Two pharmaceutical firms, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and AstraZeneca (AZ), head up Britain’s manufacturing delegation on the Forbes Global 2000 – an index of the world’s biggest companies across all sectors.
GSK were ranked 92 while AZ came in at 108. Both these firms have announced major redundancy plans in recent months to try and cement their current positions though.
Topping the list overall was the US multi-industry conglomerate General Electric. The highest British entry was BP which came in at number 5 overall.
Other prominent British manufacturing entries include Anglo American (165), British Amer Tobacco (167), BAE Systems (194) and Diageo (210).
BHP Billiton, labelled Australia/UK, was 52; Rio Tinto, labelled UK/Australia was 69; and Unilever, labelled Netherlands/UK was 79.
For all their recent troubles in the face of bottoming demand and financing crises, car makers remain a significant presence in the list. Toyota, Volkswagen, Honda, Daimler and Nissan all feature in the top 100.
For the full Forbes Global 2000, click here.
