Business

The Queen's Awards

The Queen's Award to Industry was first awarded in		1966
The Queen's Award to Industry is announced on		Her unofficial birthday (21 April)
The three separate categories in the Queen's Awards for Enterprise (since 1999)		International Trade
		Innovation
		Sustainable Development

Business Terms

Highest classification of ships at Lloyds – now a byword for 'first rate'		A1
Part of a company with steady cash flow		Cash cow
Appointed to wind up a company		Liquidator
Appointed to vote on someone else's behalf at a company meeting		Proxy
Appointed by a court to manage property under litigation		Receiver

People

Co–founder of Microsoft, along with Bill Gates (died in 2018, aged 65)		Paul Allen
Welsh–born fashion designer: set up a fabric design business in her name along with her husband, in 1953, which grew over the next 20 years to become an international retail chain; set up a factory in Carno, Montgomeryshire, in 1967, which operated until 2005; died in 1985, ten days after a fall at her daughter's home in the West Midlands, on or around her 60th birthday		Laura Ashley
Italy's richest man: media tycoon, prime minister 1994–5, 2001–6, and 2008–11; owner of AC Milan		Silvio Berlusconi
US fur trader, set up a frozen food business 1924 after noticing how the people of Labrador preserved food for the winter		Clarence Birdseye
Former racing driver, bought BHS from Sir Philip Green for £1 in 2015; the company was placed into administration 13 months later, resulting in the closure of 164 stores and the loss of 11,000 jobs		Dominic Chappell
Founder of Habitat (1964)		Terence Conran
Arranged the first package tour (from Leicester, to a temperance rally in Loughborough, 1841); invented travellers' cheques (1874; he called them "circular notes" – the term "travellers cheques" was invented later by American Express)		Thomas Cook
CEO of Apple, since Steve Jobs's death in 2011 (previously Chief Operating Officer under Jobs)		Tim Cook
Hollywood film director: bought a vineyard in 1975, with the proceeds of one of his best–known films, and is said (by Britannica) to have "made far more money with his wine–making side hustle than by making movies"		Francis Ford Coppola
Began his career at Saatchi & Saatchi, becoming joint Chief Executive 1995; Chief Executive of the FA 2000–2, Royal Mail 2003–10, ITV plc 2010–17		Adam Crozier
US gun manufacturer (1816–42), pioneered the use of automated assembly lines		Samuel Colt
Set up the first industrial research laboratory in 1876 near his home in Menlo Park, an unsuccessful property development scheme in Raritan Township, New Jersey – which was renamed in his honour 1954		Thomas Edison
Controversial Chief Executive of British Leyland, 1978–82; became Chairman of ICL 1984, but resigned six months later when it was acquired by STC		Michael Edwardes
"The father of modern cosmetics" (Wikipedia): born Lodz (then in the Russian Empire, now in Poland) in 1877, made his name making make–up for Hollywood movies		Max Factor
Owner of the Ritz Hotel, Paris (since 1979), Harrods (since 1985), Fulham FC (since 1997)		Mohammed (al–)Fayed
Doyenne of public relations consultants, said to have been the model for Edina Monsoon in Absolutely Fabulous		Lynne Franks
Dropped out of Harvard after two years, in 1975, to found Microsoft (along with Paul Allen); became America's (and later the world's) richest man		Bill Gates
Co–founder and CEO of Apple Inc.; left in 1986, then bought Pixar Animation Studios (bought by Disney in 2006); rejoined Apple in 1997 when it bought his company NeXT; died from cancer in 2011, aged 56		Steve Jobs
Liked the product so much, he bought the company (Remington)		Victor Kiam
South African–born cookery expert and businesswoman: set up a supplier of quality business lunches in 1960; opened a Michelin–starred restaurant 1969, and a school of food and wine (in London) 1979 – all eponymous		Prue Leith
Soap manufacturer and philanthropist who founded the model industrial town Port Sunlight in 1881		William Hesketh Lever, Lord Leverhulme
London bank, reputedly founded in 1563 by Sir Thomas Gresham; used a grasshopper (as included in his family crest) as its symbol; acquired by Barclays in 1969		Martins
Founder of the construction company to which he gave his name; its first major project was the Glenfinnan Viaduct; he was nicknamed Concrete Bob, after experimenting with using concrete blocks as well as bricks on one housing estate		Sir Robert McAlpine
Founded the lingerie company Ultimo, in 1996 (along with her husband); elevated to the peerage in 2015		Michelle Mone
London publisher, founder of a famous and influential lending library (1842)		Charles Edward Mudie
South–African–born co–founder, CEO, and product architect of Tesla Motors; founder, CEO, and CTO of SpaceX (mission: to create the technologies to reduce space transportation costs and enable the colonisation of Mars); was a director of PayPal, and its largest shareholder (with 11.7%) before it was bought by eBay		Elon Musk
CEO who transformed Ryanair into one of the world's most profitable airlines		Michael O'Leary
"Publicity–shy" founder, Chairman and CEO of Ineos, a UK–based multinational chemicals company, with an estimated turnover in 2019 of £90 billion: named in 2018 as the UK's richest man		Sir James (Jim) Ratcliffe
Founder of The Body Shop (1976)		Anita Roddick
Chief Executive of Lonrho, 1962–94; Edward Heath's "unacceptable face of Capitalism" (died 1998 aged 80)		Tiny Rowland
Guinness Chief of Executive, 1981–6, released from jail suffering from 'wrongly diagnosed' Alzheimer's		Ernest Saunders
US businessman, opened Britain's first department store in 1909		Harry Gordon Selfridge
Founder of Amstrad (1968)		Alan (A. M.) Sugar
Arguably the most famous potter of all time: set up in business in 1754, established the Etruria Works in 1769 (named after a region of ancient Italy, known for its artistic products); had his first major commercial success with Black Basalt ware, inspired by Etruscan archaeological finds; persuaded Queen Charlotte (consort of George III) to allow him to name a range of pottery that she had bought "Queen's Ware"; made the Green Frog Service for Empress Catherine of Russia, now on display in the Hermitage Museum, 1774; most famous today for jasperware, with overlaid white decoration on a variety of colours, the best–known of which is pale blue. A prominent anti–slavery campaigner, he produced the famous medallion with the inscription "Am I not a man and a brother?" in 1787. Died 1795 aged 64		Josiah Wedgwood
MD of GEC, 1963–96; knighted in 1970, created a life peer in 1980		Arnold Weinstock
Glasgow–born MD (1932–1947) and chairman (1947–1987) of Great Universal Stores: established a foundation that established colleges at both Oxford and Cambridge universities, both of which were named after him		Isaac Wolfson

Businesses

The first building society to convert to a bank (1989)		Abbey National
The BBC microcomputers (models A and B, 1981–6) were manufactured by		Acorn Computers
Sportswear manufacturing company founded in 1924 by Adolf Dassler, who was joined shortly afterwards by his older brother Rudolf; the current name was adopted in 1949 (by which time Rudolf had left to form Puma)		Adidas
Family that founded FIAT and owns Juventus FC		Agnelli
US insurance company, received an $85 billion loan from the Federal Reserve Bank, September 2008, in return for 79.9% of its shares (also shirt sponsors of Manchester United FC)		AIG
The first breakfast cereals imported into the UK by Kellogg's (1922): corn flakes and		All Bran
Assurance company founded in 1824 by Nathan Mayer Rothschild and Moses Montefiore		Alliance (now Royal & SunAlliance)
Formed as a building society in 1985, through merger; became a bank in 1997; acquired by Santander in 2010		Alliance & Leicester
Formed in 2015 as the holding company for Google and its associated companies		Alphabet Inc.
Internet company founded 1994 by Jeff Bezos		Amazon
Formed 1850 in Albany, New York, by John Butterfield, Henry Wells and William G. Fargo (Wells Fargo was formed two years later as a separate company); introduced travellers' cheques in 1891		American Express
US accounting firm dissolved 2002 following involvement in the Enron scandal		Arthur Andersen
Laxative and antacid, sold as an effervescent powder to be dissolved in water: first produced in 1894 on Gallowgate, Newcastle–upon–Tyne, and named after a local church		Andrews Liver Salts
Jeffrey Archer was accused of insider trading in shares of		Anglia TV
Founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak; in 2018 it became the first public US company to be valued at over $1 trillion		Apple
UK manufacturer of personal computers: founded in 1965 as Applied Computer Techniques (ACT), bought by Mitsubishi in 1990; ceased manufacturing in 1999 (there have been later revivals)		Apricot
New name of the Burton Group, from 1997; bought by Philip Green in 2002 and immediately sold to his wife Christina (Tina) – he remained as chairman; includes the brands Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Miss Selfridge, Topshop, Topman, Wallis		Arcadia
Supermarket chain: founded in 1965, when brothers John and Peter Asquith merged their family's Yorkshire–based butchery business with a local producer of dairy foods		ASDA
Sportswear manufacturing company, founded in Japan in 1949: name is an acronym formed from a Latin phrase that translates into English as 'a sound mind in a sound body'		asics
Founded in 1988 by Anne Beiler and her husband Jonas, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, serving pretzels, dips, and beverages (etc.)		Auntie Anne's
Founded in New York in 1886, traded as the California Perfumes Company from 1892; changed to its current, familiar name in 1939; in 2016, it sold off its North American interests and moved its headquarters to London		Avon
The world's largest privately held, family–owned spirits company: founded in Cuba in 1862, set up new headquarters in Bermuda in 1965 – five years after its Cuban assets were confiscated without compensation by the Cuban government; has a bat as its logo		Bacardi
Discount retailer: founded in 1978 in Clevelys, near Blackpool, by Malcolm Billington (the M is said to stand for Mayman – but no–one seems to know who Mayman was)		B&M
Founded 1969, in Southampton, by brothers–in–law Richard Block and David Quayle		B&Q
London's oldest merchant bank (founded in 1762): collapsed in 1995 due mainly to the £827 million lost in futures speculation by trader Nick Leeson		Barings
Confectionery manufacturer, founded in Sheffield in 1842; most famous product is Liquorice Allsorts (created by accident in 1899); acquired by Cadbury–Schweppes in 1989		Bassett's
The oldest registered trademark (the first to be registered under the Trademark Registration Act 1875)		Bass red triangle
German pharmaceuticals company, based in Leverkusen, North Rhine–Westphalia: founded in 1863 in Barmen (now part of Wuppertal) to produce dyestuffs; first marketed Aspirin in 1897, but lost the rights to the name; trademarked the name heroin in 1898 for the drug diacetylmorphine, which it marketed as a cough suppressant and a non–addictive substitute for morphine until 1910		Bayer
Mary Quant's boutique, opened on Kings Road, Chelsea, 1955		Bazaar
Headphones company, founded in 2006 by rapper and hip hop producer Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine (former chairman of record company Interscope Geffen A&M); sold to Apple in 2014 for $600 million		Beats
Liverpool–based property developer, with towers named after it in Liverpool and Manchester; also in Birmingham (now known as 19 Holloway Circus), and a second one in Liverpool known as West Tower		Beetham Organisation
Frozen food retailer founded in Middlesex 1968; bought by Iceland in 1989		Bejam
US company, founded 1978, makes ice creams with off–beat names such as Chunky Monkey, Cherry Garcia, Karamel Sutra, Honey I'm Home		Ben & Jerry's
Fashion store opened 1964 in Kensington, London, by Barbara Hulanicki		Biba
Founded in 1942 in Valcourt, Quebec, to make snow vehicles; now one of the world's leading manufacturers of aircraft and railway technology		Bombardier
Upmarket supermarket with 28 stores in the north of England (2021) – mainly in Lancashire; referred to (e.g. by the Daily Telegraph) as "the Waitrose of the North"; has its roots in The China House, a shop opened in Blackpool in 1847 by a 19–year–old tea dealer		Booths
Book and music retailer, founded in 1971 in Ann Arbor, Michigan; closed its 45 UK stores in 2009, and 511 in the US in 2011		Borders
Founded in 1924; supplied uniforms to various Nazi organisations, including the SS and the Hitler Youth, from some time between 1928 and 1934		Hugo Boss
Originally produced as Johnston's Fluid Beef, to support Napoleon III's army in the Franco–Prussian war (1870s)		Bovril
Food product introduced by Crosse & Blackwell in 1922, and named after a suburb of Burton–on–Trent		Branston Pickle
The Leek, Westbourne and Eastern Counties Building Society changed its name in 1975 to		Britannia BS
Retail business, founded in Brixton, London in 1928 by a group of US entrepreneurs: bought by Sir Philip Green in 2000, became part of his Arcadia Group in 2009; sold in March 2015, for the nominal sum of £1, to the former racing driver and serial bankrupt Dominic Chappell; all 163 UK stores closed in August 2016, four months after the business entered administration		British Home Stores (BHS)
Endorsed by Denis Compton in 1950 for £1,000, and Kevin Pietersen in 2009 for almost £2 million		Brylcreem
Company founded in Birmingham's Gun Quarter in 1861, became famous for manufacturing motor cycles		BSA (Birmingham Small Arms)
Founded in Miami, 1954, by James McLamore and David Edgerton; bought 1989 by UK's Grand Metropolitan; sold 2001 by Diageo		Burger King
Started in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, in 1903 by an 18–year–old Lithuanian immigrant; moved to Leeds in 1910; by 1952, when the founder died, it was the world's biggest tailoring business. Acquired Debenham's in 1985; demerged Debenham's in 1997 and changed its name to Arcadia		Burton
Founded c. 1860; nationalised in 1947 and incorporated with the Post Office; privatised in 1980, granted a licence to operate a telecoms network (Mercury)		Cable & Wireless
Founded in 1824 as a shop selling tea, coffee and drinking chocolate in Bull Street, Birmingham; focused on chocolate from the mid–1860s; moved to new premises outside the city in 1878, and in 1893 built a model village for its employees, which it named Bournville; introduced its first line of milk chocolate bars in 1897; launched its most successful product (Dairy Milk) in 1905; merged with competitor J. S. Fry & Sons in 1919, and with Swiss beverage brand Schweppes in 1969; the drinks business was demerged in 2008, and the chocolate business was bought by Kraft Foods in 2010; in 2012 the confectionery business was split off to form Mondelez International (a made–up word). Today the company owns brands Trebor, Bassett and Maynards, and is headquartered in Uxbridge, Middlesex		Cadbury (formerly Cadbury's)
The major operator of ferries between the Scottish mainland and islands (formed by a merger in 1973)		Caledonian MacBrayne
UK company set up in 1935 to sell butane, propane, or a mixture of both (a.k.a. liquefied petroleum gas or LPG)		Calor Gas
London–based political consulting firm, revealed in 2018 to have harvested data from Facebook users and shared their information		Cambridge Analytica
Operator of Britain's National Lottery (first drawn 15 November 1994) – paid for an entire print run of The Sun on 5 February 1997 to publicise the first Wednesday draw; based in Watford		Camelot
Clothing and retail company, founded in 1841 by Clemens and August Brenninkmeyer in Sneck, Holland; active in the UK market from 1922, but withdrew in 2001		C&A
Japanese multinational, founded in 1934 as Precision Optical Industry Co. Ltd. (adopting its current name in 1947)		Canon
Facilities management and construction company, based in Wolverhampton: went into compulsory liquidation in January 2018, leading to parliamentary enquiries about the conduct of its directors and auditors, and about the Government's relationships with major suppliers working on PFI schemes		Carillion
Company that introduced the non–dairy coffee whitener Coffee–Mate in 1958 and was bought by Nestlé in 1985		Carnation
Japanese company: introduced the first compact electronic calculator, in 1957		Casio
Founded in the Netherlands in 1968; opened its first UK facility at Sherwood Forest in 1987		Center Parcs
Formed in 1997 when British Gas plc was demerged; owns the rights to the British Gas trading name in the UK (outside the UK it's BG Group plc – the other half of what used to be British Gas)		Centrica
Based in Street, Somerset since 1825, when it was founded to make sheepskin rugs; began using offcuts to make slippers in 1829 or 1829; famous brands include desert boots and Wallabees, but also known for 'sensible' school shoes; still 84% owned by the founding family (the remainder being held by employees and related institutions)		Clarks
UK tailoring chain, advertised in the 1960s/70s as "the Window to Watch"; bought by Burton in 1985		John Collier
Corporate name adopted by the Post Office in 2001, after it became a public limited company; it was renamed Royal Mail Group plc in 2002		Consignia
Founded in 1841 to carry temperance supporters by railway between Leicester, Nottingham, Derby and Birmingham; arranged transport to the Great Exhibition of 1851; organised tours to Europe in 1855 and to the United States in 1866; nationalised in 1948 along with the railways; denationalised in 1972, then acquired by a consortium of Trust House Forte, Midland Bank and the Automobile Association; bought by Westdeutsche Landesbank in 1992; after two further changes of ownership, collapsed in 2019, after the British government refused to underpin its losses, necessitating the UK's biggest ever peacetime evacuation ('Operation Matterhorn')		Thomas Cook & Son
Founded in 1844 by the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers		Co–operative movement
The world's largest brewery – Golden, Colorado		Coors
Anglo–Dutch steel company, bought in 2007 by the Indian company Tata		Corus
Britain's largest coffeehouse chain, and the world's second largest: named after the Italian immigrant brothers who founded it in 1971 in Lambeth, London; bought by Whitbread in 1995 (when it had 41 outlets; it opened its 1,000th in 2009)		Costa
Clothing company founded in 1987 by two former England rugby union captains: Steve Smith, and one whose surname forms part of the company name		Cotton Traders
Beauty products manuacturer, founded in France in 1904 but now based in New York: brands include CoverGirl, Max Factor, Rimmel, Adidas, Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss, Gucci, Burberry; also known for celebrity fragrances (including Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé, Kate Moss, Halle Berry, Heidi Klum, Lady Gaga, David & Victoria Beckham, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kylie Minogue)		Coty
Controversial UK oil and gas exploration company, founded in 2007, best known for its ongoing efforts to develop shale gas by using hydraulic fracturing (fracking); as of 2013, it held licences for ten sites and had drilled three wells, all in Lancashire; name is Basque for a group of people, particularly one taking part in a festival		Cuadrilla
Korean motor company, declared bankrupt 2000		Daewoo
Bottled water introduced by Coca–Cola in 2004, withdrawn in the same year after revelations that it was Kentish tap water and contained possibly carcinogenic ingredients		Dasani
Boutique clothing and accessory chain founded in 2006 by the Kardashian sisters (Kourtney, Kim, and Khloé): as of 2015, it had three outlets – in Hollywood, Miami Beach and New York		Dash
Mining company founded by Cecil Rhodes, based in Johannesburg and London; has historically held a near monopoly in the world diamond trade		De Beers
US company: the world's largest supplier of agricultural equipment – founded by, and named after, the inventor of the steel plough		John Deere
Food delivery company: founded by Will Shu and Greg Orlowski in London, in 2013		Deliveroo
Furniture retail chain: founded in 1969 by Graham Kirkham in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, as Northern Upholstery		DFS
The world's largest producer of beer, wines and spirits (Wikipedia, 2008); formed 1997 by the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan		Diageo
The first charge card (or credit card) – New York, 1950		Diner's Card
Company nicknamed 'The Mouse'		Disney
Company that paid compensation to British Thalidomide victims		Distillers
Pizza delivery company founded 1960 and based in Ann Arbor, Michigan; the world's largest, but second in the USA to Pizza Hut		Domino's
US chemicals conglomerate, founded in 1802 in Wilmington, Delaware, as a gunpowder mill by the French–American chemist after which it is named; developed polymers including Nylon, Teflon, Dacron (Terylene), Spandex (Lycra) and Kevlar		DuPont
Granted a Royal Charter to trade in the Indian Ocean region, by Elizabeth I in 1600: rose to account for half of the world's trade, seizing control of large parts of the Indian subcontinent and ruling the beginnings of the British Empire in India		East India Company
Company formed in 2010 by the merger of T–Mobile UK and Orange UK		EE (Everything Everywhere)
US energy company, based in Houston, Texas; named "America's most innovative company" in six consecutive years; went bankrupt in 2001 amid revelations of institutionalised fraud; former CEOs Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling were convicted of fraud in 2006		Enron
W. H. Smith's first bookstall (1848)		Euston Station
Social networking website founded by former Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg in 2004; Sheryl Sandberg became Chief Operating Officer in 2008, by which time it had 64 million users; name of the parent company (which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, among other such) changed in 2021 to Meta Platforms, Inc.		Facebook
Popular name for the US Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA)		Fannie Mae
Alfa Romeo was taken over in 1985 by		Fiat
Brand of strong menthol lozenges, produced since 1865 by the Lofthouse company in Fleetwood, Lancashire		Fisherman's Friend
Company founded in San Francisco in 2007, by James Park and Eric Friedman, to market the 'wearable technology' product of the same name; acquired by Google in 2021		Fitbit
Department store at 181 Piccadilly, famed for its loose–leaf tea and luxury picnic hampers: founded in 1707, was the first UK shop to sell baked beans (1886); bought in 1951 by Canadian businessman W. Garfield Weston; opened its first new UK shop in St. Pancras station in 2013		Fortnum & Mason
Once named in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's largest bookshop. Founded in 1903; 113–119 Charing Cross Road, London (since 1906)		Foyles
Popular name for the US Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Fed MC)		Freddie Mac
UK–based fashion retailer, founded 1972 and named after a 1971 film starring Gene Hackman		French Connection (FCUK)
Website bought by ITV for £120 million in 2005, sold for £25 million in 2009 (after losing critical market share to other sites such as Facebook)		Friends Reunited
Japanese company that launched the first fully digital camera to be commercially available, in 1989		Fujifilm (a.k.a. Fuji)
Japanese multinational, became sole shareholder in the formerly British–owned IT manufacturing and services company ICL in 1998		Fujitsu
Tobacco manufacturing group, established in Derry 1857 and bought in 2007 by Japan tobacco; brands include Benson & Hedges, Hamlet, Silk Cut		Gallaher
Company run by Arnold Weinstock (as MD) from 1963 to 1996; not to be confused with an American company with a very similar name (which was founded six years later, in 1892); in 1999 its defence arm was merged with British Aerospace to form BAE Systems; the rest of the company continued as Marconi, and was bought in 2005 by the Swedish–based multinational Ericsson		GEC
The world's biggest company, by capitalisation (1998); not to be confused with the British company of which Arnold Weinstock was Managing Director from 1963 to 1996		General Electric
Security services company, formed in 2004 by the merger of Denmark–based Group 4 Falck with Securicor: attracted a raft of unwelcome publicity in 2012 when it failed to supply sufficient personnel for the London Olympics		G4S
Kick–started in 1863 with the fortunate purchase of a sackful of triangular items from two sailors		Stanley Gibbons & Co.
Named after sodium ricinoleate – allegedly one of its active ingredients		Gibbs SR (toothpaste)
Founded 1998 in Menlo Park, California, by Sergey Brin and Larry Page		Google
Has its origins in a research project, nicknamed BackRub, begun in 1996 by two PhD students (see above) at Stanford University, California
Indian–born Sundar Pichai became CEO of ... in 2015, and also became CEO of its holding company, Alphabet Inc., on its formation (also in 2015)
Operated Wilderspool Brewery, Warrington, from 1787 to 1991		Greenall (Whitley)
Brand of vodka, established 1996 by the American businessman Sidney Frank, produced in France as a luxury brand for the American market; sold to Bacardi in 2004 for $2.2 billion		Grey Goose
Iconic American inter–city bus company, founded in 1914; acquired in 2007 by the Scottish company FirstGroup		Greyhound
Multi–national clothing retail company, founded in 1947 by Erling Persson in Västerås, Sweden, as ladies' low–cost fashion outlet Hennes (Swedish for "hers"); menswear collection added in 1968 when Persson acquired Mauritz Widforss, a retailer of hunting apparel, leading to a change to the current name		H&M
Confectionery company, founded in 1920 by Hans Riegel in Bonn: product lines include Tangfastics and Supermix		Haribo
Retail business: established in 1824, moved to its current site (87–135 Brompton Road, London SW1) in 1849; sold in 1959 to House of Fraser, which in turn was bought by the Fayed brothers in 1985; moved out of the House of Fraser Group in 1994 to remain a private company (prior to the group's relisting on the London Stock Exchange); sold in 2010 to the state of Qatar		Harrods
Installed Britain's first escalator in 1898
Toy and game manufacturing company, originally founded by Hillel, Herman and Henry Hassenfeld in Providence, Rhode Island in 1923 to sell textile remnants; brands include Mr. Potato Head (1952), G.I. Joe (1964), My Little Pony (1983), Transformers (1984); bought Parker Bros, including Monopoly, in 1991		Hasbro
Successful publishing business owned by Michael Heseltine, who helped to found it in 1957 as the Cornmarket Press		Haymarket (Media Group)
Dutch brewery: logo is a red five–pointed star		Heineken
North America's largest chocolate manufacturer		Hershey
American IT company, best known as a manufacturer of PCs and printers: won its first big contract in 1938 (according to Wikipedia), to provide test and measurement instruments for the Disney film Fantasia		Hewlett–Packard
Hotel chain, founded in 1952 and named after a 1942 film starring Bing Crosby		Holiday Inn
Acquired Airfix in 2007, and Corgi Classics in 2008; also owns Scalextric (date of acquisition unknown)		Hornby
Company that paid £40 million for Harrods in August 1959; bought by the Fayed brothers 1985, went public 1994 (but Mohammed Fayed retained Harrods); bought for £90 million in 2018 by Mike Ashley's SportsDirect group, after going into administration		House of Fraser
Established in 1670 by British royal charter; once the de facto government in parts of North America, owning 15% of the continent's land (known as Rupert's Land), making it the world's largest landowner		Hudson's Bay Company
Founded in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad (said in 2007 to be the richest person in Europe and the 4th richest in the world)		IKEA
Coffee grinding company, founded in Trieste, Italy in 1933 and named after its founder – an immigrant from what is now Romania		Illy
Brand dating from 1786 when Russian nobleman Count Orlof commissioned a perfume from Bayleys of Bond St. (London); Bayleys was bought in 1921 by Cussons Sons & Co., and they used the brand from 1938		Imperial Leather
Dutch bank that bought Barings for £1 in 1995		ING
Founded in New York in 1892, by brothers Robert Hawley and Charles Henry, selling cheap goods by mail order; introduced a $1 watch in 1893; manufactured (and initially sold) by the Waterbury Clock Company, it became known as "the watch that made the dollar famous"		Ingersoll
Founded 1968 by George E. Moore (also known for Moore's Law) and Robert Noyce		Intel
Unveiled in San Francisco on 9 January 2007		iPhone
Cut–price supermarket brand launched by Tesco in 2018, designed to take on Aldi and Lidl (the name is a nod to Tesco's founder)		Jack's
British multinational manufacturer (of equipment for construction, agriculture, waste handling, and demolition): founded in 1945 and based in Rocester, Staffordshire		JCB
American multinational pharmaceutical and consumer goods company, founded in 1886 and based in New Brunswick, New Jersey: brands include Band–Aid, Listerine, Neutrogena, Nicorette and Sudafed		Johnson & Johnson
Canned food brand, owned by General Mills, Inc., represented in a 55–foot high statue in Blue Earth, Minnesota		Jolly Green Giant
Japanese company that developed the VHS video system		JVC
Company founded in the 1920s in Cleator, Cumbria, by Polish WWI veteran Jacques Spreiregen, to make headwear for the armed forces and other workers: later diversified into safety harnesses and other items of clothing; name is derived from the original raw materials – silk, angora and wool		Kangol
Company famous for its logo of two figures seated back to back: made the tracksuits worn by Vicky Pollard in Little Britain		Kappa
Department store on Deansgate, Manchester: opened in 1832, bought by Harrods in 1919, renamed House of Fraser Manchester in 2005 (Harrods was bought by HoF in 1959)		Kendal Milne & Co. (Kendals)
Parent company of Woolworth's, Comet, B&Q, Superdrug, etc.		Kingfisher
Hull's independent telephone company		Kingston Communications
Confectionery brand, launched in 1935 as Rowntree's Chocolate Crisp (renamed in 1937)		Kit Kat
Faced by dwindling sales of its traditional products, filed for bankruptcy in 2012, and launched its first phone (the IM5) in 2015, followed in 2016 by the Ektra – "the world's first genuine photography–led smartphone"		Kodak
Founded in Tokyo in 1873; introdced the first mass–produced auto focus camera in 1977; merged with Minolta in 2003		Konica
Multinational food production company, began selling cheese in Chicago, 1903; controversially bought Cadbury in 2010; other brands include Jacobs, Maxwell House, Nabisco, Philadelphia		Kraft Foods
Luxury travel company, founded in Zurich in 1906: UK operation opened in 1966 and based in Dorking, Surrey; formed a partnership with retailer John Lewis in 2012, and operates stores in several of its branches (15 in 2022)		Kuoni
Pioneering British budget airline that collapsed in 1982 with debts of £150m		Laker
Manufacturer of coffee products: founded in Turin in 1895		Lavazza
Founded in 1837 to make and market Worcestershire Sauce		Lea & Perrins
Merged with the Halifax Building Society in 1995 (the new Halifax became a bank in 1997)		Leeds Permanent
US investment bank that collapsed September 2008, sparking the global credit crisis (subsequently bought by Barclays); Richard (Dick) Fuld was Chairman and CEO, from its split from American Express in 1994 until its collapse		Lehman Brothers
US pharmaceuticals company, founded in Indianapolis in 1876; first to mass produce insulin (1920s), methadone and penicillin (1940s); developed Prozac		Eli Lilly
Manufacturer of oils, lubricants, etc.: founded in Ulm (Germany) in 1957, known through its sponsorship of sporting events – particularly in motor racing		Liqui Moly
Formed by merger in 1995: took over HBOS (Halifax / Bank of Scotland) in 2008, after the Government overruled the Office of Fair Trading; demerged in 2013, as a condition imposed by the European Commission regarding state aid		Lloyds TSB
Mining company described by PM Edward Heath in the House of Commons as "an unpleasant and unacceptable face of capitalism"		Lonrho
French cosmetics company, the biggest in the world (in 2020): founded in 1909 by Eugène Schueller, and bequeathed to his daughter, Liliane Bettencourt – the world's richest woman at the time of her death in 2017		L'Oréal L'Oreal loreal
Named by Guinness World Records (in 2006) as Britain's oldest brand; its packaging (tins) have remained essentially unchanged since 1885		Lyle's Golden Syrup
Name used in the UK for a Unilever men's cosmetic brand, known in almost every other country as Axe		Lynx
Food production company, famous for its "Corner House" cafés; pioneered the use of computers in business (from 1951)		J. Lyons & Co.
Its waitresses were known, from 1926 (according to Wikipedia) as 'Nippies', and before that as 'Gladyses'
First produced 1941, named after Forrest E. Mars Sr. and Bruce Murrie (son of the President of Hershey)		M&M's
Started in 1884 as a market stall in Leeds, known as the 'Penny Bazaar'; opened its first shop in 1894 at Cheetham Hill, Manchester		Marks & Spencer
The world's best–selling brand of cigarettes – made by Philip Morris – largest plant is in Richmond, Virginia		Marlborough
Produced since 1902 in Burton–on–Trent, Staffordshire; boosted by the discovery of vitamins in 1912, due to its richness in B vitamins; bought by Unilever in the year 2000		Marmite
Founded in Minneapolis in 1920 (following the failure of an earlier venture in Tacoma, Washington); launched in the UK in 1932, when the eponymous product was also launched; moved in 1984 to McLean, Virginia		Mars
Product lines include Milky Way, M&M's, Skittles, Snickers (previously Marathon in the UK), Starburst (previously Opal Fruits in the UK) and Topic; also owns Wrigley (producers of Orbit chewing gum) and Dolmio, as well as pet foods including Pedigree and Whiskas
Retail chain founded by Liverpool–born John Hargreaves, opening its first store in Preston, Lancashire in 1985; had 50 stores by 1995, and 230 in the UK (plus 32 overseas) by 2020; headquarters moved to Skelmersdale in 1997 and Knowsley, Merseyside, in 2014		Matalan
Criticised for its clear reluctance to contribute to the ILO's official compensation fund following the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh (one of its suppliers) in April 2013, with the loss of over 1,100 lives
Coventry–based engineering firm in the Arms to Iraq scandal (1991–2)		Matrix Churchill
The world's largest toy manufacturer: products include Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels, Matchbox cars, Polly Pocket; also owns Fisher–Price; its headquarters are in Segundo, near Los Angeles; also has a facility in Leicester		Mattel
Founded 1940 in San  Bernardino, California, by brothers Richard and Maurice; bought in 1961 by Ray Kroc, who had bought his first franchise in 1955 and went on to turn it into a global business		McDonald's
Founded in 1998, based in Poole, Dorset: as of 2019, owns over 150 attractions, hotels and holiday villages in 27 countries, including Legoland, Alton Towers, Madame Tussaud's and Warwick Castle		Merlin Entertainments
Founded in 1916 as Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (Bavarian Aircraft Works, abbreviated to BFW); reformed in 1938, led by (and named after) the engineer and designer who had joined the company in 1927		Messerschmitt
Toy company formed in Northampton in 1933, by German immigrant Philip Ullmann (later joined by South African–born German Arthur Katz); introduced Corgi Toys in 1956 as competition to Meccano's Dinky Toys, and sold it to Mattel in 1989 (since 2008 it's been owned by Hornby)		Mettoy
Founded 1889 in the city of Clermont–Ferrand, in the Auvergne region of central France; still has its headquarters there; world–famous mascot or logo is officially known as Bibendum (because the product "drinks up obstacles")		Michelin
Established by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to develop and sell BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800		Microsoft
HQ moved to Redmond, Washington (a suburb of Seattle) in 1986; went public two weeks later, making millionaires of an estimated 12,000 of its employees
Paid $335,000 to sponsor The Times edition of 24 Aug 1995, getting a 24–page supplement and pages of adverts; also paid $12,000,000 for rights to use the Rolling Stones' Start me up in TV adverts (both as part of the Windows 95 launch campaign)
Gates handed over the CEO position in 2000 to Steve Ballmer, who was succeeded in 2014 by Satya Nadella
UK bank taken over in 1998 by the Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC)		Midland
Fashion retailer, started in 1973 by London market trader Peter Simon; Accessorize (started in 1984) is part of the same group		Monsoon
Founder of Littlewoods Pools – died in 1993, aged 96		John Moores
Supermarket chain: headquarters are in Bradford, where it was founded in 1899; took over Safeway in 2004, and became the UK's fourth–largest retailer (after Tesco, Sainsbury and Asda); launched a clothing range in 2013 called Nutmeg		Morrisons
Panamanian law firm: received worldwide media attention in 2016, when information about its clients' financial dealings (between 1970 and 2015) was leaked to the news media		Mossack Fonseca & Co.
Started as a second–hand clothes shop in Covent Garden		Moss Bros
UK–based retail chain, founded in 1961 by Sir James Goldsmith and Iraqi–born Selim Zilkha; Goldsmith later sold out to Zilkha, who went on to lead the chain to great success but sold his interest in 1981 and moved back to the United States; UK subsidiary had over 150 stores in 2017, but by 2019 only 79 remained, and were closed when the subsidiary went into administration		Mothercare
Company that introduced the first mobile phone, in 1982; later (1996) introduced the first one with a flip–down operation		Motorola
Founded in South Africa in 1987 ("casual dining restaurant" chain)		Nando's
The world's biggest packaged food company, established in Vevey, Switzerland 1866 by a German pharmacist; first company to produce instant coffee (1938); took over Crosse & Blackwell in 1950, Findus in 1963, Libby's (canned foods) in 1971, Rowntree Mackintosh in 1988, Gerber (baby foods) in 2007; other brands include S.Pellegrino, Perrier and Buxton mineral waters		Nestlé Nestle
Founded in 1982, when Hepworth's (chaired at the time by Terence Conran) bought Leicester–based Kendall's to sell women's wear, with George Davies as designer; overtook Marks & Spencer to become the UK's largest clothes retailer in 2012		Next
Founded in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports, took its current name in 1971; its trade mark (a stylised tick) is known as "the Swoosh"		Nike
Japanese multinational consumer electronics and entertainment company: founded in 1889 to produce handmade playing cards		Nintendo
Finland's largest company, accounting for approximately ⅓ of the market capitalisation of the Helsinki stock exchange in 2007; accounted for 16% of Finland's exports in 2006		Nokia
Formed in 1965 by the merger of two building societies in the North East of England; became a bank in 1997; during the financial crisis of 2007, it became the first British bank in 150 years to suffer a bank run, after having to approach the Bank of England for a loan facility; taken into public ownership in 2008; bought in 2012 by Virgin Money (which abolished the brand)		Northern Rock
Insurance company, changed its name to Aviva in 2009		Norwich Union
Online grocery business, founded in 2000 by three former merchant bankers from Goldman Sachs; began trading in 2002 in partnership with Waitrose; Marks & Spencer took a 50% share in 2019; name is intended to evoke fresh fruit		Ocado
Canada–based property development company: developed Canary Wharf, but declared bankruptcy in the 1990s		Olympia & York
Introduced by Mars Ltd. in 1960; rebranded in 1998 as Starburst		Opal Fruits
First mail cargo to Spain and Portugal in 1837, Egypt 1840		P & O
Established in 1888 in Janesville, Wisconsin; moved to Newhaven, West Sussex in 1987, after a management buyout; bought by Gillette in 1993, and Newell Rubbermaid (which also owns Rotring, Sharpie, Papermate, Waterman and Liquid Paper) in 2000; classic models include the Duofold (1921), the Vacumatic (1932), the Jotter (1954), the Vector (1981) and the Sonnet (1993); also created Quink (quick–drying ink) in 1931		Parker Pens
Italian dairy products company, became Europe's biggest ever bankruptcy in 2003, when founder Calisto Tanzi was jailed for 10 years for fraud		Parmalat
Garibaldi and Bourbon biscuits were first produced (in 1861 and 1910 respectively) by		Peek, Frean & Co
Company that owns much of the land alongside the Manchester Ship Canal, including the Trafford Centre		Peel Holdings
French company, named after its two original core brands: also owns brands including Absolut vodka (produced in Sweden), Jameson's whiskey, Beefeater gin, and Jacob's Creek wine		Pernod Ricard
The world's largest pharmaceuticals company, based in New York; Viagra (sildenafil) was first synthesised at its labs in Sandwich, Kent		Pfizer
The two companies that jointly developed the Compact Disc		Philips
		Sony
Founded in St. Helens, Lancashire (now Merseyside) in 1926: was the town's largest employer for many years; sold to a Japanese competitor in 2006		Pilkington (Glass)
Provincial Incandescent Fittings Co. – associated with Failsworth, Manchester		Pifco
Dance studio (and later clothing brand), founded in 1979 by former model Debbie Moore – the first woman to float a company on the London Stock Exchange (1984)		Pineapple
Founded in Chicago, 1855, to give employers more control over their workers		Pinkerton's National Detective Agency
Textiles group turned into a FTSE 100 company in the 1980s by Turkish Cypriot Asil Nadir – went bankrupt in 1991 with debts of £1.38 billion (Nadir was found guilty of 10 charges of theft and sentenced to 10 years in jail)		Polly Peck
Started in Milan, 1913, by brothers Mario and Martino, as a leather goods shop		Prada
Company founded in St. Albans, Hertfordshire, in 1976; owns brands including Hovis, Bisto, Oxo, Mr. Kipling, Sharwoods, Batchelors, Ambrosia and Loyd Grossman; sold Branston, Hartley's and Sarson's in 2012		Premier Foods
Company founded in Dublin in 1969 as Penney's (still uses that name in Ireland)		Primark
Based in Cincinnati, Ohio; brands include Ariel, Crest toothpaste, Fairy Liquid, Head & Shoulders, Olay, Pampers, Pantene, Pringles (its only major food product), Tide, Wella; acquired Gillette 2005, including its brands Duracell, Braun, Oral–B		Procter & Gamble
Sportswear manufacturing company founded by Rudolf Dassler in 1947, after an acrimonious split with his brother Adolf (see Adidas)		Puma
Confectionery brand, launched in 1936 by Mackintosh, named after a play by J. M. Barrie		Quality Street
Fashion retail chain, founded in 1993 by Glasgow–born Tarak Ramzan: shares its name with a popular pastime		Quiz
Retail chain, founded in Plymouth in 1989 by Chris Dawson as C. D. S. Superstores; rebranded in the early 1990s; bought the rights to Wilko (brand and digital assets) after the latter's parent company went into administration in 2023		Quiz
Manufacturer of the iconic Aviator sunglasses, since 1936 (as used in Top Gun)		Ray–Ban
London–based fashion company, founded in 1982 by Wayne Hemingway		Red or Dead
British sportswear manufacturing company: began in 1958 as Mercury Sports, founded by Joe and Jeff Foster to build on the reputation of their grandfather's company, J. W. Foster & Sons (founded in 1895 near Bolton, Lancashire, provided running shoes to the British team at the 1924 Olympics); renamed in 1960 after a species of South African antelope; boomed in the 1980s as a result of the Freestyle athletic shoe; taken over by Adidas in 2006		Reebok
Created by Levi Roots and popularised by his appearances on TV's Dragons' Den		Reggae Reggae Sauce
Company that Victor Kiam bought because he liked the product (an electric razor) so much		Remington
International news service founded London 1851		Reuters
London–based fashion retail chain, formed in 1988 by merging Chelsea Girl and Concept Man (previously two brands in the same group)		River Island
Founded in London in 1905, by German–born Hans Wildorf; moved to Geneva in 1919; still owned by a trust established by the founder's family; its three product lines are the Oyster, the Professional and the Cellini; logo is a five–pointed crown		Rolex
Major British manufacturing company: nationalised by the Heath government in 1971, after going into receivership – but privatised in 1987 under Thatcher		Rolls–Royce
Supermarket chain: UK subsidiary of a US company founded in 1962, taken over by Morrisons in 2004		Safeway
UK–based company, specialising in holidays and insurance for the over–50s; founded in 1951 as a hotel in Folkestone, Kent – still largely based there		Saga
Launched in 2004 and claiming by 2021 to be the UK's sixth largest by volume, Tu is a clothing line marketed by (supermarket chain)		Sainsbury's
South Korean multinational: name means "tristar" (or "three stars"); its flagship mobile phone is the Galaxy		Samsung
Spanish bank, took over Abbey National in 2004 and Alliance & Leicester in 2010		Santander
Brand of potato crisps, made in Bradford since 1945 (originally in Allerton, but in Princeville since 1979)		Seabrook
Japanese company: introduced the world's first commercial quartz wristwatch in 1969 – the Astron – a brand still in production in 2024		Seiko
Swedish security firm, victim of Britain's biggest ever cash robbery (£53m), 2006		Securitas
Japanese electronics multinational: founded in 1912 and named after one of its first products – the mechanical pencil		Sharp
Multinational formed in 1907 when the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company merged with a burgeoning British import–export trading company		Shell
Oil company sold by Roman Abramovich in 2005 (having made his fortune)		Sibneft
Europe's largest industrial manufacturing company (according to Wikipedia): its co–founder, after whom it's named, also gave his name to an SI unit		Siemens
Billy Butlin's first holiday camp (opened 1936)		Skegness
Lager brand, introduced in 1964 by a consortium of British, Canadian, Swedish and Belgian brewers aiming to create a global beer brand: name is derived from a Scandinavian word used as a toast		Skol
Name of Freddie Laker's famous low–cost transatlantic air service (1977–82)		Skytrain
Confectionery brand: launched by Rowntree's, no later than 1882, as 'chocolate beans' current name dates from 1937		Smarties
Company founded in 2002 by Elon Musk, with the goal of reducing space transportation costs to enable the colonization of Mars		Spacex
Retail grocery chain established in the Netherlands in 1932; the name is Dutch for the spruce tree		Spar
The first trading stamps – green in the USA, pink in the UK		Sperry & Hutchison (S&H)
Established in 1982 by Mike Ashley; headquarters in Shirebrook, Derbyshire		Sports Direct
Controversial UK public transport company, based in Perth: grew out of a minibus hire company founded in 1976 by Ann Gloag and her brother Robin; following the break–up of their marriage, Ann's brother Brian Souter joined and Robin left; enjoyed significant growth in the 1980s, following deregulation; criticised by the Monopolies & Mergers Commission over unfair practices in respect of competitors (especially in bidding wars)		Stagecoach
Founded by John D. Rockefeller; broken up by US Supreme Court in 1911; 'Esso' stands for		Standard Oil
US catering chain, founded in Seattle in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Gordon Bowker and Zev Siegl; its first outlet was in or near Pike Place Market		Starbucks
Named after a character in Moby Dick (the young chief mate of the Pequod – a thoughtful and intellectual Quaker from Nantucket)
Chain of restaurants set up by former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman		Sticky Fingers
Carlisle–based road haulier, founded in 1976 (from an agricultural business founded in the 1940s): famous for giving girls' names to its lorries, and including them in the paintwork		Eddie Stobart
Retail group, formed in 1986 by the merger of BHS, Habitat and Mothercare; sold BHS in 2000		Storehouse
Fast food franchise: founded in 1965 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, as Pete's Super Submarines; by 2012 it was the world's largest single–brand restaurant chain, and by 2021 it had 37,540 locations in more than 100 countries		Subway
Swiss company, founded in 1826: introduced the Milka chocolate range in 1901, merged with Tobler (producers of Toblerone) in 1970; owned by Mondelez, 2012–16, and in 2017 became part of France's Carambar & Co		Suchard
Retail company, specialising in sex toys and lingerie: opened its first shop in Marble Arch, London in 1970; bought by Ralph and David Gold in 1971; David Gold's daughter Jacqueline was made executive chair in 1981, and introduced the 'party plan' as a sales strategy; bought Knickerbox in 2000; by 2010 they had 144 shops across the UK, Ireland and Channel Islands		Ann Summers
Californian bank, offering services specifically aimed at tech start–up companies: collapsed in 2023 following a hike in interest rates and a run on its deposits		SVB (Silicon Valley Bank)
Austrian producer of luxury cut glass (etc.), founded in 1895 in Wattens (near Innsbruck); logo is a stylised swan		Swarovski
Founded in 1983 in Biel, Switzerland, to produce watches marketed as casual, fun, and relatively disposable accessories – and to compete with Asian (particularly Japanese) imports; brands include Omega, Longines and Tissot, as well as the eponymous product line		Swatch Group
US electronics retailer, sold all of its UK stores to Carphone Warehouse in 1999		Tandy
India's largest company (2009): took over Anglo–Dutch steel company Corus in 2007, and bought Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford in 2008		Tata
Europe's leading bloodstock (race horse) auctioneer: established at Hyde Park Corner, London, in 1766; moved to Newmarket in 1965, around which time it also dropped the apostrophe from its name; began operating in Ireland (Old Fairyhouse, Co. Meath) in 1988		Tattersalls
Founded in 1919 by Sir John (Jack) Cohen, selling a shipment of tea bought from T. E. Stockwell; original slogan 'Pile it high and sell it cheap'; launched the Florence and Fred (F&F) range of clothing in 2001		Tesco
First company to market tea bags in the UK (1953)		Tetley
Multinational food packaging and processing company: founded in Sweden in 1943 by Ruben Rausing, and named after its principal product – a plastic–coated paper carton, patented in 1944 and first produced in 1952		Tetra Pak
Developed the first hand–held calculator (1967)		Texas Instruments
Founded in New York in 1837, as a stationery and gift shop; started selling Bohemian glass and porcelain, and manufacturing its own jewellery, in 1841; opened branches in Paris (1850) and London (1868); famous mail order catalogue, known as the 'Blue Book', first published in 1845; immortalised in a novella by Truman Capote; mentioned twice in the song Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend		Tiffany & Co.
Founded in Manchester in 1865 as a shoe retailer; began manufacturing shoes in Kettering, Northants in 1884; headquarters moved to Wythenshawe, Manchester in 1964; since a management buyout in 1983, has specialised in shoe repairs and key cutting; currently (2019) has over 1,325 outlets in the UK and Ireland		Timpson
Started in 1964 as a youth fashion brand on an upper floor in the Sheffield branch of Peter Robinson, a women's fashion chain bought by Burton in 1946; eventually (1974) replaced the Robinson brand; now (2012) part of Philip Green's Arcadia Group (along with the rest of the Burton group)		Topshop
London's oldest ratepayer, having occupied the same premises on The Strand since 1706; also claims to have the world's oldest logo in continuous use		Twinings
Formed in 1930 by the merger of Lever Bros (UK) and Margarine Unie (Netherlands); brands include Ben & Jerry's (since 2000), Blue Band, Dove, Flora, Hellman's, Knorr, Lipton, Lux (soap), Lynx, Marmite (since 2000), Omo, Surf, Sunsilk, Sure, Vaseline		Unilever
Most familiar trade name for petroleum jelly or petrolatum (owned by Unilever)		Vaseline
Fashion brand, founded in 1978: logo is a representation of the head of Medusa; achieved mainstream international fame after Elizabeth Hurley wore "that dress" in 1994		Versace
Founded in Sheffield, in 1828, as a steel foundry; made its first armour plate in 1888; bought the Barrow Shipbuilding Company in 1897; built the Royal Navy's first submarine, Holland 1, in 1901; began manufacturing aircraft in 1911; merged with Armstrong Whitworth in 1927		Vickers
The USA's largest lingerie retailer (from the early 1990s until at least 2020): famous for its annual fashion show, featuring a bevy of supermodels promoted by the company as "Angels"		Victoria's Secret
The only manufacturer of the Swiss Army knife, since taking over rival Wenger in 2005		Victorinox
Created 1908 in Timperley, Cheshire, by J. N. Nichols & Co. (as Vim Tonic)		Vimto
Richard Branson's company offering space flights to commercial passengers: in the news in October 2014 when one of its spaceships broke up and crashed in the Mojave Desert, killing the co–pilot and seriously injuring the pilot		Virgin Galactic
The food retailing division of the John Lewis Partnerhip		Waitrose
The world's largest company, by revenue (2014), and the world's largest private employer; established in Arkansas in 1962 by Sam Walton, bought Asda in 1999 for $10 billion		Walmart
Fashion chain, founded in the late 1970s by Jeff Banks: later bought by US chain Sears		Warehouse
Founded in 1947 by Czech immigrant Charles Bacik (building on the legacy of a previous company that had operated in the city from 1783 to 1851); merged with Josiah Wedgwood & Sons in 1987; its logo is a seahorse		Waterford Crystal
Name taken in 1969 by San–Diego–based Rocket Chemical Company, after what was then its only product. Has since taken over other products, e.g. 3 in 1 oil		WD–40
Set up in 1932 in Burton Latimer, near Kettering, Northants, to produce and market a breakfast serial invented in Australia in the 1920s; created Alpen (a Swiss–style muesli) around 1970		Weetabix
Formed in 1852 by three directors of American Express, to expand their business to California (from New York) following the Gold Rush of 1848. One of the few Californian banking businesses to survive the Panic of 1855. Became involved with the Pony Express in April 1861. Effectively took control of the entire mail service in the Western United States, in 1866. Business moved to the railways following take–over of the Pacific Union Express Company in 1869		Wells Fargo
One of two manufacturers of Swiss Army Knives, but bought by rival Victorinox in 2005; brand subsequently used on licence by other manufacturers for camping equipment, luggage, and office/business equipment		Wenger
Australia–based retail property management company: (literally) gave its name to the shopping centre it opened in Shepherd's Bush, London in 2008		Westfield
Marler's Bar, in Colney Hatch Lane, east London – opened in 1979 by Tim Martin – was the first of what was to become (named after one of Martin's former teachers)		J. D. Wetherspoon
Began brewing beer in London in 1742; in 1970 it was Britain's third largest brewer; sold its brewing interests to InBev in 2001; current interests (as of 2016) include Premier Inns, Costa Coffee, Beefeater (pub–restaurant brand) and Brewers Fayre (another pub–restaurant brand)		Whitbread
Britain's oldest manufacturing company (Guinness Book of Records, cited on Wikipedia) – founded in 1570 on a site active since 1420; cast the Liberty Bell and Big Ben, amongst others		Whitechapel Bell Foundry
Retail chain, founded in Leicester in 1930: went into administration in 2023, and was bought by Norton Group Holdings – parent company of The Range		Wilko (Wilkinson's)
Clothing brand established in Salcombe, Devon, in 1999: heavily marketed towards university students, using the slogan and trademark "University Outfitters"		Jack Wills
Fast food restaurant chain, founded in 1934 in Bloomington, Indiana, and named after a character in the Popeye cartoons; stopped trading in the US after the death of the founder in 1978; J. Lyons & Co. licensed the name for use in the UK in 1954; its UK business was bought out by the South African licensee in 2007		Wimpy
Woolworth's brand name – the middle name of founder F. W. Woolworth		Winfield
Opened his first store in Utica, New York, in 1878 (it failed within weeks; but his second, opened in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 1879, was a success). Opened his first British store in Liverpool, 1909; the Manchester store (on Piccadilly) was severely damaged by fire in 1979, with the loss of 10 lives; the last British stores closed in January 2009		F. W. Woolworth
Snack food brand (cheese–flavoured corn puffs) introduced by Golden Wonder in 1970, and sold to Walker's in 2002 when Golden Wonder changed hands		Wotsits
Spanish clothing and accessories retailer, based in Arteixo, Galicia (in the extreme north–west of Spain); founded in 1975 by Amancio Ortega and Rosalía Mera; the main brand of the Inditex group, the world's largest clothing retailer		Zara

Other

Sony's home video system that eventually lost out to JVC's VHS		Betamax
Petrobras, a state–owned multinational corporation in the petroleum industry, is the largest company (by revenue) in (country)		Brazil
Body Shop's first branch was in (English town, now a city)		Brighton
Originally designed in 1957 as a three–dimensional wallpaper, by Marc Chavannes and Al Fielding; produced since 1960 for a totally different purpose		Bubble wrap
Kevlar – synthetic material produced by Du Pont – principal use		Bullet proof clothing
Timothy White and Taylor was a famous British chain of		Chemist's (Pharmacist's)
The first industry to be nationalised by Atlee's government (1946)		Coal
Mary Quant's logo		Daisy
Distribution of profits by a company or other corporation		Dividend
Whitefriars factory, founded 1680 in a former Carmelite monastery, went bankrupt 1980: manufactured highly collectable		Glassware
Industry for which Luton (Bedfordshire) and Stockport (Cheshire) are famous		Hat making
Garrod and Lofthouse, printers based in Caterham, Surrey, had a patent that (through cost savings) gave them a virtual monopoly in the UK and France, from the 1960s until the effective demise of the product, for the production of		LP record sleeves
Gallup, Harris (US); MORI, YouGov (UK)		Opinion polls
Bassett's Liquorice Allsorts: first produced in (English city)		Sheffield
Purdey's, Churchill's and Holland & Holland make		Shotguns
Henry, Hetty, George, Harry, James and Charles, made by Numatic International Ltd., are		Vacuum cleaners
YKK (Yoshida Kōgyō Kabushikigaisha – Yoshida Manufacturing Corporation) – is the world's largest manufacturer of		Zips

© Haydn Thompson 2017–24