If you’d invested in: Fishing Republic and N Brown

Rotherham-based Fishing Republic (Aim: FISH) opened its first shop in Barnsley in 2005. It has since grown to become the country's biggest retailer of fishing tackle and angling supplies, and now operates ten shops, primarily in the north of England. It is also expanding online, with sales through its own website and via third-party sites, such as Amazon, up by more than 30% last year.

The shares have risen by more than 130% since it floated on Aim in 2015.

N Brown Group (LSE: BWNG) is a clothes, shoes and furniture retailer, based in Manchester. The group trades under several brands, including JD Williams, Jacamo, and Simply Be. Originally a mail-order business, it is slowly transforming itself into a digital retailer, but this has been a difficult process. Pre-tax profit fell by almost 8% in the year to the end of February, and the share price has slid almost 30% in the last year.

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