Shares in Ennstone rose by more than 17 per cent after the troubled quarries group appointed a restructuring expert as its new executive chairman.

The concrete supplier was one of the main casualties of 2008, hit by higher input costs and lower demand, and has to do a deal of some sort in the coming months to secure its future. Its appointment of Julian Cooper, at present managing partner in MPC Partners, the corporate restructuring practice, is seen as a step in the right direction. The company, up 0.06p at 0.4p, which recently sold its precast concrete products businesses to buy itself more time as it struggles under £200 million of debt, is considering options under which it could sell its business in either Britain, the United States or Poland.

JJB Sports rose 3.34p to 8.6p amid relief that the sportswear retailer had met most of its rent payments and after two brokers, Singer and Investec, both upgraded their advice from “sell” to “neutral”, saying that recent management changes were a sign that JJB could avoid administration.

Polo Resources rose 0.05p to 2.425p as investors belatedly reacted to the recent spike in the value of GCM Resources, in which Polo has a 29.8 per cent stake. Stonehill Capital Management, an American fund, also emerged on Polo’s register. GCM at first soared further, rising 58½p, but ended the day down 9½p at 70p after saying that it knew of no reason for its recent rise, other than that there was a new government in Bangladesh. The hope is that it will eventually gain approval for its coalmining project there.

ProStrakan was flat at 88¼p despite both Teathers and Nomura selecting the biotechnology company as one of their top stock picks for this year.

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