Yorkshire ISA Experiment: Region's firms not keeping pace with FTSE's flourish
While the UK stock market may have finished the year with a flourish, the same unfortunately could not be said for many of our region’s listed firms.
The FTSE 100 registered a 21.5 per cent gain over the course of 2025, ahead of the FTSE 250 index, which climbed 9 per cent and the AIM All-Share index, which has risen 6.4 per cent.
The strong performance has continued into the start of January, with the FTSE 100 passing the landmark 10,000 points barrier.
However, the positive wider market momentum during December was not matched by Yorkshire’s listed companies.
Our Yorkshire ISA Experiment started in July and involves tracking the performance of all our region’s listed companies against the general market and average cash savings rates for a year.
The ‘Yorkshire ISA’ involving single shares in each of our companies fell back again in December to close the month 8.79 per cent down on its starting price, while in contrast the FTSE All-Share rose to 11.9 per cent above its starting price.
Our ‘Yorkshire champion’ selections by readers – in which they have selected up to 10 local companies to back with a single virtual share each – also all fell backwards.
The best performing selection from Stuart Bruce dipped to 10.3 per cent above its starting price, meaning no set of reader choices is currently beating the market.
There’s still plenty of time to turn that around though as we move into 2026.
The likes of Drax, Persimmon and Gear4Music have been performing strongly since last summer, but there have been reductions in share value in the same period for well-known regional companies like Jet2, Cranswick and Croda.
More generally, the potential of stock market investing for the average person has been demonstrated by the continued gradual deflation of cash savings options as interest rates are cut.
Average cash savings rates ended December at 3.35 per cent, a fall from the 3.52 per cent they stood at when the experiment started in July.
When the FTSE 100 surpassed 10,000 points for the first time at the start of the month, Rachel Reeves hailed it as a “vote of confidence” in the UK economy.
It also represents an undoubted boost to the Chancellor’s drive to encourage more investment by people across the country.
As Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, said: “This is a historic moment and already makes 2026 one of the most significant years for the blue-chip index since its launch in 1984.
“Breaking through the 10,000 level is the best new year’s present Chancellor Rachel Reeves could want.
“She has been banging the drum about the merits of investing over parking cash in the bank, and the FTSE 100’s achievements just go to show what’s possible when buying UK shares.
“It also proves to cynics that the UK market is not stuck in the mud, and that the US stock market is not the only place to make money.”
Whether the nation’s listed companies can continue their positive trajectory into 2026 – and if our regional firms can enter the same territory – remains to be seen.
Chris Burn is Yorkshire Post business and features editor