 | |
| Company type | Public limited company |
|---|---|
| ISIN | GB0006650450  |
| Industry | Top level markets include materials analysis, semiconductors, and healthcare and life science |
| Founded | 1959 |
| Headquarters | Abingdon, Oxfordshire |
Key people | Neil Carson (Chairman) Richard Tyson (CEO) Paul Fry (CFO) Alison Wood (Senior Independent Director) |
| Products |
|
| Revenue |  £470.4 million (2024)[1] |
 £80.3 million (2024)[1] | |
| £50.7 million (2024)[1] | |
Number of employees | 2,244 (2024)[1] |
| Website | www |
Oxford Instruments plc is a United Kingdom manufacturing and research company that designs and manufactures tools and systems for industry and research. The company is headquartered inAbingdon, Oxfordshire, England, with sites in the United Kingdom, United States, Europe, and Asia.[2] It is listed on theLondon Stock Exchange and is a constituent of theFTSE 250 Index.[3]
The company was founded by SirMartin Wood in 1959, with help from his wife Audrey Wood (Lady Wood)[4][5] to manufacture superconducting magnets for use in scientific research, starting in his garden shed inNorthmoor Road,Oxford, England.[6] It was the first substantial commercial spin-out company from theUniversity of Oxford[7] and was first listed on theLondon Stock Exchange in 1983.[6]Peter Williams took over as CEO at the time of the flotation.[6]
It had a pioneering role in the development ofmagnetic resonance imaging, providing the firstsuperconducting magnets for this application. The first commercial MRIwhole body scanner was manufactured at itsOsney Mead factory in Oxford in 1980 for installation atHammersmith Hospital, London.[8] Further innovations included the development of active shielding, whereby fringe fields hazardous to pacemaker wearers, causing difficulty and expense in siting, were virtually eliminated.[9] Oxford Instruments was not able to capitalise on these inventions itself, granting royalty-free license toPhilips andGeneral Electric whilst developing a joint venture withSiemens in 1989: Oxford Instruments sold its 49% shareholding to Siemens in 2003.[10]
Andrew Mackintosh was appointed CEO in 1998.[11] He was replaced as CEO by Jonathan Flint, who later became president of theInstitute of Physics, in 2005.[12][13] Ian Barkshire, who had spent much of his career with the company, took over as CEO in 2016.[14]
In November 2019, theHistory of Science Museum inBroad Street established a section on instruments made by the company.[15]
Richard Tyson joined the company fromTT Electronics and was appointed CEO in April 2023.[16]
Divestitures
Acquisitions
The company designs and manufactures products to image, analyse and manipulate materials.[27] It operates an innovation centre inHigh Wycombe where it carries out advanced material analysis.[28]