Drive a culture shift to rev up UK listings

FOR all Jeremy Hunt’s Budget day promise to “make the London Stock Exchange a more attractive place” to go public it is impossible to legislate against one giant block on progress: founders simply don’t want to list their companies here.

- James Ashton

Streamline prospectuses, crank up voting rights, soften governance rules, bring back independent equity research — none of that matters unless the culture changes, upwardly mobile entrepreneurs say. If they must lift the veil of private finance, they look straight past Paternoster Square to the bright lights of Wall Street, where microchip designer Arm will hunt for fresh backers later this year. Early-stage UK tech investors even describe their portfolio companies as “Nasdaq ready” when the time comes to widen the share register.

Unable to source the growth capital from unadventurous pension funds at home, founders are fleeing Stateside, where the media is easily moulded, analysts all have brilliant minds and market optimism is indefatigable.

Except that isn’t exactly right. The London market has plenty of founder-led businesses, if you know where to look. Take Alpha Group, set up by online gaming entrepreneur and British GT racing driver Morgan Tillbrook. It helps devise hedging strategies for clients to navigate volatile currency markets and its shares are up ninefold since floating six years ago.