ABSTRACT
One of the most dramatic changes in British industrial structure over the last 25 years or so has been the relative growth of the largest companies. According to the best estimates available, whereas the share of the 100 largest firms in manufacturing industry output increased only moderately in the first half of this century from 16% in 1909 to 22% in 1949, by 1976 it had practically doubled to 42.% 2 Although there are a number of indications that the upward trend may have slowed somewhat in the latter part of the 1970s it is still likely that in the near future half of manufacturing output in the UK will be produced by the 100 largest firms.
