# FT 30

The FT 30 (FT Ordinary Index or FTOI, not "FTSE 30") is a now rarely used index that is similar to the Dow Jones Industrial Average. As an index of stocks to represent the real trends on the market, the FT 30 has been superseded by the FTSE 100, which was introduced in 1984.

## Background

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 by Maurice Green and Otto Clarke of the Financial News and was termed the "Financial News 30-share index" until that paper merged with the Financial Times in 1945. 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.).
The FT 30 index was calculated using the geometric mean. 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.

## List of FT 30 companies

| Name | Entry | Exit | Est. | Description | Website |
| Associated Portland Cement | 1935 | 2001 | 1900 | Originally an amalgamation of 24 cement companies. Became Blue Circle, and bought by Lafarge 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 become British Insulated Callender's Cables in 1945. Parts sold off to Corning, power cables to General Cable Corporation, Pirelli and Balfour 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 by Guinness in 1986, where later revealed was the Guinness 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 by Citigroup in 2012 after financial distress. | |
| Fine Spinners and Doublers | 1935 | 1938 | 1897 | Replaced by the Lancashire Cotton Corporation in 1938. | |
| General Electric Company | 1935 | 200x | 1886 | Originally a business started by a German immigrant named Gustav Binswanger, he joined with Hugo Hirst and the company became GEC in 1886, selling consumer electronic goods. Incorporated in 1889, set up Osram. There was a spate of mergers in 1968, and in 1988 GEC 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 the Dot-com bubble. | |
| Guest Keen & Nettlefolds | 1935 | * | 1767 | | |
| Harrods | 1935 | 1959 | 1834 | | |
| Hawker Siddeley | 1935 | | 1934 | | |
| Imperial Chemical Industries | 1935 | 2008 | 1926 | Bought by Akzo Nobel in 2008. | |
| British American Tobacco | 1935 | | 1902 | Imperial Tobacco and the American Tobacco made a joint venture in 1910. Merged with Rothmans in 1999. | |
| International Tea Co Stores | 1935 | 1947 | 1878 | Bought by BAT Industries in 1972. | |
| London Brick | 1935 | 1984 | 1900 | Incorporated in Peterborough by John Cathles Hill in 1900. Bought by Hanson in 1984. | |
| Murex | 1935 | 1967 | 1909 | Ironfounder and ferroalloy maker. | |
| Patons & Baldwins | 1935 | 1964 | 1770 | Clothing and yarn. Merged with Coats 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 the British Steel Corporation and the National Coal Board. | |
| Vickers | 1935 | 1986 | 1828 | Founded by Edward Vickers. Acquired by Rolls-Royce plc in 1999. | |
| Watney Combe & Reid | 1935 | 1972 | 1837 | Beer company, absorbed in the Grand 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 the Bank of England to rescue the cotton spinning industry, later under the Cotton Industry (Reorganisation) Act 1936. It merged 103 companies. It was bought by Courtaulds in 1964. | |
| Leyland Motors | 1947 | 1975 | 1896 | Renamed British 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 between Alliance UniChem and the former Boots in 2006. | |
| Allied Breweries | | 2005 | 1961 | Merged into Carlsberg-Tetley in 1992, now Carlsberg Group. | |
| Allied Domecq | | 2005 | 1994 | Formed from a merger of Allied Lyons (itself a 1978 merger of Allied Breweries and J. Lyons and Co) and Pedro Domecq in 1994, it produced liquor. It was taken over by Pernod Ricard in 2006. It sold off parts to Fortune Brands, Diageo, and US private equity firms Thomas H. Lee Partners, the Carlyle Group and Bain Capital. | |
| Allied Suppliers | | 1972 | 1883 | | |
| Associated Dairies Group | | 1999 | 1949 | Founded as Associated Dairies & Farm Stores Limited in Leeds, it became the supermarket chain Asda. In 1999 it was bought out by US firm Walmart. | |
| Blue Circle Industries | | 2001 | 1900 | Bought out by Lafarge in 2001. | |
| Bowater Paper | | 1984 | 1923 | Established by William Vansittart Bowater, ended up as Rexam, supplying paper for the print media in its heyday. | |
| British Motor Corporation | | 1969 | 1952 | The company amalgamated Morris Motors and Austin Motor Company. It was part nationalised in 1975, and succeeded by British Leyland. | |
| British Oxygen | | 2006 | 1886 | Taken over by the German Linde in 2006. | |
| Cadbury Schweppes | | 2010 | 1886 | Taken over by Kraft Foods in 2010. | |
| Cavenham Foods | | 1977 | 1965 | Started by Sir James Goldsmith, began to decline, and was liquidated and sold mostly to Argyll Foods in 1986. | |
| Grand Metropolitan Hotels | | 1997 | 1934 | Merged with Guinness in 1997 to make Diageo. | |
| Guinness | | 1997 | 1759 | | |
| Hanson Trust | | 1997 | 1964 | Building materials | |
| House of Fraser | | 1968 | 1849 | Department store. | |
| John Brown Group | | 1982 | 1982 | Based in Ladbroke Grove originally. Sells magazines and catalogues. | www.johnbrownmedia.com Archived 2017-09-12 at the Wayback Machine |
| LucasVarity | | 1999 | 1860 | Originally Lucas Industries, it made automotive and aerospace parts. It merged with Varity in 1996. It was then bought by TRW Automotive. | |
| Marconi Company | | 2002 | 1897 | Originally formed as The Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company, Marconi was bought up by BAE Systems in 1999. | |
| National Westminster Bank | | 2000 | 1968 | Formed by the merger of National Provincial Bank (1833) and Westminster Bank (1834) in 1968. Part of the NatWest Group, with Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank (acquired by Westminster in 1917) and Coutts (acquired by National Provincial in 1920). | |
| Plessey | | 1989 | 1917 | Absorbed into BAE 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 the Hanson Group and broken up. | |
| British Gas | | 1997 | 1812 | The first predecessor was the Gas Light and Coke Company. All gas companies were nationalised by the Gas Act 1948. It was privatised again by the Gas 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, after William D'Arcy found oil in the Middle East. Saved from bankruptcy in 1914 by getting an exclusive Royal Navy contract. Became BP in 1954. | |
| British Telecom | | * | 1846 | Originally the Electric Telegraph Company, it was nationalised in 1870 as it became a monopoly, under the Post Office. Demerged from the Post Office by the British Telecommunications Act 1981, and privatised under the Telecommunications Act 1984. | |
| Lloyds Bank | | * | 1765 | Lloyds Bank was established in Birmingham in 1765. It merged with the former Trustee Savings Bank (1810) in 1995 to form Lloyds TSB. It acquired Bank of Scotland (1695) and was 43% nationalised after reckless investments in 2008. TSB Bank was divested in 2014 and acquired by Banco Sabadell in 2015. | |
| Royal & Sun Alliance | | * | 1845 | Originally Royal 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. Acquired Mannesmann for £112bn in 2000. | |
| International Consolidated Airlines Group | | * | 1936 | British Airways was created by a three airline merger in 1936, nationalised to form British Overseas Airways Corporation, and then privatised in 1987. Merged in 2010 with Iberia Airlines. | |
| Diageo | | * | 1997 | Formed from merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan in 1997. Previously owned Burger King, closed Johnnie Walker plant in Kilmarnock, owns Smirnoff, Gordon's and Captain 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, Jack Cohen, who fused his surname with his tea supplier, T.E.S. | |
| Invensys | | * | 1999 | A merger of engineering companies BTR (est 1924 as British Tyre & Rubber Co. Ltd) and Siebe (est in 1819 by Augustus Siebe, produced the first diving helmet) in 1999, produces control and automation equipment. | |
| BAE Systems | | * | 1999 | Took over Marconi from GEC, 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 by Grand Metropolitan in 1967, merged with Midland Catering, and relaunched in 1984 as Compass. Management buy-out in 1987, listed in 1988, and on the FTSE 100 in 1998. Merged with Granada in 2000 and demerged again in 2001. | |
| Royal Bank of Scotland | | * | 1727 | Royal Charter from King George I, acquired Dundee Banking Co in 1864, Drummonds Bank and Williams Deacon's Bank, merged with National Commercial Bank of Scotland in 1969. Acquired NatWest in 2000 and ABN Amro in 2007. Bankrupted itself through reckless investments and 83% nationalised in 2008. Now part of the NatWest Group. | |
| Logica | | * | 1969 | Developed national gas grid telemetry system, word processors, and floated in 1983. Develops IT systems. Logica was acquired by the Canada-based CGI Group in August 2012. | |
| GlaxoSmithKline | | * | 1843 | Merger of GlaxoWellcome (Wellcome est 1880) and SmithKline Beecham (which came from Beecham Group and SmithKline Beckman Corporation) in 2000. Manufactures pharmaceuticals. | |
| ITV | | * | 1930 | Under the Television Act 1954, competitors were allowed against the BBC, originally starting under Granada plc (est 1930), which merged with Carlton in 2004, and rebranded in 2011. | |
| Ladbrokes | | * | 1913 | Horserace gambling, boosted after the Betting 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 Lord Harold Samuel, buying up land from Kensington to the whole country. Gave a £755.7m rights issue in February 2009. | |
| Wolseley | | * | 1887 | Founded by Frederick 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 a commodities broker, moved into alternative 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 1814 Jeremiah Colman milled flour and mustard in Norwich. 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 by Martin Sorrell in 1985, made into a marketing and advertising group. | |
| 3i | | * | 1983 | Its predecessors were formed in 1945 by the Bank 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 |