Companies: TAN   

Small company broker St Helen’s Capital is a new animal, proclaims Ruari McGirr, who recently joined the PLUS-quoted group from Daniel Stewart as chief executive and is striving to raise its profile. St Helen’s, whose losses more than trebled to £658,000 in the year to March, still managed to tap institutional investors for £1.5 million to back McGirr and his new team, and the company has won eight new AIM brokership clients since February.

Chaired by Mark Warde-Norbury and with key player Jon Pither on the board, St Helen’s recently helped raise £115 million on AIM for Tanfield, a promising low-emission vehicle specialist. Claiming to be the leading company adviser on PLUS with 36 clients, St Helen’s is now making a bigger impact on AIM, though it has no ‘immediate’ plans to become an AIM nominated adviser.

Floated on PLUS (then Ofex) at 50p in 2000, St Helen’s shares were disastrous performers, at one point touching 7.5p. They have now rallied to 13.37p and could make further progress if McGirr and his colleagues achieve their goals.