There may be fewer jobs for graduates at Britain's best-known employers this year, but recruiters have still had one of their busiest seasons ever, with many reporting record numbers of applications.

But which employers does the Class of 2009 want to join? At a packed awards ceremony for The Times Graduate Recruitment Awards 2009 last week, more than 350 graduate recruiters gathered to discover which organisations had been named the graduate employers of choice. The awards are based on the results of interviews with more than 16,000 final-year students held last month.

Transport for London (TfL) took three awards: best graduate recruitment brochure, website of the year and also the transport and logistics category.

Jen Oakley, graduate recruitment manager at TfL, said: “We have been working very hard to establish TfL as an employer of choice and having the right marketing in place is vital if we are to attract the best applicants for our graduate schemes.”

Two other employers won awards for more than one career area.

Procter & Gamble, the consumer goods group, was again top choice for graduates seeking sales and marketing work.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a big favourite for careers in accountancy, was also named the leading employer for finance. James Chalmers, its head of talent and strategy, said: “To win both accountancy and finance awards this year is testament to the widening appeal of our profession and our commitment to graduate recruitment.”

Applications for graduate jobs in the City have slumped, but Goldman Sachs retained the award for the best opportunities in investment banking and Accenture was again the top consultancy.

Aldi, the discount retailer - well known on campuses for its £40,000 graduate starting salaries and Audi A4 company cars - beat Tesco, its rival, to take the general management award, but the retail category was won by Arcadia Group.

In a new award, Oxfam was named employer of choice for graduates going into charity or voluntary work.

Savills, the property firm, also celebrated. “When good news has been thin on the ground in our sector, we're pleased to have been graduate employer of choice for the third year,” Claire Dodd, graduate recruitment and training officer at Savills, said.

Favourites for graduates

Accountancy PwC

Charity & voluntary work Oxfam

Consulting Accenture

Engineering Rolls-Royce

Finance PwC

General management Aldi

Human resources NHS

Investment banks Goldman Sachs

IT IBM

Law Clifford Chance

Marketing Procter & Gamble

Media BBC

Property Savills

Public sector Civil Service Fast Stream

R&D GlaxoSmithKline

Retail Arcadia

Sales Procter & Gamble

Transport & logistics TfL

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