ICI today is a world leader in manufacturing and supplying ingredients for foods and personal care, specialty polymers, electronic materials, fragrances and flavours. Together with its traditional strengths in paints, ICI is a major player in the worldwide development of sensory products. ICI brings together a family of companies with an impressive record of innovation and an ability to meet the changing needs of an increasingly global marketplace. Some of the businesses which make up the ICI Group can trace their ancestry back to the earliest days of an industry which has brought the discoveries of the laboratory into everyday products to enrich and benefit mankind. Since its formation, ICI has consistently developed new and profitable growth opportunities. Radical change has taken place within the company over the past few years to transform ICI into a Group geared for the challenges of the new economy. ICI began the makeover of its portfolio into one based on intellectual capital in 1997. The acquisition of the Speciality Chemicals operations of Unilever for $8 billion in 1997 marked the start of a significant shift in the Group's focus to the lighter, higher added-value end of the chemicals sector. This acquisition has been coupled with a comprehensive divestment programme, particularly of cyclical, bulk chemicals businesses to new owners who wished to invest in these sectors. ICI's performance has demonstrated the ability of the Group's new portfolio to produce healthy profitable growth. The early years of the 21st century will see ICI consolidate its position as the world's leading specialty products and paints company, working closely with its customers, and delivering profitable growth for its shareholders. This site will give you a flavour of the exciting world of ICI - what it makes, how it is structured and managed, who runs it, what it aims to achieve, and where it is located.