Tesco has replaced BP as the British company most admired by the global business community, according to an annual survey by Fortune, the US magazine.

BP has fallen to second place among UK companies listed in the annual World's Most Admired Companies survey, which was published this weekend.

The third highest placed company is Sainsbury’s, while HSBC, the bank, is in fourth position and GlaxoSmithKline, the pharmaceutical company, finishing fifth.

Last year Tesco was the second most admired UK company and HSBC was the third. Sainsbury’s has moved up from fifth place.

The most admired company in the world remains General Electric, the giant US conglomerate, according to the survey. GE has held the top spot for six of the past eight years.

However, retail giant Wal-Mart, owner of Asda in the UK, crashed from second place to 10th.

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