Yorkshire Post one of graduates’ favourites

The other leading employers in the eyes of graduates are PwC, Unilever, Morrisons, Asda, Yorkshire Bank, ITV, Yorkshire Water, KPMG and Nestle. The firms were identified in a survey of more than 1,000 people for Graduates Yorkshire, the Sheffield-based recruitment firm.

The Big Graduate Survey 2011 also revealed a slightly higher-than-average rate of graduate unemployment.

Martin Edmondson, chief executive of Graduates Yorkshire, said that this should serve as a call to action for both Government and employers to create more opportunities for university leavers.

He added: “The great news is that as a region we are considered an attractive place to be based, including attracting people who studied in many different parts of the UK.

“However we need to find more ways of using all this talent.”

Mr Edmondson said graduate utilisation is a bigger issue than graduate retention in cities like Leeds, York and Sheffield.

The company that graduates would most like to work for will be revealed at the survey launch from 5pm on July 14 at the Carriageworks in Leeds.