Home > Directories > Crawfords Directory of City Connections > Content > Editor's Introduction

Crawfords Directory of City Connections 2008

Editor's Introduction

Jo Philipp, Editor

Welcome to the 30th edition of Crawford’s Directory of City Connections. This essential guide to the major players in the City is now in its 35th year. To celebrate this we have included a timeline looking at key events that have occurred during the life of the book. During this time the City has seen many changes such as the amalgamation of the British and Irish regional exchanges with the London exchange, the subsequent the formation of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) as a plc and its recent merger with Borsa Italiana; the “Big Bang” and the regulatory reform that followed included the formation of the Financial Services Authority; the launches of AIM, Ofex and its change to PLUS, and the Euro; technological developments including the Internet and the introduction of electronic trading systems. There of course have been the lows, including Black Monday, Black Wednesday, 9/11 and the July 7th London Bombings.

The UK economy is very different now to that of 35 years ago; GDP is high and unemployment relatively low. The 1980’s saw the privatisation of many companies, while mining and manufacturing have given way to telecommunications and service companies. As we look to the future London is becoming a world leader in the Carbon market, something both John Hutton and David Lewis talk about in their articles on page 3 and 6 respectively. In the last few months there has been much talk about recession and falls in the property market, with the “Credit Crunch” primarily in the US and the collapse of Northern Rock. What the future will hold for the economy is an unknown, there is much disagreement among the professionals, many of whom are the readers of this publication.

After several years of speculated takeovers, last year saw the LSE merge with Borsa Italiana, creating Europe’s leading equity platform and strengthening London’s position in the worldwide financial market place. As John Hutton says London “has the biggest share of foreign listed equities”; there are over 600 foreign companies on the LSE, these are included in the Overseas Quoted and Overseas Aim sections of Crawford’s. The LSE has the highest number of companies floating each year of any of the world’s exchanges; these are flagged within the directory as being new. As David Lewis says in his article “One of our true success stories is the London Stock Exchange”.

The last 35 years has seen many changes to Crawford’s. The first edition published by Jonathan Crawford known simply as “Directory of City Connections 1973” contained just 130 pages, today the directory which has taken on the Crawford name runs to 882 pages and contains over 6000 entries. Whilst Crawford’s still maintains an aspect of its original layout the content has increased drastically. Looking at the entry below for British American Tobacco’s from the first edition you can see how the only information listed was the company name, phone number, their Stockbroker and Merchant Bank. Today their entry on page 42 contains a lot more information, including address, directors names and the names of and links to many more advisers.

The advisers too have changed increasing in number to include among others Auditors, Solicitors and Financial PR companies, and to include more company information. Looking through the Stockbroker and Merchant Bank sections in the first edition it is hard to recognise many companies due to companies closing down, changing their business focus and the many name changes that have occurred due to mergers through the years. Crawford’s, with its long and established reputation for delivering accurate information on the companies and people who make up the City, has been well placed to record these changes over the years.

Each year company listings are removed through mergers, delistings and companies closing, all of which are highlighted within the pages of Crawford’s. This is balanced out through the addition of new companies as they float or grow in size. Over the last few years there have been a large number of new floatations, especially on AIM, which is continuing to grow. Whilst the majority of these have been new additions, some have moved from the Main Market and PLUS-quoted.

As times change and our world moves at an increasing pace we understand that there is a need for instant up to date information. Crawford’s Online meets these needs whilst providing additional information including Executive and Non-Executive Directors and a brief description of the company’s business activity. There is the additional capacity for quick and in-depth searches by company name, location, size (turnover or number of employees), industry, job type / function or even the director’s name. These searches can then be saved for future reference. Updated on a weekly basis and with even more information, the site complements rather than replaces the book. If you have not yet visited the online version you can do so at www.crawfordsonline.co.uk, where sample data can be viewed.

There are many people involved in the compilation of the directory and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their contributions, particularly, The Rt.Hon.John Hutton MP for his insightful foreword and The Rt.Hon.The Lord Mayor Alderman David Lewis for his retrospective article, as well as all of those companies who continue to update their information throughout the year both through our online site and from our questionnaire requests. Without all of your help we simply would not be able to produce the book.

It only remains for me to thank all our users. I hope you will continue to use this book to find the information that is most relevant to you. We are constantly looking to the City and attempt to reflect its complexities and developments within Crawford’s, but for this we need your help. If you would like to suggest any changes or developments, the team and myself would be most grateful to hear from you. Please contact us at crawfords@apinfo.co.uk with your comments.