| Type | Public (LSE: LRD) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Electronics |
| Founded | 1824 |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
| Key people | Nigel Keen Chairman Peter Hill CEO |
| Revenue | £567.4 million (2010)[1] |
| Operating income | £46.4 million (2010)[1] |
| Net income | £(16.0) million (2010)[1] |
| Website | www.laird-plc.com |
Laird plc (LSE: LRD) is a leading British-based electronics and technology business. It is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
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The company was founded by John Laird in 1824 as Birkenhead Ironworks in Liverpool.[2] It launched its first ship in 1840.[2] In 1903 it merged with Charles Cammell & Company Limited and, as Cammell Laird, went on to build numerous ships for the Royal Navy.[2] In 1976 its transport division, which traded as Metro-Cammell, secured a major order to build mass transit railway carriages for the Hong Kong Mass Transit System.[3]
In the 1977 its shipbuilding business was nationalised[3] and in 1989 it disposed of its mass transit railway activities.[4] In the 1980s it moved into security products and in 1994 into electronics.[5] In 2000 it disposed of its automotive industry activities[6] and more recently, in 2007, it disposed of its security business.[7] In 2008 it changed its name from Laird Group PLC to Laird PLC.[8]
The company's main operating business, Laird Technologies, has operations organised as follows: