It has been a trend in the last decade for large companies to reinvent themselves, sometimes abandoning their previous lines of business in an attempt to pursue a more lucrative future. So it is with Whitbread PLC. Anyone who...

Wolseley PLC is an international building materials distribution company, and the largest heating and plumbing distributor in the world. It has nearly 50,000 employees in 25 countries, and is head-quartered near Reading in the UK...

WPP plc is listed as an advertising agency, and is in reality a holding company for many other firms, such as Ogilvy & Mather in the advertising field, and companies in the government lobbying, consulting, and media...

National Grid PLC is the company that took over from the long established Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) in distributing electricity around the UK, back in 1990. Originally, the company was set up by the regional...

Old Mutual plc is an international financial group, established first in 1845 as a mutual insurance company in South Africa. It is quoted on both the London Stock Exchange and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, and has more than 12...

Everyone knows someone called Pearson, and you may be wondering what is special about a company called Pearson. After all, you probably prefer trading and spread betting on companies that you know. The fact is, however, that you...

Petrofac provides services to the energy industry. It was started in 1981, working on a project in Texas, and has since expanded to cover many areas of the world. It is registered in Jersey, with headquarters in London and...

Polymetal International is in the highly variable and contentious mining field, which should provide many opportunities for profit from the volatility. The company was originally established in 1998 in St. Petersburg, Russia, and...

There cannot be many people who have not heard of the Prudential Insurance company. It is a British multinational life insurance and financial services company which is headquartered in London. The largest division is however the...

Randgold is a young company centred on mining gold. When gold prices rise, there is a strong indication that the shares will increase in value, too. Since the global economic crisis, there has been continual pressure in the...