Insider: Five execs with skin in the game

Northgate's gone south

They say managers need time to make changes necessary to turn around a struggling business. It's something football teams haven't quite grasped yet, but it's true in the City. If anything, bosses are given too much time. But not at Northgate, it seems.

The commercial van hire company initiated yet another round of changes to its senior management team in June after full-year results showed a massive profits miss, as business in the UK continued to disappoint.

Adjusted pre-tax profit of £75 million was 6% below broker Barclays' estimates, and a huge 10% down year-on-year. A glimmer of hope that the firm's home market had stabilised was "seemingly extinguished" as UK profits slumped 21%.

Spain, a bright spot for Northgate, and a hike of 8% in the dividend did little to reassure investors and the share price slumped 16% in a day. And it's kept falling ever since, with a further 5% decline taking losses to 20% in two-and-a-half weeks.

To try and stem the exodus of shareholders, it's replaced its UK-based managing director, sales director and marketing director. It will also become more flexible on prices and replace core IT systems.

Still, experienced non-executive director Claire Miles is unfazed. Currently also MD of British Gas's Homecare division, Miles joined Northgate in late 2015. She's just picked up 5,000 Northgate shares at 428p, costing a little over 20 grand.

Dunelm's done in

Another that's had a shocker in recent years is cushions, curtains and bed sheets chain Dunelm. Trading at £9.99 on the day of the EU referendum, it recovered most of its Brexit losses pretty quickly and was back up at 943p by early September.

Since then, though, it's down by 40% and it admitted in a year-end trading update that pre-tax profit for the 52 weeks to July would be lower than expectations.

That's after it embarked on what broker Cantor Fitzgerald reckons was "a year of transition" as it invests to get back on the growth path. Chief John Browett is betting on the £8.5 million acquisition of furniture chain WorldStores in November boosting Dunelm's online offering.

This week, the share price has dropped further to a new five-year low Wednesday at 541.5p. That's around the point Browett, an experienced retail boss, stepped up to the plate, shelling out almost £50,000 on 9,098 shares at 546.5p each.

The former Dixons CEO and ex-senior vice president of Apple's retail division joined Dunelm two years ago, and this share purchase is a good move, according to Cantor's Mark Photiades. He predicts a return to earnings growth in 2018 and 2019. A target price of 850p would do Browett nicely.

Upside predicted at Speedy Hire and Fenner

After Speedy Hire confirmed its strategy was on track and that revenue momentum has spilled over into the 2018 financial year, non-executive director David Garman and his wife Kay spent almost £42,000 on 75,000 Speedy shares at 55.9p.

Broker Liberum thinks they're a 'buy' and worth 62p.

Industrial conveyor belts firm Fenner, in the midst of a solid recovery from the commodities crash in 2014, is nearing a three-year high following a bullish update this month.

The medical unit has traded well and the oil and gas business is looking much better now. It's why profit for the year ending 31 August 2017 will be "comfortably ahead of its previous expectations".

But non-executive directors Michael Ducey and Christopher Surch clearly believe there's much more to come. The former spent £195,000 on 58,150 Fenner shares at 335p each, while Surch coughed up nearly £20,000 on 5,945 at 334p.

This article is for information and discussion purposes only and does not form a recommendation to invest or otherwise.The value of an investment may fall. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.