From tech to transport: the winning and losing stocks in 2020 | Business

The Leaders

In a year of lockdowns, it is perhaps to be expected that those companies that thrived from people being stuck at home dominated the top of this year’s City leaderboard.

While the restrictions proved problematic for most businesses, they gave a leg up to a select few. Online retailers took advantage of the enforced closure of their bricks-and-mortar peers. AO World, the online seller of electricals and white goods, topped the list as its shares surged 355 per cent in 2020. Over the summer, its sales leapt 53 per cent as it swung to a half-year profit of £18.3 million amid booming demand from customers who were no longer able to venture to the high street for a new microwave or vacuum