At the end of the Second World War, politicians desperately needed a plan to rejuvenate Britain’s battered economy. The Industrial and Commercial Finance Corporation, a national investment fund, was born. After decades of expansion and reinvention, it is now called 3i.
3i (which stands for Investors in Industry), isn’t quite the British champion of old. After a brutal post-crisis restructuring, it owns 45 companies, and only nine are in this country.
Nevertheless, it remains a FTSE 100 stalwart under well-regarded chief executive Simon Borrows. He took the axe to the business in 2012, closing bases from Shanghai to Barcelona and cutting more than 100 jobs.
The shares stood at 195p on his first day in charge. On Friday they closed at 714p — a 266%