If you'd invested in: Coats Group and Mothercare

If only

Coats Group (LSE: COA) is a venerable British maker of threads and textiles, with a history going back to the 1750s. It's not always been plain sailing. By the end of the last century it was facing oblivion, and in the early 2000s was bought up by investment firm Guinness Peat, who took the company private. It returned to the stockmarket in 2015, and now employs 19,000 people in 60 countries. After a deal to settle its pension deficit in December that enabled it to pay dividends, the share price took off. In the last year, the shares have risen by 180%.

Be glad you didn't

Mothercare (LSE: MTC) has been battling a decline in sales for a long time, stuck in an endless "turnaround" loop. Competition has been eroding margins and customers have been deserting the stores. In April 2016 a dramatic drop in international sales caused a big fall in the shares. Despite a rally after positive news a month later, the shares have fallen steadily since. The price has turned back up in the last few weeks, but remains more than 40% down in the last year.