10 shares the recession could not stop

During the recent recession and financial crisis, some companies managed to continue their growth despite whatever the global economy was throwing at them. An exclusive band of stocks survived the recession and emerged even stronger, increasing dividends to their shareholders along the way.

An economist would typically define a recession as two successive quarters of negative GDP growth. In the most recent recession, GDP growth first turned negative in the third quarter of 2008. It did not return to positive territory until the final quarter of 2009. The FTSE 100 began this period at 5,413 and finished it at 4,989, although it ranged from as low as 3,531 to as high as 5,637 during this time.