UK visa sponsorship in numbers
This page counts sponsor name-and-town records in the official register. One legal employer can appear in more than one record.
From the GOV.UK Register of Licensed Sponsors, updated 28 Oct 2026 at 08:31 UTC.
127,826
current sponsor name-and-town records are published. One legal organisation may appear in more than one record.
Where the sponsors are
London is not a tie-breaker, it is the whole race. London alone has 36,595 of them, more than the next 14 cities put together (18,588). It is left out of the chart below so the rest can be compared with each other.
36,595in London
See these numbers as a table, including London
| Town or city | Records | Share |
|---|---|---|
| London | 36,595 | 28.6% |
| Birmingham | 3,070 | 2.4% |
| Manchester | 2,861 | 2.2% |
| Leicester | 1,413 | 1.1% |
| Glasgow | 1,375 | 1.1% |
| Bristol | 1,295 | 1.0% |
| Edinburgh | 1,175 | 0.9% |
| Leeds | 1,081 | 0.8% |
| Nottingham | 1,049 | 0.8% |
| Ilford | 929 | 0.7% |
| Coventry | 905 | 0.7% |
| Reading | 904 | 0.7% |
| Slough | 856 | 0.7% |
| Cambridge | 841 | 0.7% |
| Milton Keynes | 834 | 0.7% |
Which visa routes they can use
Each register record lists one or more routes. These are record-route associations, not distinct legal employers. Skilled Worker alone has 122,444 of them, more than the next 7 routes put together (18,933). It is left out of the chart below so the rest can be compared with each other.
122,444in Skilled Worker
See these numbers as a table, including Skilled Worker
| Visa route | Records |
|---|---|
| Skilled Worker | 122,444 |
| Global Business Mobility: Senior or Specialist Worker | 10,354 |
| Tier 2 Ministers of Religion | 1,960 |
| Creative Worker | 1,573 |
| Charity Worker | 1,531 |
| International Sportsperson | 1,457 |
| Religious Worker | 1,436 |
| Global Business Mobility: Graduate Trainee | 622 |
One record can list several routes, so these add up to more than 127,826.
What they do
Industries are not in the official register. We work them out from each sponsor name, which only succeeds when the name says what the business does.
See these numbers as a table
| Industry | Records | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Retail & Commerce | 19,694 | 17.5% |
| Hospitality & Food | 14,235 | 12.6% |
| Healthcare & Care | 13,830 | 12.3% |
| Tech & Software | 11,290 | 10.0% |
| Finance & Professional | 10,728 | 9.5% |
| Construction & Engineering | 7,757 | 6.9% |
| Media & Creative | 6,060 | 5.4% |
| Manufacturing & Industry | 5,826 | 5.2% |
| Education & Research | 4,974 | 4.4% |
| Logistics & Transport | 2,523 | 2.2% |
| Motor & Automotive | 2,398 | 2.1% |
| Property & Real Estate | 2,278 | 2.0% |
| Agriculture & Food Production | 1,852 | 1.6% |
| Charity & Faith | 1,793 | 1.6% |
| Sport & Leisure | 1,648 | 1.5% |
| Recruitment & Staffing | 1,574 | 1.4% |
| Beauty & Wellbeing | 1,059 | 0.9% |
| Energy & Utilities | 929 | 0.8% |
| Security & Facilities | 888 | 0.8% |
| Public Sector | 766 | 0.7% |
| Travel & Tourism | 525 | 0.5% |
Read this before quoting these figures. They cover the 112,627 records whose industry we could work out. The other 15,199, 12% of the register, have names that do not say what the business does, so they are not counted here. This is a limit of our own guesswork, not of the register.
See movement over time
The current register is one snapshot. Our dated comparison series keeps additions, removals, rating changes and its own coverage gaps visible.
Open register movement trends