Our Planet Climate and Geopolitics
Hornby, the model trainmaker backed by Mike Ashley, is exiting the London Stock Exchange after four decades as a listed company.
The reasons it gave are fair. Hornby said delisting would reduce its regulatory burden, cut costs by £400,000 a year and open up access to liquidity it wasn’t able to attract by listing on AIM, London’s index for junior companies.
While there’s been plenty of grumbling about the flight of companies from the FTSE, the demise of AIM is particularly stark.
In 2024, the index shrunk to its smallest size in 23 years as 92 firms delisted. Combined with an exodus from the main market, which is facing its largest outflows since 2009, the picture is grim.
That a quintessentially British brand like Hornby wants to leave should sound a loud alarm in the Treasury.
