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 As an index of stocks to represent the real trends on the market, the FT 30 has been superseded by the FTSE 100, which was introduced in 1984.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

See also

• UK company law
• FTSE 100
• FTSE 250

Further reading

• Oxford Dictionary of Finance and Banking, ISBN 0-19-860749-0
• Berger, D. & Jackson, B. ; The Motley Fool UK Investment Workbook, ISBN 0-7522-1787-9

External links

• FT.com - FT 30 info