Top 10 Manufacturing Companies in the UK

What are Manufacturing Companies?

The manufacturing sector is leading the world’s economy on the front foot these days. It is one of the world’s economy primary sectors that contributes around 8.10 trillion dollars to the total world economy. All these figures make manufacturing one of the most crucial industries around the world. There are many countries in the world who are leading in this sector, the UK being one of them. We will have a look at the Top 10 Manufacturing Companies in the UK.

The UK is one of the most prominent industrial nations in the world. It is currently number 8 in the world when it comes to making money through manufacturing and is promising to fix the 5^th spot for itself if the current growth tendencies and rates are maintained. According to the reports UK’s industrial sector is growing at the rate of 1.4% steadily for the past 70 years and with this rate of growth, it can indeed achieve that 5^th spot the country is eyeing for.

The British employ around 2.6M professionals in the manufacturing sector and this contributes around 11% of the GVA and 44% of the UK export generated by the industry. All these facts and figures make the United Kingdom one of the attractive business targets for both the local and foreign companies as a whole. Also investing or partnering with some of the big UK giants like Unilever, GlaxoSmithKline, etc. can be a good source of money-making for you in the long run. So, if you want to know more about the large English manufacturing firms and other companies, here’s the list of the top 10 manufacturing companies in the UK.

List of Top 10 Manufacturing Companies in Uk :

Unilever : (food, housing, and personal care)

Unilever is proudly the world’s third-largest consumer and Goods Company, just behind Procter & Gamble and Nestle. Unilever was formed in the year 1929 by the merger of the British soap company Lever Brothers and the Dutch margarine company Margarine Unie. 41.8 billion Pounds revenue per year.

This company is a big name in the manufacturing sector and owns around 400+ brands including Dove, Sunsilk, Lynx, etc. Hindustan Unilever is the branch of this company operating in India and similarly, the company has many branches operating in different corners of the world making it the table topper in the list of the major manufacturing company.

Riotinto : (Metals)

Rio Tinto is another manufacturing giant which is a multination British – American merger headquartered in London. The company is named after the Spanish river of the same name because the river had a mining base that was bought by the company in the year 1873 from the Spanish Government. 31.6 billion Pounds revenue per year.

The company actively operates in 6 continents through many mergers and acquisitions. It stands firm as a leader in the manufacture of coal, iron ore, aluminum, diamond, uranium, and copper and hence is one of the top 10 manufacturing companies in the UK.

Glaxosmithkline : (pharmaceuticals)

This company is the sixth-largest pharmaceutical company in the world. It is a merger of two companies namely Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline in 2000. 26.6 billion Pounds revenue per year. This Brentford-based company basically deals with non-over-the-counter pharmaceuticals that are only available from doctors mostly. But now the company also owns a few consumer brands like Horlicks, Sensodyne, etc. have altogether made it one of the best manufacturing companies in the UK.

Angloamericans :(Metals)

Anglo American is the world’s number one company in the production of platinum. It is originally a South American undertaking (Johannesburg) that was founded by German Ernest Oppenheimer, working alongside American bank J.P. Morgan.  They sourced some millions from the UK and US to start a mining company in 1917, headquartered in London to become the major producers of nickel, copper, and diamonds. All these factors together make the company number 4^th in the list of the top 10 manufacturers in the UK. 18.2 billion Pounds revenue per year.

Astrazeneca :(pharmaceuticals) 

AstraZeneca is the seventh-largest pharmaceutical in the world just behind its counterpart GlaxoSmithKline. It is a British – Swedish collaboration that is headquartered in London. with 17.7 billion Pounds revenue per year.

They focus more on the prescription pharmaceuticals and produce Medicare that aims to tackle severe diseases like cancer, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal, respiratory, and inflammatory problems. This is among the best manufacturing companies in the united kingdom.

Bae Systems :(aerospace and defense)

BAE Systems is headquartered in the UK and is one of the most prominent suppliers of defense technology in the world. It supplies defense technology to countries like Australia, America, and South Africa. 16.3 billion Pounds revenue per year.

The company is number one in producing quality military vehicles, including the Typhoon fighter jet, the Tornado fighter-bomber plane, the Challenger 2 tank, etc. The company is also famous for producing Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers and other types of aero crafts. This is one of the top manufacturers in the UK.

British American Tobacco :(tobacco)

This is a prominent tobacco company in the world that owns several other cigarette brands including Pall Mall, Benson & Hedges, and Lucky Strike. The company is a joint venture of the British Imperial Tobacco company with the US-based tobacco company that was started in the year 1902. This company is a cupbearer in the British market and hence is one of the top 10 manufacturing companies in the UK.14.9 billion Pounds revenue per year.

Imperial Tobacco Group :(tobacco)

This is another famous tobacco company in the UK. This was originally the Imperial Tobacco Company, but the American Tobacco Company sold its share of the British American Tobacco company in 1911. The company sold its shares but its ITC remained invested till the 1980s. 14.6 billion Pounds revenue per year.

This is a very famous company that owns a number of reputed cigarette brands like Richman, Superkings and Lambert, Butler, etc. They also have their business flourished in rolling tobacco, owing to the popular fine cut tobacco brand Drum and famous cigarette paper brand Rizla+. This is among the top producing companies in the UK.

Associated British Food : (food)

The company mainly deals with consumer food brands. The consumer British food brands under its label include Twinings, Ryvita, and Patak’s. They are also indulged in the companies such as British Sugar. This is indeed one of the top ten manufacturing company.

Surprisingly this company also owns a clothing line namely Primark! 12.3 billion Pounds revenue per year.

Rolls Royce :(defense and aerospace)

You don’t need an introduction to luxurious brands like Rolls Royce. It is one of the most famous automotive companies in the world. This company is actually a merger of both the automotive and defense divisions, which together make more and more revenue for the company. The Rolls and Royce cars are one of the most famous cars in the world. Other than that the company is the 2^nd biggest jet engine manufacturer in the world. They produce jet engines for planes and also for ships and submarines.

  The engines manufactured by this company are equipped with many other important auto motives too. On a lump sum, this company is one of the most famous manufacturing firms in the UK and hence is included in the list of the top 10 best manufacturing companies in the UK. 12.3 billion Pounds revenue per year.

Top Manufacturing Companies in the Uk :

Sr No.	Company Names	Company Websites
1	UNILEVER	https://www.unilever.com/
2	RIO TINTO	https://www.riotinto.com/
3	GLAXOSMITHKLINE	https://india-pharma.gsk.com/en-in/
4	ANGLOAMERICANS	https://www.angloamerican.com/
5	ASTRAZENECA	https://www.astrazeneca.com/
6	BAE Systems	https://www.baesystems.com/en/home
7	BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO	https://www.bat.com/
8	IMPERIAL TOBACCO GROUP	https://www.imperialbrandsplc.com/index.html
9	ASSOCIATED BRITISH FOOD	https://www.abf.co.uk/
10	ROLLS ROYCE	https://www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com/en_GB/home.html

Conclusion :

These are the top 10 manufacturing companies in the UK in the terms of revenue. These companies have a big market in the UK and around the world, as they manufacture the best quality products as well as provide the best customer services to their customers. If you are looking for an opportunity to work with companies in the UK, you can indeed try one of these. I hope the readers liked our content. For any other queries don’t hesitate to write to us.