Big UK shares, explained
The FTSE 100 is a list of around a hundred of the biggest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. Between them they cover banking, energy, mining, healthcare and the everyday brands you already know.
Being large and familiar does not make a company a safe bet or a good one - it just means there is plenty of public information to read. Each name below has a full plain-English explainer.
Why should I care?
These are the companies behind your pension, your bank and your weekly shop - so understanding them helps you make sense of the UK market you're already exposed to, whether you hold them directly or through a fund.
How this list is put together
Every UK-listed company in the Almanac worth £10 billion or more, listed A to Z. £10 billion is a round number chosen to keep the page readable, not a threshold that means anything in itself.
Market value across all 49 of them
49 names · each links to its full, plain-English explainer.