025) revealed that just under half (43%) of roles on company boards and a third (35%) of leadership roles at the 350 FTSE companies were occupied by women. This showed an increase from the previous year, with the latter exceeding its representation target of 40%.
This progress has been achieved by many leading financial institutions taking positive steps to commit to diversity and inclusion initiatives.
For instance, PwC's 2025 Annual Report revealed that women comprise just under half (47%) of its workforce, while it had closed the gender pay gap to 4.7%. The company had also set a target of 15% ethnic minority partners by 2025 and aims to ensure a third of new recruits are from an ethnic minority background.
Lloyds Banking Group has declared that by 2030, it aims to ensure that its senior and executive roles will be:
- 45-55% women
- 19-22% ethnic minorities
- 12% colleagues with disabilities.
HSBC has established accelerator programmes for women and ethnic minorities that address historical barriers to career progression.
Read about other employer initiatives regarding diversity in the workplace.
Find out more
- Search for relevant graduate finance roles.
- Discover how to become an accountant.
- Consider careers in business, consulting and management.