Pros
Very broad range of businesses, so lots of opportunities for sideway moves. A very well established brand and organisation in the UK, with a real social conscience and a serious approach to CSR and green issues. Great pension (for the moment), great holidays, great bonus. Very high visibility in the consciousness of the British public, particularly the over 50's, so a great way to understand that market place. Historically, there had been some real attempt at international growth which provided a good platform for personal learning of other business cultures. The UK business is the backbone of modern society in helping internet traffic in the UK
Cons
A political organisation that is just starting to visibly link poor performance with consequences. Performance management is not adequate and there are layers of management which are really not needed. There is also a habit of recruiting new skills externally (for example to develop the mobile or TV offerings in the UK consumer market) when in fact those skills may well exist internally, but knowledge management is poor in many parts of the organisation. The business is so broad it can lack focus - when in doubt, it knee-jerks towards high profit types activities starving of investment the parts that should guarantee its future.