One of the biggest companies on AIM has leapt to the defence of the London Stock Exchange following a series of recent departures.
Ceres Power, which specialises in green energy technology, announced last week it was planning to move its listing to the LSE’s main market.
A series of companies including building materials group CRH and chip maker Arm have revealed plans to shift their listing to – or float in –New York, snubbing the City.
Hands-on: Ceres Power announced it was planning to move its listing to the LSE’s main market
But Ceres Power’s chief executive Phil Caldwell said there would be a ‘danger of getting lost’ in the US market, which is already packed with tech firms.
He said London is still a ‘very attractive market’ for the Sussex-based company and that the Government could do more to keep innovative firms in the UK by offering more green investment schemes.
Caldwell added: ‘For me personally, it’s really important to be in the UK. It’s a natural progression for us to graduate from AIM to main, to give us more international exposure and attract a bigger pool of international investors.
Once Ceres Power – which has been listed on AIM since 2004 – joins the main market, it may be eligible to join the FTSE 250 in the autumn reshuffle of the major indexes.
The company, which has almost 600 employees, is already worth £567 million – bigger than the likes of Asos and CMC Markets.
