Company information in Oxford Brookes University Library

Many sources of information are available. These are listed below starting with those sources which give the maximum amount of information from which it would be sensible to choose a company for a project. If brief details only are required, consult the directories and yearbooks listed in the final section.

It is a common misunderstanding that it is possible to find details of company's operations, personnel policies, marketing strategies, IT systems etc., either in some of the sources below, or on the Internet. This is far from the case. Much of the information is sensitive and therefore confidential, and companies do not want to make it public. A few brief details can be found for some companies if you look in the section below on books on companies. The best strategy is to look at the whole range of news and analysis in the electronic sources below to try to piece together what the company is doing. Often, the information is far too sparse to help in some areas of operation. Occasionally it may be possible to find a case study in an academic journal which covers some aspects of company policies, but this is unusual.

Electronic sources

Business Source Complete (Available on and off campus)
Click on the “More” tab at the top of the search screen and select “Company Profiles” to retrieve the Datamonitor company profiles. These can give information on company activities, history, key employees, locations etc. and usually a SWOT analysis. Searching the whole database by company name also retrieves many news articles from specialist trade journals. Datamonitor market research reports give details of world markets and the market share of leading companies.

Thomson One Banker Analytics and Investext (Available on and off campus)
The Worldscope database on the Thomson One Banker platform provides full, detailed accounts and share price data for c28,500 quoted companies in 55 different countries. 98% of companies on world stock exchanges are covered. Data can be recalculated and charted in a wide variety of ways. It is possible to add a Thomson One Banker toolbar to Excel to facilitate downloading using a variety of Wizards to aid analysis.

Investext is available on the Thomson One Banker platform. Investext contains over 6 million reports from analysts in investment banks, stockbroker firms, etc. on companies, industries, markets and countries dating back to 1995. Analysts' reports are based on all published information and often on personal contacts with company executives. Nearly all reports on companies have an initial focus on the share price and the implications for share holdings, but all aspects of company performance and the company's market and competitors may be reviewed in the lengthier reports. Investext is a vital source of information for anyone studying a company and should always be consulted.

Factiva (Available on and off campus)
A massive database providing news and company financial data. 10000 world news sources, including 2400 newspapers, in 22 languages are included. The Times dates back to 1981, but backfiles of other sources vary. The Financial Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Straits Times, South China Morning Post and the Economist are other prestigious titles included. Many UK local newspapers including the Oxford Mail and 8 other titles from Oxfordshire are available. Many hundreds of trade and industry journals are available. Company indexes are available to help you to focus on relevant articles.

The past 5 years of accounts and share prices are available for world quoted companies. Share prices can be charted and compared to stock exchange indices. Accounting ratio comparisons between companies and the industry to which they belong are available. Foreign exchange rates are also available. All data can downloaded easily into Excel.

Fame (Available on and off campus)
Fame provides details of over 130,000 UK companies with a turnover in excess of £700,000, or with profits over £50,000. Addresses, telephone numbers, activities, directors, parent and subsidiary relationships, and approximately 150 accounting items, including ratios for the past ten years are given. A variety of graphs may be produced from the accounting information. Searches may be made using any of the data above to produce mailing lists, or, more importantly to run a variety of industry analyses.

Orbis (Available on and off campus)
Orbis is a database from the same publishers using the same software as Fame and provides the same company information, but it covers over 900,000 of the world's top companies.

Market research reports

Mintel (Available on and off campus)
Market research reports are a valuable source of company information. Markets shares, brands, consumers, advertising, distribution, new developments can be covered and forecasts given. Mintel covers UK markets only. Mintel Market Intelligence covers all of the consumer markets including food and drink, clothes and household goods. Mintel Leisure covers spending on leisure activites and goods. Mintel Retail covers the retail sectors (the companies and retail trends rather than goods). Mintel Industrial covers business to business markets. Finally, the Library Horizons series cover more strategic issues in marketing, such as the green and ethical retailing, student lifestyles, marketing to children aged 11-16.

Searches by company name can be made in Mintel.

Euromonitor GMID (Available on and off campus)
The market reports covering the leading 52 world economies and 28 emerging markets will provide much useful data on company's sales etc.. Company profiles are also available which cover the companies that are important and active in consumer markets. Although brief, the profiles cover strategic direction and competitive positioning.

Searches can be made by company name.

The Internet

Many companies make information available on the Internet. The majority of documents filed by (listed) US companies with the Securities and Exchange commission can be found on the Internet on Edgar. Many British, European and Asian company accounts are available in facsimile via Carol. The site run by Northcote Internet Ltd is particularly efficient at providing UK annual reports and accounts. See the Guide to business and economics internet sources on the Oxford Brookes home pages for full details.

Annual reports and accounts

At Wheatley approximately 800 sets of the top UK companies annual reports and accounts are available. Some are held for ten years, some for five and some for the current year only. In addition, a collection of foreign reports is available. Over 400 European companies, and approximately 150 companies from the Pacific Rim are covered. At Headington a collection of reports produced by companies in the oil, hotel, food and catering industries, and a small collection of European reports is available.

A list of holdings at both sites is available at the enquiry desks at Wheatley and Headington. Companies are listed by country, and also by industry.

For reports on the internet, see the section above which contains the addresses of Carol, Edgar, and Northcote internet Ltd.

If the accounts of a UK Company required cannot be found, application forms are available for the Company Registration Office postal service, but check first of all that they are not available on Fame before paying for a search.

Books on companies

Books on specific companies can be found using the keyword search of the Library catalogue and restricting the search to the Wheatley Library site.  Readers should also consult:

International directory of company histories (W) QR 338.7409 INT
This multi-volume work contains potted histories of leading world companies.

Britains top employers: best examples of HR management (W) QR 338.740941 BRI
Information about leading companies' culture and style, and some details of their personnel policies.

Directories and yearbooks

The directories listed below provide company addresses and brief details and are not helpful for projects. Some offer specialized coverage and this is explained where necessary. A number of directories have now been replaced by Fame and Orbis which can be used to look up addresses, telephone numbers, Directors, and company relationships etc. of UK and world companies. The Thomson One Banker Analytics database gives details of 28,500 world companies. Further trade directories are available in quick reference collections at Wheatley and Headington. The Westgate Public Library in Oxford has a selection of foreign directories.

Europe's 15,000 largest companies (W) 338.74094 EUR
Companies ranked by size with brief financial details. See the Orbis database for names and addresses of many more thousands of European and World companies.

Kelly's industrial directory (W) QR 380.1025 KEL
Kelly's industrial directory (H) SQR 380.1025 KEL

Kompass (W) QR 380.102541 KOM
Kompass (H) SQR 380.102541 KOM
The major guide to product suppliers in Britain. Includes a geographical listing, brief financial details for the past three years, a parent-subsidiary guide, and guides to trade names and quality assessed companies.

United Kingdom franchise directory (H) SQR 658.840941 UNI
Details of companies offering franchises.