COMPANY·HISTORIES

England

Companies based in England, and the events that shaped them.

38companies1762–1993founding years37still active1no longer operating
§ 01

England companies over time

Companies foundedEconomyTechnologyEnvironment
FoundedBarings PLC
1762
FoundedWillis Corroon Group plc
1828
FoundedKvaerner ASA
1853
FoundedJOHN BROWN PLC
1864
FoundedRover Group Ltd.
1888
FoundedIbstock Brick Ltd.
1899
FoundedRothmans UK Holdings Limited
1903
TechnologyThe Wright brothers achieve powered flight.
1908
TechnologyThe Ford Model T brings the automobile to the middle class.
FoundedThe British Petroleum Company plc
1909
FoundedCourtaulds plc
1913
EconomyThe Federal Reserve is created.
1914
EconomyWorld War I begins; global trade reorders.
FoundedKennecott Corporation
1915
FoundedBritish Airways PLC
1924
1929
EconomyThe stock market crashes; the Great Depression begins.
1933
EconomyNew Deal reforms reshape banking and industry.
FoundedSBC Warburg
1934
1939
EconomyWorld War II begins; wartime production surges.
1945
EconomyThe war ends; a long postwar expansion begins.
1947
TechnologyThe transistor is invented at Bell Labs.
FoundedLotus Cars Ltd.
1955
1956
EconomyThe Interstate Highway program remakes commerce.
FoundedBARRATT DEVELOPMENTS PLC
1958
TechnologyThe integrated circuit is demonstrated.
FoundedIMI plc
1962
EnvironmentSilent Spring launches the modern environmental movement.
1970
EnvironmentThe EPA is founded; environmental regulation expands.
1971
EconomyThe dollar leaves the gold standard; Nasdaq opens.
FoundedAirtours PlcFoundedMothercare UK Ltd.
1972
1973
EconomyThe OPEC oil embargo triggers a global shock.
1975
TechnologyThe personal-computer era begins with the Altair.
1979
EconomyA second oil crisis drives inflation higher.
1981
TechnologyThe IBM PC launches and sets a standard.
1984
TechnologyApple ships the Macintosh; the GUI era begins.
FoundedMadge Networks N.V.
1986
1987
EconomyBlack Monday: markets fall 22% in a single day.
1991
TechnologyThe World Wide Web is released to the public.
1993
TechnologyThe Mosaic browser brings the web to everyone.
1995
TechnologyWindows 95 launches; the internet goes mainstream.
1997
EconomyThe Asian financial crisis rattles global markets.
EnvironmentThe Kyoto Protocol sets the first climate targets.
2000
EconomyThe dot-com bubble bursts.
2001
EconomyThe September 11 attacks; a recession follows.
2004
TechnologySocial media and Web 2.0 begin to take hold.
2007
TechnologyThe iPhone launches the smartphone era.
2008
EconomyThe global financial crisis freezes credit.
2010
TechnologyCloud computing goes mainstream for business.
2015
EnvironmentThe Paris Agreement sets global climate targets.
2020
EconomyThe COVID-19 pandemic upends the global economy.
2022
EconomyInflation spikes; central banks raise rates sharply.
2023
TechnologyGenerative AI reaches mainstream business use.
§ 02

The companies

Burberrys Ltd. →
Active · England
Founded: 1856 Sales: £230.8 million (US$374.1 billion) (1995 est.) SICs: 2300 Apparel & Other Textile Products; 5651…
Cartier Monde →
Active · England
Founded: 1847 Sales: $2.38 billion (Vendome Luxury Group 1997) NAIC: 33991 Jewelry (Except Costume) Manufacturing;…
Jaguar Cars, Ltd. →
Active · England
Founded: 1922 as Swallow Sidecar Company Employees: 250 Sales: $2 billion SICs: 5013 Motor Vehicle Supplies & New…
London Stock Exchange Limited →
Active · England
Founded: 1773 as The Stock Exchange Employees: 536 Operating Revenues: £149.8 million (US$93.19 million) (1999) NAIC:…
WOOD HALL TRUST PLC →
Active · England
Wood Hall Trust is a company in the process of disposing of its assets.
Barings PLC →
Active · founded 1762 · England
Operating Revenues: £307 million Stock Exchanges: London SICs: 6790 Miscellaneous Investing Barings PLC, sometimes…
Willis Corroon Group plc →
Active · founded 1828 · England
Total Assets:£692 million (US$1.41 billion) (1997) Stock Exchanges: London New York Pacific Ticker Symbol: WCG SICs:…
Vickers plc →
Active · founded 1829 · England
Ticker Symbols: VKRSY SICs: 3511 Turbines & Turbine Generator Sets; 3795 Tanks & Tank Components One of the central…
Kvaerner ASA →
Active · founded 1853 · England
Long known as the largest shipbuilder in Europe, Anglo-Norwegian Kvaerner ASA is redefining itself around three core…
Northern Rock plc →
Defunct · founded 1860 · England
Total Assets: £20.7 billion ($32.02 billion)(1999) Stock Exchanges: London Ticker Symbol: NRK NAIC: 52211 Commercial…
JOHN BROWN PLC →
Active · founded 1864 · England
Market Value: $pound;65.3 million (US$96 million) Since its founding 150 years ago, John Brown has changed its emphasis…
BOC Group plc →
Active · founded 1886 · England
BOC Group plc is one of the world's largest producers of industrial gases essential to almost every manufacturing…
Rover Group Ltd. →
Active · founded 1888 · England
The Rover Group Ltd.
Daily Mail and General Trust plc →
Active · founded 1896 · England
Revenues: £100.6 million (1996) Stock Exchanges: London SICs: 6719 Holding Companies, Not Elsewhere Classified The…
Ibstock Brick Ltd. →
Active · founded 1899 · England
Ibstock plc is a leading manufacturer of brick and paving products in the United Kingdom and operates manufacturing…
B.A.T. Industries PLC →
Active · founded 1902 · England
B.A.T.
Rothmans UK Holdings Limited →
Active · founded 1903 · England
Although it holds only about two percent of the global cigarette market, Rothmans UK Holdings Limited ranks among the…
The British Petroleum Company plc →
Active · founded 1909 · England
One of the five largest oil companies in the world, The British Petroleum Company plc (BP) is the United Kingdom's…
R. Griggs Group Limited →
Active · founded 1911 · England
Privately-held, family-owned R.
Courtaulds plc →
Active · founded 1913 · England
Courtaulds plc is the world's second-largest producer of acrylic fibers and a major global producer of rayon.
Smiths Industries PLC →
Active · founded 1914 · England
Smiths Industries PLC is a diversified multinational corporation with core businesses in aerospace electronics; medical…
Kennecott Corporation →
Active · founded 1915 · England
Absorbed: 1997 into Rio Tinto plc SICs: 1021 Copper Ores; 1041 Gold Ores Kennecott Corporation, the world's leader in…
British Broadcasting Corporation Ltd. →
Active · founded 1922 · England
The British Broadcasting Corporation Ltd.
British Airways PLC →
Active · founded 1924 · England
British Airways PLC is the largest international airline in the world.
Bhs plc →
Active · founded 1933 · England
Known for more than 50 years as British Home Stores, Bhs plc ranks among the United Kingdom's largest department store…
SBC Warburg →
Active · founded 1934 · England
Total Assets: £22.58 billion Stock Exchanges: London SICs: 6711 Holding Companies; 6012 Recognized Banks; 6211 Stock…
Smith & Nephew plc →
Active · founded 1937 · England
Smith & Nephew plc is the fifth-largest health care products supplier in a worldwide market worth £5 billion.
Lotus Cars Ltd. →
Active · founded 1955 · England
Lotus Cars Ltd.
BARRATT DEVELOPMENTS PLC →
Active · founded 1958 · England
Market value: £277.6 million (US$408.1 million) Barratt Developments plc is one of the smaller companies in the…
FAIRCLOUGH CONSTRUCTION GROUP PLC →
Active · founded 1959 · England
Market value: £473 million (US$695 million) Stock Index: London Fairclough Construction Group is one of Britain's…
IMI plc →
Active · founded 1962 · England
IMI plc--formed in 1962 under the name Imperial Metal Industries Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of British…
BRITISH NUCLEAR FUELS PLC →
Active · founded 1971 · England
British Nuclear Fuels plc (BNFL) produces fuel for all of the nuclear power stations in the United Kingdom and is a…
Airtours Plc →
Active · founded 1972 · England
Airtours Plc is one of the largest integrated tour operators and travel agents in the European and North American…
Glaxo Holdings PLC →
Active · founded 1972 · England
One of Britain's most esteemed companies, Glaxo Holdings PLC is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical entities,…
Mothercare UK Ltd. →
Active · founded 1972 · England
With more than 370 stores throughout Great Britain, Europe, and the Middle East and Asia, Mothercare UK Ltd.
Central Independent Television →
Active · founded 1982 · England
Since 1993, Central Independent Television has been an operating unit of one of Great Britain's largest broadcast…
Madge Networks N.V. →
Active · founded 1986 · England
Madge Networks N.V.
Vendôme Luxury Group plc →
Active · founded 1993 · England
Vendôme Luxury Group plc is nearly synonymous with luxury.
Build It Today

How would you build this today?

Each week we rebuild one of these stories for today's tools and capital.