The Telegraph: The Cambridge diversity scramble that led to Arday fiasco: University accused of ‘going through the motions’ when it appointed its youngest black professor
Comment: To paraphrase the 1st law of thermodynamics, discrimination in society is not created or destroyed, it just moves from one demographic to another. Maybe this could be the subject for my doctorate at the Open University?
The Telegraph: UK investors pulled £1.6bn from stock market funds last month amid fears that Andy Burnham will put up taxes. The amount withdrawn from equity funds in July was the highest since October and November last year, when investors dumped shares in the run-up to Rachel Reeves’s autumn Budget, according to Calastone, which compiled the data. It was the fifth-worst month for equity fund withdrawals in the last 11 years, and means investors have pulled an unprecedented £13.9bn from funds over the last year.
Comment: Socialists hate the stock market, because it is a source of unearned wealth, and especially because it proves that some people simply have more talent than others. Hence they will be delighted that money is being taken out of the market.
Sky News: No 10 urges council to ‘work with’ London pubs amid row over ‘vertical drinking ‘Downing Street said that busy pubs full of people “is not a public nuisance, it is British life”, after Westminster City Council proposed curbing standing-up drinking in London.
Comment: As if the attempts of successive governments to destroy the hub of British life and culture has not been enough, we find the busy bodies in Westminster taking unelected policy over-reach to a Monty Python level. The UK really has reached peak boiled frog.
The Armchair Trader: The Financial Conduct Authority has scrapped two long-standing rules governing the publication of research during UK initial public offerings, marking its latest attempt to make London a more attractive destination for companies seeking to go public. The changes, announced on Wednesday, remove a mandatory seven-day waiting period between the publication of an approved prospectus or registration document and research produced by banks involved in an IPO. The regulator has also abolished requirements for issuers and syndicate banks to provide independent analysts with the same access to company information as their own research teams.
Comment: Unfortunately, changing these rules will make no difference to the companies listing, as they were ridiculous rules in the first place. The main barriers to companies listing are cost, hassle, red tape, and getting ripped off by mandatory service providers, as well as all the stones thrown at companies in the public domain by people who just want to see them fail, as is the British way – along with vertical drinking.
Goodwin (GDWN) noted recent press speculation regarding the potential sale of parts of the Mechanical Engineering division. The company confirmed that it has commenced a strategic review to consider a range of potential options to maximise value for shareholders whilst ensuring continuity for all stakeholders, including customers, and the long-term prosperity of its businesses. These options include the potential sale of a substantial part of the Mechanical Engineering division, which includes GSC, GI, Noreva, Easat and Pumps. Discussions are ongoing and there can be no certainty that a transaction will be entered into. Rothschild & Co is advising the Board of Goodwin on the strategic review.
Comment: We have a RNS where firstly it would be good to know where the press speculation came from. Perhaps one could ask Daniel Ross or Sabina Pennings at Rothschild? They sound like wonderfully posh people. In the meantime it would appear we are looking at a selling the family silver situation at GDWN, after the rather painful March fall from glory.
Arrow Exploration Corp. (AXL), the high-growth operator with a portfolio of assets across key Colombian hydrocarbon basins, provided an update on operational activity at the Icaco field on the Tapir Block in the Llanos Basin of Colombia where Arrow holds a 50 percent beneficial interest. AXL said “The success of the Icaco-3 well indicates that the Gacheta formation is able to produce commercial rates. The Icaco-4 and Icaco-5 horizontal wells had very short horizontal sections to prove the Ubaque’s ability to produce from a horizontal well. Future projects at Icaco are expected to include both horizontal and vertical development wells targeting the Ubaque, Gacheta and C7. These results underline the significant hydrocarbon density that exists in the Llanos basin and more exclusively in the Tapir Block. Strong netbacks and successful horizontal wells support payout occurring in months. This adds significant value and materially improves our positive balance sheet. We look forward to updating our shareholders on the progress at Icaco over the coming months.”
Comment: AXL remains an undervalued play, whether it hits those hydrocarbons or not. Just how it has managed to keep a lid on the share price given the recent spikes to $100 a barrel plus remains a mystery, but somehow the company still does it.
Talisman Metals (TLM) announced assay results from recent channel sampling and surface exploration activities completed at the Tirzzit Project in July 2026 following the identification of a new zone of outcropping copper mineralisation (see press release of 23 July 2026). Tim McCutcheon, Talisman’s CEO stated, “The new target outcrop at Tirzzit has produced exciting grades and is a key focus for Talisman’s planned drill campaign. Given that the outcrop is about half a kilometre away from the exposed known mineralisation to the south, and that the total strike length is at least four kilometres, I am encouraged that we indeed have a large area of interest.”
Comment: After the initial excitement in February when the company came to market, TLM has rather blended into the background as far as the new names in the explorer / developer space. The share price reflects this, and therefore the company needs to start banging the drum, as indeed it is trying to do in today’s RNS.
Oxford Biomedica (OXB), a global quality and innovation-led cell and gene therapy CDMO, today provides a trading update for the six months ended 30 June 2026. H1 2026 revenues grew +c.9% to approximately £80 million, reflecting previously communicated second half weighting, and demonstrated continuing good underlying demand. Record new client activity in H1 2026, with 17 new clients signed – more than 30% above the total number signed in FY 2025 – underscoring OXB’s strengthening market position. Revenue backlog of c.£193 million, providing meaningful visibility into future contracted revenues.
Comment: It would appear that unlike the plethora of stock market minnows in the space, OXB has the scale and the firepower, as well as the market cap, to keep ahead of the pack. The icing on the cake here remains the pipeline, as well a dominant position in its space, which may provide a buying opportunity in the wake of the trading update being a trading warning. Now where are those support levels?
Gelion plc (GELN), the sulfur battery company, announced a joint development agreement (JDA) with Mitsui Kinzoku Co Ltd to validate Gelion’s NES™ Cathode Active Material in high-energy-density liquid and solid-state sulfur battery cells capable of meeting automotive, stationary storage, consumer electronics and aerospace and defence requirements. The specific terms of the JDA are subject to confidentiality, but Mitsui Kinzoku will pay Gelion £2 million for the work in a series of staged payments linked to project milestones. The JDA provides an option for Mitsui Kinzoku to negotiate manufacturing and distribution rights for Gelion’s NES™ CAM for certain territories in Asia. This agreement therefore establishes a pathway to the production of Gelion’s NES™ CAM at industrial levels.
Comment: Shares of GELN have been as flat as a pancake for the best part of two years now, something which belies the hot space the company is in, a point underlined by today’s news. Indeed, the £40m market cap seems to be out of kilter with the big counterparty / international nature of the business.
Amaroq Ltd. (AMRQ), an independent mine development company focused on unlocking Greenland’s mineral potential, announced the commencement of a focussed scout diamond drilling programme at the Minturn iron-copper-gold prospect in Inglefield Land, Northwest Greenland, following successful surface sampling in 2025. AMRQ said “Minturn is an exceptional and previously untested target, centred on what we believe to be Greenland’s strongest regional magnetic anomaly. At surface, we have already identified high-grade iron mineralisation across a substantial trend, alongside geophysical and geochemical evidence, that supports potential for copper and gold within a broader IOCG-style system. Operating in this remote part of Northwest Greenland has presented real mobilisation challenges due to weather and long supply routes. We have responded by focussing the programme on drilling, which will provide us with the greatest potential to advance our understanding of this potentially large play. The scout programme will give critical and potentially value enhancing information on the sub-surface and help us design the next phase with far greater confidence.”
Comment: Given the soaring metals prices of earlier in the year, the move from AIM to the main market, and ongoing crackpot commentary which is certainly off-putting, it is surprising that shares of AMRQ are actually down 3% on the year. Nevertheless, with a near £500m market cap, the ability to raise chunky amounts of finance, and the Greenland “Gold Rush” ongoing, a return to last year’s peak at 140p by the end of 2026 seems plausible.
