TheFT 30 (FT Ordinary Index orFTOI, not "FTSE 30") is a now rarely usedindex that is similar to theDow Jones Industrial Average. As an index of stocks to represent the real trends on the market, the FT 30 has been superseded by theFTSE 100, which was introduced in 1984.
The purpose of the FT 30 was to give a selection of stocks, which capture the range and essence of UK companies. The index was devised in 1935 byMaurice Green and Otto Clarke of theFinancial News and was termed the "Financial News 30-share index" until that paper merged with theFinancial Times in 1945.[1] The companies listed in the index are made up of those in the industrial and commercial sectors. It excludes government stocks, and used to exclude financial sector (banks, insurance, etc.).[2]
The FT 30 index was calculated using thegeometric mean.[3][4]As Rowley states, this had the effect of understating movements in the index compared to using the arithmetic mean; and there are circumstances where this is undesirable.[4]
| Name | Entry | Exit | Est. | Description | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Associated Portland Cement | 1935 | 2001 | 1900 | Originally an amalgamation of 24 cement companies. BecameBlue Circle, and bought byLafarge in 2001. | |
| Austin Motor Company | 1935 | 1947 | 1905 | ||
| Bass Brewery | 1935 | 1947 | 1777 | ||
| Bolsover Colliery | 1935 | 1947 | 1899 | ||
| Callenders Cables & Construction | 1935 | 1947 | 1850 | Merged with British Insulated Cables to becomeBritish Insulated Callender's Cables in 1945. Parts sold off toCorning, power cables toGeneral Cable Corporation,Pirelli andBalfour Beatty | |
| Coats | 1935 | 1959 | 1755 | Thread and consumer textiles and crafts. | www.coats.com |
| Courtaulds | 1935 | 1998 | 1794 | ||
| Distillers Company | 1935 | 1986 | 1877 | Taken over byGuinness in 1986, where later revealed was theGuinness share-trading fraud. | |
| Dorman Long | 1935 | 1947 | 1875 | ||
| Dunlop Rubber | 1935 | 1983 | 1889 | ||
| EMI | 1935 | 2007 | 1931 | Founded as Electrical & Musical Industries, merged with Thorn in 1979, and demerged again. Bought byCitigroup in 2012 after financial distress. | |
| Fine Spinners and Doublers | 1935 | 1938 | 1897 | Replaced by theLancashire Cotton Corporation in 1938. | |
| General Electric Company | 1935 | 200x | 1886 | Originally a business started by a German immigrant named Gustav Binswanger, he joined withHugo Hirst and the company became GEC in 1886, selling consumer electronic goods. Incorporated in 1889, set upOsram. There was a spate of mergers in 1968, and in 1988GEC Plessey Telecommunications was created. It merged with Marconi from 1996, its defence wing merged into BAE Systems, the remainder becoming Marconi plc. It failed and was disbanded after theDot-com bubble. | |
| Guest Keen & Nettlefolds | 1935 | * | 1767 | ||
| Harrods | 1935 | 1959 | 1834 | ||
| Hawker Siddeley | 1935 | 1934 | |||
| Imperial Chemical Industries | 1935 | 2008 | 1926 | Bought byAkzo Nobel in 2008. | |
| British American Tobacco | 1935 | 1902 | Imperial Tobacco and theAmerican Tobacco made a joint venture in 1910. Merged withRothmans in 1999. | ||
| International Tea Co Stores | 1935 | 1947 | 1878 | Bought by BAT Industries in 1972. | |
| London Brick | 1935 | 1984 | 1900 | Incorporated in Peterborough byJohn Cathles Hill in 1900. Bought byHanson in 1984. | |
| Murex | 1935 | 1967 | 1909 | Ironfounder and ferroalloy maker. | |
| Patons & Baldwins | 1935 | 1964 | 1770 | Clothing and yarn. Merged withCoats in 1961. | |
| Pinchin Johnson | 1935 | 1960 | 1834 | Paint manufacturer. | |
| Rolls-Royce | 1935 | 1970 | 1906 | Nationalised in 1971 and privatised in 1987. | |
| Tate & Lyle | 1935 | * | 1921 | ||
| Turner & Newall | 1935 | 1982 | 1871 | Asbestos and chemicals. | |
| United Steel Companies | 1935 | 1951 | 1918 | The business became nationalised and put under control of theBritish Steel Corporation and theNational Coal Board. | |
| Vickers | 1935 | 1986 | 1828 | Founded byEdward Vickers. Acquired byRolls-Royce plc in 1999. | |
| Watney Combe & Reid | 1935 | 1972 | 1837 | Beer company, absorbed in theGrand Metropolitan group. | |
| Woolworths | 1935 | 1971 | 1909 | A victim of the financial crisis on the British High Street, liquidated in 2009. | |
| Lancashire Cotton | 1947 | 1964 | 1929 | Established by theBank of England to rescue the cotton spinning industry, later under theCotton Industry (Reorganisation) Act 1936. It merged 103 companies. It was bought byCourtaulds in 1964. | |
| Leyland Motors | 1947 | 1975 | 1896 | RenamedBritish Leyland, nationalised in 1975 | |
| Morris Motors | 1947 | 1952 | 1912 | ||
| P&O | 1947 | 2006 | 1837 | Fully, Peninsular Oriental Steam Navigation. | |
| Spillers | 1947 | 1978 | 1927 | Flour and pet food. | |
| Swan Hunter | 1947 | 1966 | 1880 | Shipbuilding. | |
| William Cory | 1947 | 1959 | |||
| Alfred Herbert | 1971 | 1888 | Machine tools. | ||
| Alliance Boots | 2007 | 1847 | In its current form, created from a merger betweenAlliance UniChem and the formerBoots in 2006. | ||
| Allied Breweries | 2005 | 1961 | Merged intoCarlsberg-Tetley in 1992, nowCarlsberg Group. | ||
| Allied Domecq | 2005 | 1994 | Formed from a merger ofAllied Lyons (itself a 1978 merger ofAllied Breweries andJ. Lyons and Co) andPedro Domecq in 1994, it produced liquor. It was taken over byPernod Ricard in 2006. It sold off parts toFortune Brands,Diageo, and US private equity firms Thomas H. Lee Partners, theCarlyle Group andBain Capital. | ||
| Allied Suppliers | 1972 | 1883 | |||
| Associated Dairies Group | 1999 | 1949 | Founded as Associated Dairies & Farm Stores Limited in Leeds, it became the supermarket chainAsda. In 1999 it was bought out by US firmWalmart. | ||
| Blue Circle Industries | 2001 | 1900 | Bought out byLafarge in 2001. | ||
| Bowater Paper | 1984 | 1923 | Established byWilliam Vansittart Bowater, ended up asRexam, supplying paper for the print media in its heyday. | ||
| British Motor Corporation | 1969 | 1952 | The company amalgamatedMorris Motors andAustin Motor Company. It was part nationalised in 1975, and succeeded byBritish Leyland. | ||
| British Oxygen | 2006 | 1886 | Taken over by the GermanLinde in 2006. | ||
| Cadbury Schweppes | 2010 | 1886 | Taken over byKraft Foods in 2010. | ||
| Cavenham Foods | 1977 | 1965 | Started by SirJames Goldsmith, began to decline, and was liquidated and sold mostly toArgyll Foods in 1986. | ||
| Grand Metropolitan Hotels | 1997 | 1934 | Merged withGuinness in 1997 to makeDiageo. | ||
| Guinness | 1997 | 1759 | |||
| Hanson Trust | 1997 | 1964 | Building materials | ||
| House of Fraser | 1968 | 1849 | Department store. | ||
| John Brown Group | 1982 | 1982 | Based inLadbroke Grove originally. Sells magazines and catalogues. | www.johnbrownmedia.comArchived 2017-09-12 at theWayback Machine | |
| LucasVarity | 1999 | 1860 | OriginallyLucas Industries, it made automotive and aerospace parts. It merged withVarity in 1996. It was then bought byTRW Automotive. | ||
| Marconi Company | 2002 | 1897 | Originally formed as The Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company, Marconi was bought up byBAE Systems in 1999. | ||
| National Westminster Bank | 2000 | 1968 | Formed by the merger ofNational Provincial Bank (1833) andWestminster Bank (1834) in 1968. Part of theNatWest Group, withRoyal Bank of Scotland,Ulster Bank (acquired by Westminster in 1917) andCoutts (acquired by National Provincial in 1920). | ||
| Plessey | 1989 | 1917 | Absorbed intoBAE Systems. | ||
| Thomson Reuters | 2009 | 1851 | Paul Julius Reuter began the original service, transmitting stock market questions. Now a primary media service for the media, as well as publishing. | ||
| Scottish Power | 2007 | 1990 | Privatisation of the Scottish electricity industry gave rise to the company. | ||
| Trusthouse Forte | 1996 | 1935 | Was a hotel group, finished in 1999. | ||
| Tube Investments | 1984 | 1919 | |||
| United Drapery Stores | 1983 | 1927 | Retail stores on the High Street, acquired by theHanson Group and broken up. | ||
| British Gas | 1997 | 1812 | The first predecessor was theGas Light and Coke Company. All gas companies were nationalised by theGas Act 1948. It was privatised again by theGas Act 1986. | ||
| Marks & Spencer | * | 1884 | Started by a Polish immigrant, Michael Marks, and partnered with Thomas Spencer in 1894. In 1926 it began buying goods directly from manufacturers, and in 1948 started a self-service store model. | ||
| BP | * | 1909 | The Anglo-Persian Oil Co, originally a Burmah Oil Co subsidiary, afterWilliam D'Arcy found oil in the Middle East. Saved from bankruptcy in 1914 by getting an exclusiveRoyal Navy contract. Became BP in 1954. | ||
| British Telecom | * | 1846 | Originally theElectric Telegraph Company, it was nationalised in 1870 as it became a monopoly, under thePost Office. Demerged from the Post Office by theBritish Telecommunications Act 1981, and privatised under theTelecommunications Act 1984. | ||
| Lloyds Bank | * | 1765 | Lloyds Bank was established in Birmingham in 1765. It merged with the formerTrustee Savings Bank (1810) in 1995 to formLloyds TSB. It acquiredBank of Scotland (1695) and was 43% nationalised after reckless investments in 2008.TSB Bank was divested in 2014 and acquired byBanco Sabadell in 2015. | ||
| Royal & Sun Alliance | * | 1845 | OriginallyRoyal Insurance founded in Liverpool, biggest insurance merger in 1919 with the Liverpool and London Globe Co, and then merged with the Sun Alliance Group in 1996. | ||
| Vodafone | * | 1980 | Originally Racal Electronics, a GEC subsidiary, it won a mobile licence in 1982, and demerged in 1991. AcquiredMannesmann for £112bn in 2000. | ||
| International Consolidated Airlines Group | * | 1936 | British Airways was created by a three airline merger in 1936, nationalised to formBritish Overseas Airways Corporation, and then privatised in 1987. Merged in 2010 withIberia Airlines. | ||
| Diageo | * | 1997 | Formed from merger ofGuinness andGrand Metropolitan in 1997. Previously ownedBurger King, closedJohnnie Walker plant inKilmarnock, ownsSmirnoff,Gordon's andCaptain Morgan. | ||
| Prudential | * | 1848 | The Prudential Mutual Assurance Investment and Loan Association sold penny industrial insurance policies to workers from 1854, listed in 1924. | ||
| Tesco | * | 1929 | Originally a Middlesex grocer, JackCohen, who fused his surname with his tea supplier,T.E.S. | ||
| Invensys | * | 1999 | A merger of engineering companiesBTR (est 1924 as British Tyre & Rubber Co. Ltd) andSiebe (est in 1819 byAugustus Siebe, produced the first diving helmet) in 1999, produces control and automation equipment. | ||
| BAE Systems | * | 1999 | Took overMarconi fromGEC, a defence company with 100,000 employees, primarily supplying the UK Ministry of Defence, the US and Australia. | ||
| Compass Group | * | 1941 | Founded as Factory Canteens, then called Bateman Catering, bought byGrand Metropolitan in 1967, merged withMidland Catering, and relaunched in 1984 as Compass. Management buy-out in 1987, listed in 1988, and on theFTSE 100 in 1998. Merged withGranada in 2000 and demerged again in 2001. | ||
| Royal Bank of Scotland | * | 1727 | Royal Charter fromKing George I, acquiredDundee Banking Co in 1864,Drummonds Bank andWilliams Deacon's Bank, merged withNational Commercial Bank of Scotland in 1969. AcquiredNatWest in 2000 andABN Amro in 2007. Bankrupted itself through reckless investments and 83% nationalised in 2008. Now part of theNatWest Group. | ||
| Logica | * | 1969 | Developed national gas grid telemetry system, word processors, and floated in 1983. Develops IT systems. Logica was acquired by the Canada-basedCGI Group in August 2012. | ||
| GlaxoSmithKline | * | 1843 | Merger of GlaxoWellcome (Wellcome est 1880) andSmithKline Beecham (which came fromBeecham Group and SmithKline Beckman Corporation) in 2000. Manufactures pharmaceuticals. | ||
| ITV | * | 1930 | Under theTelevision Act 1954, competitors were allowed against theBBC, originally starting underGranada plc (est 1930), which merged withCarlton in 2004, and rebranded in 2011. | ||
| Ladbrokes | * | 1913 | Horserace gambling, boosted after theBetting and Gaming Act 1961 legalised betting shops. Renamed the Hilton Group in 1999, and reverted again in 2005 after selling the hotels. | ||
| Land Securities | * | 1944 | Began property development by LordHarold Samuel, buying up land from Kensington to the whole country. Gave a £755.7m rights issue in February 2009. | ||
| Wolseley | * | 1887 | Founded byFrederick Wolseley as the Wolseley Sheep Shearing Machine Co in Sydney, moved to the UK, and then started making cars in 1897, which was sold to Vickers in 1901. Along with agricultural machinery, started central heating in the 1960s. | ||
| Man Group | * | 1784 | James Man started sugar cooperage and broker originally, traded commodities in London coffee houses from 1802. Grew as acommodities broker, moved intoalternative investment management in 1983. Reached the FTSE 100 in 2001, sold brokerage business in 2007. | ||
| Smiths Group | * | 1851 | Originally a clock and watchmaker, started making speedometers and car parts, and then to aerospace parts. Parts for devices in security, energy, medical, communication and engineering. | ||
| Reckitt Benckiser | * | 1823 | In 1814Jeremiah Colman milled flour and mustard inNorwich. Reckitt & Sons was started in 1840 by Isaac Reckitt. Johann Benckiser in Germany started a chemicals company, listed in 1888, merged with J&J Colman in 1938. Makes household cleaning products, owns Durex and Scholl. | ||
| WPP | * | 1971 | Originally Wire & Plastic Products, bought into byMartin Sorrell in 1985, made into a marketing and advertising group. | ||
| 3i | * | 1983 | Its predecessors were formed in 1945 by theBank of England as the Industrial and Commercial Financial Corporation, created to fund SMEs, and the Finance Corporation for Industry, for funding larger business. They merged in 1973 to make Finance for Industry. Then in 1983 they were privatised, and floated in 1994. | ||
| National Grid | * | Privatisation of the electricity industry in 1990, and listing on the LSE in 1995. | www.nationalgrid.com |
