{"id":21937,"date":"2026-02-15T03:28:54","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T03:28:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=21937"},"modified":"2026-02-15T03:28:54","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T03:28:54","slug":"london-stocks-are-leaving-the-growth-market-they-once-flocked-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=21937","title":{"rendered":"London stocks are leaving the growth market they once flocked to"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In 2005, Young & Co\u2019s Brewery Plc was one of 40 companies to transfer its shares from the London Stock Exchange\u2019s main market to its growth segment. The nearly 200-year-old pub chain was attracted by the smaller exchange\u2019s tax incentives, \u201cgrowing success and popularity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two decades later, London\u2019s Alternative Investment Market has less than half the number of listed stocks and Young\u2019s is heading back to the main market in search of new investors and index inclusion.<\/p>\n

Since 2007, the exchange has been losing the tussle all stock markets are engaged in: can you attract more new listings than you have cancellations? Young\u2019s is part of a resurgent wave of companies moving up to the main market, something that\u2019s both a sign of the growth market doing its job, but also making that perpetual tussle harder.<\/p>\n

London-listed companies transferred their shares from AIM to the main market at the fastest rate in 14 years in 2025, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Seven out of the just over 600 firms moved their shares to the more regulated main market last year, and at least five plan to make the move in the next 12 months.<\/p>\n

AIM has been a key source of growth capital for the UK\u2019s startups, speculative miners and biotech companies. It helped launch companies like Asos Plc, Plus 500 Plc and Entain Plc onto the main market. Yet, 30 years after its launch even the London Stock Exchange is considering big picture questions around its core function in a world where private and venture capital is abundant.<\/p>\n

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The draw of a main market listing is clear. There\u2019s the possibility of benchmark index inclusion, and access to larger, more active investors. In contrast, AIM-listed stocks are declining, independent analysis is rare and the market\u2019s few dedicated investors are starved of new cash. The FTSE AIM All Share index dropped 34% in the five years through 2025, in contrast to a 46% gain in the FTSE All-Share Index, which tracks the main market.<\/p>\n

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Young\u2019s shares are trading at the same level they were in 2013, but it is expected to report more than double the adjusted operating profit it did that year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would love to get to move into the FTSE 250,\u201d said Simon Dodd, chief executive of Young\u2019s, which is planning to transfer its listing in April. \u201cBut in terms of the longer-term plan, the main market just broadens our institutional appeal.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Reforms introduced to make the main market more attractive and stem the flow of companies leaving the exchange for the US have accelerated the process by narrowing key distinctions between the UK\u2019s growth and main markets.<\/p>\n

Young\u2019s started considering the move after rules were relaxed for firms with a dual-class structure, Dodd said. Serica Energy Plc is considering a transfer now that the Financial Conduct Authority eased rules for significant transactions, a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps some of the attraction of being on AIM has diminished,\u201d said Berenberg analyst James Bayliss.<\/p>\n

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AIM-listed firms have been acutely hit by the wider issues plaguing London\u2019s capital markets. A report by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change and the Onward think tank in 2024 found that a lack of institutional investment, a decline of funds focused on small UK companies, lower liquidity and insufficient analyst coverage, were contributing to the decline. Mid-size AIM-listed companies, for example, had on average a quarter of the analysts covering similar companies in the US, the report found.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe continue to work with all stakeholders to revitalise equity investment and provide an ecosystem that enables young, dynamic, innovative companies to start, grow scale, and stay in the UK,\u201d a spokesperson for London Stock Exchange Group Plc said in an emailed statement. Trading in the growth market had a strong start to the year and some recent initial public offerings are outperforming those on the main market.<\/p>\n

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Gold miner Pan African Resources Plc joined the FTSE 250 index in December, less than two months after transferring to the main market. That \u201cbrought in new buyers and made it a more mainstream stock for many of the mainstream fund managers to consider,\u201d Premier Miton Investors head of equities Gervais Williams said in an interview.<\/p>\n

Williams expects more transfers to come as activity in London\u2019s capital markets accelerates and is encouraging gold producer Thor Explorations Ltd to follow suit. A spokesperson for Thor Explorations said the company is not currently considering moving to the main market.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thank AIM for the last 20 years because it\u2019s been a good journey,\u201d Young\u2019s Dodd said. \u201cWe just think, as we mature as a business, the main market is probably the right place to be for our long-term ambitions.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a9 2026 Bloomberg<\/p>\n

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