Spirent

Founded in 1984 and headquartered in Crawley, West Sussex, Spirent Communications plc is a global leader in telecommunications testing. In addition to being part of the FTSE 250 Index, it is also traded on the London Stock Exchange.

In 1936, Jack Bowthorpe started a business called Goodliffe Electric Supplies. The town officially became known as Bowthorpe in 1949. In 1987, it bought Optima Electronics and by 1990, it had sold off its defense operations. During the dot-com boom of the 1990s, the company's electronics division expanded rapidly thanks to the acquisitions of Telecom Analysis Systems (based in Eatontown, New Jersey) in 1995 and Adtech (a digital test equipment concern based in Hawaii) in 1997.

At one point, the company was included in the FTSE 100 index. In 1999, it bought Netcom Systems, a US telecommunications testing business that develops network equipment testers, and DLS, a Canadian telecoms testing business, and subsequently divested itself of its automotive industry operations In 2000, the company additionally acquired the Operations Support Systems company Hekimian, the communications software company Zarak Systems, and the access systems company Net-Hopper.

Founded: 1936
Headquarters:

• Crawley, West Sussex, United Kingdom
• San Jose, California, United States

Website: www.spirent.com