FT 30
The oldest continuous index in the UK is the FT 30, also known as the Financial Times Index or the FT Ordinary Index (FTOI). It was established in 1935 and nowadays is largely obsolete due to its redundancy. It is similar to the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and companies listed are from the industrial and commercial sectors. Financial sector companies and government stocks are excluded.
Of the original constituents, four are currently in the FTSE 100: Guest Keen & Nettlefolds (GKN), Tate & Lyle, Imperial Tobacco and Rolls-Royce, although Rolls-Royce has not been continuously listed and Imperial Tobacco was a subsidiary of Hanson for a number of years. ICI was removed when it was taken over by Akzo Nobel in January 2008. Two of the original FT 30 companies are still in that index: GKN and Tate & Lyle (membership is not strictly based on market capitalisation, so this does not mean they are necessarily among the top thirty companies in the FTSE 100). The best performer from the original lineup has been Imperial Tobacco.
Read more about this topic: FTSE 100 Index