Richard is a highly-respected investment writer well-known for his Share Sleuth portfolio, a model portfolio he runs for the investment platform Interactive investor. Richard eats his own cooking – buying good businesses at reasonable prices and holding them for the long-term in his Self Invested Personal Pension.
I’m a long-time ShareScope and SharePad fan and my aim is to help you find better companies faster using the fantastic tools at your disposal. My focus is on finding businesses we can reasonably expect to prosper for many years. As well as analysing data, I work out the strategies companies are following and try to verify that they are working in the real world by quizzing executives, visiting companies, trying their products and observing how they operate.
Machine tool manufacturer Renishaw and homeware and furniture retailer Dunelm are both highly profitable businesses, but they take very different approaches to how they use those profits. Richard Beddard examines their contrasting strategies and what they might mean for long-term investors. 5 Strikes Since my last update seven companies have published annual reports and passed
Richard takes a look at three slow growers, a financial data distribution platform, an emerging markets fund manager, and a world leading vehicle distributor. Arcontech, Ashmore, and Inchcape feature. 5 Strikes Since my last update, 5 companies have passed my minimum quality filter: Name TIDM Prev AR Strikes # Strikes ARC Arcontech 23/9/26 – Growth
Richard takes a tilt at Kainos, a software consultancy and developer that spooked investors in 2024 and 2025 and righted itself in 2026. Cerillion, Alfa, and Dunelm also feature. 5 Strikes Since my last update, six companies have published annual reports and passed my minimum quality filter. Of them, I only awarded Dunelm less than
Richard wrestles with the conundrum that is Goodwin, a company selling off its biggest and most profitable division. MS International and Northern Bear also feature. 5 Strikes Since my last update seven companies have passed my minimum quality filter and published annual reports. Name TIDM Prev AR Strikes # Strikes GDWN Goodwin 28/8/26 ? CROCI
Richard wonders if Colefax’s lucrative buyback strategy is destined to go on for another generation. Six more shares pass 5 Strikes. 5 Strikes Since my last update, 12 shares passed my minimum quality filter. After a cursory examination of their director shareholdings and financial histories in ShareScope, seven have achieved less than three strikes. Name
England’s oldest toiletries company fails 5 Strikes. Instead Richard’s attention drifts towards the cloud. Gamma Communications has one strike, which is no impediment to investment. The company falls at the second hurdle though. Only one of the companies that has published an annual report since I last updated you has passed my minimum quality filter.
Richard checks out the ESG credentials of meat producer Cranswick, which believes the high carbon footprint of cattle and sheep farming will work to its advantage. Its financial record has no strikes. 5 Strikes Only three companies have published annual reports and passed the minimum quality filter since my last update. Name TIDM Prev AR
After some mental gymnastics, Richard confirms Autotrader and Tatton have no major blemishes in their financial histories. Tatton, in particular, looks like a very good business. Five companies achieve less than three strikes and go on his research list. 5 Strikes Since my last update, 13 of the companies listed in London that published annual
Six shares pass 5 strikes this time. Richard takes a closer look at Morgan Sindall, which achieved no strikes. The building contractor and property developer is a complex business, as demonstrated by its loss-making Muse subsidiary. 5 Strikes Since my last update, 11 shares have published annual reports and passed my minimum quality filter. Six
Richard Beddard returns with the latest 5 Strikes update, highlighting three new companies that have passed his quality filter and earned a place on his research list. He also takes a closer look at Me Group, reassessing its photobooth business, growth credentials and the risks facing one of this year’s lowest-scoring shares. In this update
Richard Beddard revisits his 5 Strikes quality screen, assessing a fresh batch of companies that have recently passed the initial filter and identifying those worthy of closer attention. He also explores whether AI-driven demand is creating an opportunity or a future challenge for leading IT resellers Computacenter and Softcat. Computacenter and Softcat are the UKs
Richard says there is more to evaluating directors’ shareholdings than considering the percentage of the company’s shares they own. In lieu of a 5 Strikes update this week, he lists all the shares that have passed the filter in 2026. I am away, so I haven’t appraised the companies that have published annual reports and