Laggards

Aviva AGM – Companies should engage positively with shareholders!

Post Date: April 8, 2026

Don’t hide in York! Don’t use hybrid AGMs to hide from difficult questions. The announcement that Aviva plc will hold its 2026 Annual General Meeting at its regional office in York (Wellington Row) on 6 May is, on the surface, framed as an act...

Jubilee Metals (JLP) 

Post Date: March 31, 2026

The value of careful balance sheet analysis Jubilee Metals Group plc (JLP:LON) is a UK‑based, AIM‑listed metals processing and recovery company. It specialises in extracting valuable metals from mine waste, tailings and...

The Amazing AI Affair

Post Date: March 9, 2026

A Call for Regulatory Scrutiny ShareSoc is closely monitoring a recent report concerning Amazing AI plc (AAI) - formerly known as Investment Evolution Credit - following its recent suspension and subsequent withdrawal from the Aquis Stock Exchange. Serious allegations have surfaced involving a purported WhatsApp transcript. If verified, these records suggest activities that would be deeply concerning to any retail investor, including potential coordinated trading strategies and efforts to influence market sentiment through non-standard channels. A Need for Verifiable Facts The individuals seemingly linked to ...

Socially Useful Frenkel Topping (FEN): Another Opportunistic Takeover and Delisting

Post Date: November 6, 2025

Another week, another blatant example of the chronic undervaluation of UK small-cap companies, leading to a lowball takeover, that forces long-term individual shareholders out at a lowball valuation. The AIM market, it seems, is becoming a hunting ground for opportunistic private equity firms to snatch up good businesses on the cheap. I’ve written about this pattern before with Gusbourne, Dewhurst, and the particularly egregious case of Anexo. The latest name to add to this sorry list is Frenkel Topping (AIM: FEN). I think this one is particularly cynical. Many ShareSoc members will ...

ANEXO Directors say “We have done nothing wrong”

Post Date: September 16, 2025

Shareholder action group call for regulatory review Further to my previous Anexo blog, I write to highlight the Investors’ Chronicle’s most recent follow-up on Anexo from 11 September. The key element in the article is Anexo’s on-the-record stance, which boils down to two lines: “We have done nothing wrong.” “No regulator has raised concerns / criticised the process.” Those two assertions go to the heart of why this warrants FT and wider media coverage. Ordinary investors (pensioners, ISA/SIPP holders, parents saving for their children) ...

TwentyFour Income Fund – A Question of Transparency

Post Date: September 3, 2025

ShareSoc Writes to TwentyFour Asset Management Expressing Concerns A member of ShareSoc/SIGnet has raised concerns regarding the transparency of the TwentyFour Income Fund. In response, we have written an open letter to the fund’s manager, TwentyFour Asset Management, and await their response with interest. As Buffett has emphasised, before making any investment, you should understand what you are investing in. Without adequate disclosure regarding the assets held in the fund, it is impossible to gain such an understanding.

Dewhurst: Another Delisting on the Cheap?

Post Date: August 19, 2025

Following Gusbourne and Anexo, here is another example of exploitation of minority shareholders by controlling shareholders through delisting.   The share price of the ordinary and A shares shows the dangers of dual class structures and the divergence of their share prices, as governance issues impact differently on the classes:  Source: Stockopedia  Summary of Dewhurst's Delisting and Impact on Minority Shareholders  Dewhurst Group PLC, a global manufacturer and supplier of components for the lift, transport, and keypad industries, announced its intention to delist from AIM and ...

Class Action for Former Shareholders in STM

Post Date: June 4, 2025

A class action group is being formed to represent former STM shareholders. This development follows a letter from Edmund Truell and Jambo SRC Limited (“Jambo”) to certain former shareholders, which states that no deferred consideration is payable in respect of Jambo’s acquisition of STM. If you held shares in STM Group plc at the time of the takeover, you will have received a Deferred Consideration Unit (“DCU”), exchangeable into loan notes worth up to seven pence per DCU and redeemable in cash ...

Urgent appeal for sponsorship from the Flybe Shareholder Group

Post Date: April 23, 2025

Flybe shareholders have waited long enough – please help us finally uncover the truth This solicitation is published by ShareSoc on behalf of the Flybe Shareholder Group and publication thereof does not represent an endorsement of the proposed action. For further information readers can contact the action group via their CrowdJustice page. In early 2019, upbeat statements by Flybe’s leadership were followed by a dramatic collapse in the value of its shares, wiping out investors and prompting urgent questions which remain unanswered. Hosking ...

GUSBOURNE Case Study

Post Date: March 18, 2025

Sparkling Product, Sour Investment Gusbourne PLC (GUS), an AIM-listed producer of English sparkling wine, is a case study in how minority shareholders in small-cap companies can be severely disadvantaged. While the product itself may garner acclaim, the company's recent trajectory has left a bitter taste for many individual investors. Lord Ashcroft, Gusbourne's majority shareholder and primary debt holder, is moving to take the company private, leaving smaller shareholders with severely limited and unpalatable options. Gusbourne Share Price Performance A Precipitous Decline in Value The timeline of ...

Press Release – ShareSoc Warns of Serious Governance Issues in Saba Capital’s Proposals

Post Date: January 16, 2025

ShareSoc, the UK’s premier organisation for individual investors, has serious concerns about the governance risks posed by Saba’s proposals, which seek to replace independent boards with its own non-independent representatives in all 7 trusts, award itself the investment management mandates, combine the trusts into a larger vehicle and use that vehicle to acquire further trusts at a discount. ShareSoc acknowledges performance concerns raised by Saba Capital Management against some, but not all, of the seven investment trusts targeted by Saba. However, ShareSoc notes ...

Press Release 125: Defective Legislation Thwarts Europa Oil Shareholders

Post Date: January 12, 2024

ShareSoc was recently approached by one of its members for assistance in the case of Europa Oil. Dr Erika Syba and others, who collectively own more than 5% of Europa’s shares, sought to requisition a general meeting of the company. The Companies Act stipulates that members of a company collectively owning more than 5% of its shares are entitled to requisition general meetings. Unfortunately, however, Erika’s shares are held in nominee accounts, like the vast majority of individual shareholders’ shares. Indeed, shares held ...

Laggards

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