The FTSE Group has announced that Oxford Instruments plc, the leading provider of high technology tools and systems for industry and research, has been promoted to the FTSE 250 index.
Jonathan Flint, Chief Executive, says "Joining the FTSE 250 is an outstanding milestone for Oxford Instruments and something all our employees can be extremely proud of. It reflects the huge steps forward the Group has made during recent times, successfully implementing a plan to double the size of the business and significantly improve margins, and meaning that in June this year the Group was able to announce the strongest financial performance in its 51 year 
Oxford Instruments Promoted to the FTSE 250 index
This achievement gives us further encouragement to stick to the philosophy that has served us well, and will ensure that we remain highly focused on sustaining shareholder value and achieving our new three year plan to target 14% annual revenue growth and ROS of 14% by 2014".
As the first commercial spin-out company from Oxford University, Oxford Instruments developed the world's first superconducting magnet in 1959. This led to the development of MRI instrumentation, which changed the face of medical diagnostics. There are now over 30,000 MRI systems in the world, and Oxford Instruments was involved in supplying one third of them. We are proud of our heritage of innovation and this continues to drive our business today.
Now it is our aim to pursue responsible development and deeper understanding of the world through science and technology. Our ability to analyse and manipulate matter at the smallest scale means that we can supply new generation tools and systems for our industrial and research markets which directly support the global issues of environmental protection, energy conservation and security.
The company is a world-wide business, supplying commercially successful, high-tech tools and systems into diverse markets which include industry, energy, the environment, health and research. Oxford Instruments has a global reputation for its technical skills and expertise, focusing its science and technology on providing the scientific and commercial communities with the right tools to support their work. This expertise includes the creation of low temperature and high magnetic field environments; X-ray, electron and optical based metrology; nuclear magnetic resonance, and advanced semiconductor processing technologies.