Smiths Group

Smiths Group plc

Company type	Public limited company
Traded as	LSE: SMIN FTSE 100 Component
Industry	Engineering
Founded	1851; 173 years ago (1851) (London)
Founder	Samuel Smith
Headquarters	London, England, UK
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Steve Williams (Chairman) Roland Carter (CEO)
Products	Seal, bearing, filtration, and rotating products Security sensors Electronic connector, microwave, and protection products HVAC and fluid management components [1]
Revenue	£3,132 million (2024)[2]
Operating income	£526 million (2024)[2]
Net income	£251 million (2024)[2]
Number of employees	15,000 (2024)[3]
Divisions	John Crane Inc., Smiths Detection, Smiths Interconnect, Flex-Tek
Website	www.smiths.com

Smiths Group plc is a British, multinational, diversified engineering business headquartered in London, England. It operates in over 50 countries and employs 15,000 staff. Smiths Group is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

Smiths Group has its origins in a jewellery shop, S Smith & Sons, which was founded by the watchmaker and businessman Samuel Smith. Supplying its precision watches to various clients, including the Admiralty, the business quickly grew and expanded into a major provider of timepieces, diamonds, and automotive instrumentation.^[4] On 21 July 1914, the business became a public limited company, holding onto this status for over a hundred years. Significant restructuring of Smiths Group took place during the 1950s, the foundations of Smiths Medical Systems division were laid while Smiths Aviation and Smiths Marine were organised as separate divisions. Throughout much of the twentieth century, Smiths Group was the principal supplier of instruments to the British motorcar and motorcycle industries, organising itself as Smiths Industries Ltd in 1960.

By the late 1970s, the markets for clocks, watches, and automotive instruments had progressively decreased to the point where little of Smith's revenue came from these sources; Smiths Industries decided to cease its involvement as a direct supplier of Europe's automotive industry in the early 1980s. In 1984, Smiths Industries was reorganised into three principal operating divisions: Industrial, Medical Systems, and Aerospace and Defence. Smiths Aerospace became a key source of business for the wider group, supplying both military and civilian customers. The medical division of Smiths Group would ultimately by acquired by ICU Medical in January 2022. In the twenty-first century, the company's principal activities have been the manufacture of sensors that detect and identify explosives, products and services for the major process industries, products that connect, protect and control critical systems, and engineered components that heat and move fluids and gases.