These are the best companies to work for in the UK, according to LinkedIn

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a stalwart of British life and culture and one of the world's leading broadcasters that aims to "inform, educate and entertain" with its services across television, radio and online.

Founded in 1922, the BBC is funded primarily through a license fee although it is under pressure to cut costs. Although, other ventures such as the BBC World Service, BBC World News, BBC Worldwide and BBC Monitoring help to fund its public services. It has over 20,000 employees working predominantly across news and program-making.

Global management consulting firm McKinsey calls itself a "trusted advisor to the world's leading businesses, governments, and institutions."

The firm operates in more than 120 cities, has over 14,000 consultants and has over 90 years in management consulting — which mainly helps public and private sector clients to improve their performance by solving problems.

Swiss firm Richemont is the world's second-largest luxury goods company after LVMH. Its luxury goods houses, or "maisons," include Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Piaget, Baume et Mercier, Chloe and more. It has offices and stores for its exclusive brands throughout the world.

The company says the performance of its people is what "defines the success of Richemont," adding that "self-motivation and drive" are essential qualities across all of its businesses.

Another global luxury goods group which focuses on fashion, leather goods, jewelry and watches. Kering's brands and designers include Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga, Christopher Kane, McQ and Stella McCartney.

The company says it champions creativity, sustainability and empowerment. "Advancing gender equality is a priority for Kering. Women account for 60 percent of our employees, 80 percent of our clients and 51 percent of the world's population," it says.

Financial services firm J.P. Morgan has over 200 years of experience offering "innovative financial solutions for consumers, small businesses, corporations, governments and institutions around the world," it says on its LinkedIn profile.

It now has operations in over 100 countries and specializes in consumer, corporate and investment banking, asset management, private banking, and commercial banking. It says a career with them offers progression and mobility: "Thanks to our global reach, we can help you get where you want to go," it says.

Global e-commerce giant Amazon says it is guided by four principles: "Customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking."

Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezoz, it says its mission is to be "Earth's most customer-centric company" and wants its employees to be pioneers. "It's our job to make bold bets, and we get our energy from inventing on behalf of customers." It's not easy to get a job at Amazon, with employees known to go through a rigorous, multiple-interview process. The retail giant has over 540,000 employees worldwide.

Headquartered in London, EY is one of the "big four" accountancy firms (the others being Deloitte, PwC and KPMG). It calls itself a "global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services" and says its services "help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the world over."

It offers a variety of positions, from internships to contract work and careers for specialists in assurance, advisory and tax services. It has around 250,000 employees worldwide.

One of the world's largest banking and financial services groups, HSBC states that it has around 38 million customers among its four major businesses: commercial banking, retail banking and wealth management, global banking and markets and global private banking.

Headquartered in London, HSBC was founded in 1865 and now has around 3,900 offices worldwide. It has just over 228,000 employees globally and says its size and scope can help develop your career.

BCG is another global management consulting firm and says it is the world's leading advisor on business strategy. It says it brings "the right people together to challenge established thinking and drive transformation." Management consultants are employed by public and private sector entities to help solve complex business challenges.

Founded in 1963, the company has over 14,000 employees, offices in 50 countries and says that many of its clients rank among the 500 largest corporations.

Looking at the data from this year's top companies, LinkedIn's International Managing Editor Isabelle Roughol told CNBC that it was "telling" how popular a career in retail remains, despite a tough year for retailers generally.

"It's really telling in a year that's been so tough for retail, for the high street, that we're seeing these online retailers taking the top spot and seeing their talent brand tracking what's going on with the industry and economy. We're also seeing luxury retail doing much better than the high street," she told CNBC on Wednesday.

LinkedIn's top companies list was collected by looking at four core areas:

• Job demand: At what rate are people viewing and applying to job postings
• Engagement with the company: How many professionals are viewing a company's career page? How many new followers has the company attracted?
• Interest in its employees: How many non-employees are viewing and asking to connect with a company's employees?
• Retention: Are employees sticking around for at least a year?

LinkedIn noted that for the sake of fairness, it had removed itself and Microsoft — which bought the networking site for $26.2 billion in December 2016 — from the lists.

The global networking giant produces "Top Companies" lists for other major regions, including the U.S. and Asia, collecting the results from its global membership of 546 million users.