§ Mr. Needhamasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list the top 50 United Kingdom private sector employers, showing in each case the number of employees employed in the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. ButcherIt is not possible, except at disproportionate cost, to provide information exactly as requested. Information in the following list is taken from the published accounts of industrial and commercial companies for accounting periods which ended at any time from 1 April 1982 to 31 March 1983. The list includes company groups and other independent companies registered in Great Britain including subsidiaries of overseas companies; however, it excludes companies engaged in insurance, banking or finance and non-corporate employers.
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Rank according to number of United Kingdom employees Name Average number of United Kingdom employees* 37 House of Fraser plc 27,950 38 BICC plc 27,150 39 Great Universal Stores plc 27,143 40 Associated Dairies Group plc 26,952 (includes part time—no figures given) 41 S. Pearson and Son plc 26,916 42 Northern Engineering Industries plc 26,621 43 Dunlop Holdings plc 25,000 44 Cavenham Ltd 25,000 45 British Home Stores plc 24,898 (includes 14,966 part time) 46 Phillips Electronic and Associated Industries Ltd. 24,734 47 Scottish and Newcastle Breweries Ltd. 24,504 48 Metal Box plc 24,379 (includes 1,876 part time) 49 Gallaher 23,206 50 Cadbury Schweppes plc 22,897 * Figures includes part-time workers and the table includes any information published in the company's accounts on these workers.