Although Nottingham is best known for famous folklore, not all your employment prospects revolve around Sherwood Forest! Nottingham is home to a raft of major companies who are constantly on the lookout for talented employees. If you are thinking of working in Nottingham, look at retail and software companies in particular. Here are 10 of the more popular companies to work for, in no particular order.

10: Monumental Games

If you’re just a big kid at heart, enjoy video games and have the skills required to create them, then Monumental Games could be your dream job. Rocco Loscalzo and Rik Alexander founded the company in 2005 and have worked on major games such as Football Superstars and Hunter’s World.

9: Paul Smith

Nottingham is the joint headquarters of the Paul Smith fashion range. Clothes from this designer are a highly sought after item on the High Street and are noted for their multistripe signature within each item.

8: Nottingham Building Society

This building society was actually founded by a Quaker called Samuel Fox in 1849. The idea behind the society was to improve people’s standard of living in Victorian Britain. Fox hoped that the Society would provide a safe haven for small savings. The company has assets worth almost £3 billion and was one of the first financial institutions to introduce online banking way back in 1983.

7: Driving Standards Agency (DSA)

There is a DSA branch in Nottingham. This is a part of the UK Department for Transport and is dedicated to reducing the number of people killed in road accidents. It has more than 2,500 staff nationwide with a budget of over £175 million per year. The DSA hopes to add at least 100 more staff in the near future if Government policy allows.

6: Capital One

This is a major bank holding company with branches all over the world and one in Nottingham. It employs almost 30,000 people worldwide, generates more than $16 billion per year and has its headquarters in Virginia, United States. This company specialises in home loans, credit cards and savings products. Capital One is part of the Fortune 500 and employees at this company have a potentially great career ahead.

5: Experian

This is a credit card information group that has its headquarters in Ireland but includes Nottingham amongst its list of other locations. It has revenue of almost $4 billion and employs over 15,000 people worldwide. Experian is a member of the London and New York Stock Exchanges. If you have the skills, ambition and interest in finance, this is a golden opportunity to gain a role in a truly international powerhouse.

4: Vision Express

Vision Express is one of the leading opticians in the United Kingdom. They are a private organisation that has their headquarters in Nottingham. It is one of the ‘big four’ UK opticians that controls 70% of the market. Its first store was opened in 1988 and there are now approximately 330 stores in the UK and Republic of Ireland.

3: John Player & Sons

The company was originally founded in 1828 but John Player bought it out in 1877. It soon became one of the UK’s biggest tobacco companies and was even known as one of the ‘big three’ companies in Nottingham along with Boots and Experian. It still hires more than 700 employees and remains one of the city’s most important businesses.

2: HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC)

Nottingham is actually the home of HMRC which is a department of the UK government that deals with tax payments and certain forms of state support. It was formed in 2005, has 67,000 employees and an annual budget of over £4 billion. It plays a major role in decreasing the level of tax evasion and other fiscal crime in the UK.

1: Boots The Chemists

This is the city of Nottingham’s most famous company and was formed in the city in 1849. It is one of the UK’s biggest pharmacy chains and is famous for a range of pharmaceutical products as well as its role as an optician. It hires thousands of people in the city and is Nottingham’s most important organisation.

These are 10 of the best companies to work for in Nottingham and not one mention of Robin Hood! Despite its relatively small size, the city of Nottingham is still the headquarters of a number of important companies.