The building materials sector was once a closely watched sector in the FTSE Indices. It was pored over by analysts and economists, looking not just for clues about the performance of particular building sub-sectors but for signs about the direction of the economy as a whole. It was discontinued by FTSE some years ago, mainly the result of a rampant decade or two of mergers and acquisitions i.e. piece by piece, since 1997, household names, FTSE 100 constituents and behemoths have been acquired by largely continental European suitors. The list includes Aggregate Industries, Baggeridge Brick, Blue Circle, BPB, ECC, Foster Yeoman, Hanson, Hepworth, Ibstock, Marley, Meyer, Pilkington, Redland (the first big one), RMC, Rugby (to RMC) and Tarmac.