260 companies got a sponsor licence this week. 190 of them are outside London

We read the Home Office register of licensed sponsors every morning and keep every copy. Put the last seven days side by side, and 260 companies appear that were not on the list before. The newest edition behind that count was published on 7 October 2026.

254 of the 260 can sponsor a Skilled Worker visa. 25 have a care word in their name.

Why a new licence matters to you

A company does not get a sponsor licence for fun. It costs money and takes time. The usual reason is that the company means to hire from abroad, or to sponsor someone already here, quite soon.

So a new name on the register is often the first public sign of a sponsored job. It can arrive before any advert exists. A job board shows you a job after it is posted. The register can show you the employer before that.

Where they are

London has the most, 70 of the 260. The other 190 are spread across 144 more towns. The towns with the most new licence holders this week:

• London, 70.
• Leeds and Manchester, 6 each.
• Birmingham, 5.
• Bournemouth, Glasgow and Nottingham, 4 each.
• Harrow, Huddersfield, Liverpool and Reading, 3 each.

What a licence is, and what it is not

A licence is permission to sponsor. It is not a promise to sponsor you. It means the company is allowed to, not that it will for any particular job.

One more thing about the count. A company that changes its registered name can show up as a new name on the list. So the 260 means new to our copy of the register. The public list does not say which names are a rename.

How to use the list

Open the new sponsors page and find your town. Every one of the 260 is named there, grouped by town, with the kind of visa it can sponsor.

Pick the names that fit your work. Look up the company website and its careers page. If there is no advert yet, a short polite message is fine. Say what you do, that you need a Skilled Worker visa, and ask if they plan to hire for that kind of role.

Pay still decides the visa. GOV.UK sets the usual Skilled Worker minimum at the higher of £41,700 a year and the going rate for the job. Health, care and education roles are measured against their own pay scales instead. So ask about salary early.

Free to look

The new sponsors page, the register changes page, the licence check and the job list all need no account and no password. When you find a job, apply direct to the employer, on the employer's own website.

We are a job alert service, not immigration advisers, and this is not legal advice. For your own case speak to a regulated adviser or a support organisation.