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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. The names below are the biggest UK-listed companies in the Almanac, each with 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.

AstraZeneca PLC

Out of favour+14%

Dividend payer+25%

Rolls-Royce Holdings

Dividend payer+59%

British American Tobacco p.l.c.

High-growth+39%

Dividend payer+37%

Lloyds Banking Group

Dividend payer+51%

BAE Systems plc

National Grid plc

Out of favour+10%

Dividend payer+38%

High-growth+22%

Standard Chartered

Dividend payer+62%

Out of favour-33%

London Stock Exchange Group plc

Dividend payer-10%

Anglo American plc

Coca-Cola Europacific Partners PLC

Reckitt Benckiser

Dividend payer-10%

Dividend payer-31%

30 names · each links to its full, plain-English explainer.

Head to headLloyds vs Barclays →HSBC vs NatWest →Shell vs BP →AstraZeneca vs GSK →Rolls-Royce vs BAE Systems →Unilever vs Reckitt →

Keep goingWhat is the FTSE 100? →Dividend shares →Start with the basics →

Figures as of 2026-08-01. Data can go stale - always double-check before acting.