Offering an opportunity to invest in a UK consumer recovery, retailers came to the London market to launch initial public offerings in record numbers in the first half of the year. Some have proved a better buy than others.

Finding a clear trend is difficult. One of the successes was Poundland, a shop where everything is priced at, well, a pound, which floated in March and is now up 3.9% since listing. Shoe Zone, another budget retailer, listed in May and its shares are now 10.3% above listing price. Meanwhile, B&M European Value Retail moved up in the first few days when it listed in June but is now back to its listing price. And budget clothes boutique Boohoo.com, which saw its stock soar 50% on its first day of trading in March, is now trading down 24.5%.