London Skyline
London Skyline

35 great reasons to work in the UK

Martha Ryan

Here are the great reasons why you should consider working in the UK as part of your career plans.

  • Rates of pay are good and taxation is reasonable compared to many other European nations
  • Healthcare is free for all citizens and residents, including foreign nationals with residency and working visas
  • Minimum of 20 days paid holiday per year with 25 to 30 days per year being quite common, and on top of this there are 8 statutory public holidays
  • Strong workers rights in terms of working conditions, fairness and anti-discrimination, and strong adherence to them by employers
  • Diverse, multi-cultural workforce brings inspiration and experience from many different parts of the globe
  • Mature professional services and financial services industries, with professionals in high demand, frequently working with clients in multiple countries
  • World-class creative industries, including fashion, art and drama
  • UK is home to many world-class companies, including AstraZeneca, BP, British Airways, Jaguar Land Rover, Rolls Royce, Unilever
Jaguar Motocar
Jaguar on the streets of London
  • London has an office of almost all of the world's leading banks and financial services giants
  • A period working overseas is an excellent addition to your resume
  • The professional working environment is clean and attractive, with high quality office spaces in most cities
  • Modern banking system with widespread use of online and mobile banking, strong competition in insurance, loans and retail banking keeping prices competitive
  • Good quality broadband access to Internet both through fibre and mobile access including 5G
  • Very low prices for mobile phone services
  • Good variety of accommodation available through the private rented sector
  • Police officers in Great Britain do not carry guns, attesting to the general air of safety in the country, although authorized firearms officers (i.e. armed police officers) (AFO) can be deployed to dangerous situations
  • Large calendar of UK celebrations throughout the year
  • Wide range of restaurants with a huge variety of cuisines served and well-developed food delivery services
  • Affordable grocery shopping, typically much less expensive than the US, with online grocery shopping for collection or delivery commonplace
  • Remarkably easy and affordable to visit other European countries from London, with quick and frequent flights from a variety of airlines, keeping prices low, often less than £100
  • Excellent public transport, especially in London, removes the necessity to own and operate a car. Click here for all my UK travel tips
Double Decker Bus in London
  • Comfortable, moderate climate in which winter highs extremely rarely fall below freezing and summer highs are normally less than 30 degrees C (85 F)
  • Relatively small country making touring and visiting different places very easy
  • Very attractive countryside with a fantastic network of public rights of way make visiting it fun, easy, healthy and affordable
  • Fascinating history to learn and historical buildings and culture to explore from prehistoric sites in Scotland and England, mediaeval buildings to Gothic and Victorian eras. Examples of early architecture includes the stunning 11th century cathedrals of Durham and Winchester
Hardham Church Sussex
Hardham Church Wall Paintings (By Michael Coppins - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51096398)
  • Free entry to all museums and most galleries
  • World-renowned theatre, opera, ballet and classical music at impressive venues throughout the country
  • Vibrant contemporary music scene of all genres in venues large and small
  • Many well-attended festivals, cultural events and gigs
  • Unique sense of humour, as evidenced by shows such as Monty Python and The Office
  • Excellent television drama shows such as Doctor Who, Downton Abbey, Top Gear and Sherlock, many of them produced by the much-loved BBC, a taxpayer-funded media organization with no advertising on any of its radio or TV channels
  • Thousands of pubs providing a unique cultural experience unlike anywhere else in the world
  • Wide range of sporting facilities and clubs and access as a spectator to professional sports games and meetings
  • Free education for school age children and capped fees of £9,000 per year for universities
  • First class educational reputation, especially in the university sector, which includes the world famous Oxford and Cambridge universities; according to global rankings four of the Top Ten universities globally in 2021 were in the UK
Oxford Scene
Oxford Scene



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