Upping his stake via the Oryx International Growth Fund, veteran value manager Mills increased his position by 500,000 shares, taking his overall holding of Walker Crips to 9.4%.
Mills, who co-founded JO Hambro Capital Management, has been adding to his position in Walker Crips for some time. In September he took his holding to above the 5% reporting threshold, having gradually scooped up more than 1.9m shares. He added to these roughly two months later, when in November Mills built his position to above 8.1% of the company.
Following the sale of its asset management arm to Liontrust last March for £12m, Walker Crips has gone from strength to strength as it returned its focus to its core private client and stockbroker offering.
Last month, after posting a profit of £300,000 for the half-year to the end of September, Walker Crips’ chief executive officer Rodney Fitzgerald told Portfolio Adviser that the firm was now looking to regional “wealth pockets” as its transformation entered a new phase.
He said: “The job’s not done. We are still working to hire people and [have been] bringing people in across the board. There are pockets where we think there’s some wealth, like the North West, the North East border, and the South West, which is competitive.”
