UK short selling: week 34, 2026

From 17 Aug 2026 to 21 Aug 2026, 424 United Kingdom companies had disclosed short positions across 5 publication days. Changes are percentage points (pp) of issued share capital, between each company's last figure before the week and its last figure of the week, from official FCA data.

Biggest rises

Company	Start	End	Change (pp)
FORTERRA PLC	4.90%	5.88%	+0.98
RIGHTMOVE PLC	7.33%	8.29%	+0.96
PERSIMMON PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY	7.85%	8.69%	+0.84
CERES POWER HOLDINGS PLC	10.66%	11.31%	+0.65
WEIR GROUP PLC(THE)	4.51%	5.01%	+0.50
COATS GROUP PLC	2.59%	3.09%	+0.50
Breedon Group Plc	9.96%	10.46%	+0.50
UNITED UTILITIES GROUP PLC	2.37%	2.83%	+0.46
POLAR CAPITAL HOLDINGS PLC.	0.60%	1.05%	+0.45
Trainline PLC	3.84%	4.28%	+0.44

Biggest falls

Company	Start	End	Change (pp)
KAINOS GROUP PLC	3.23%	2.09%	−1.14
SENIOR PLC	3.81%	2.97%	−0.84
BYTES TECHNOLOGY GROUP PLC	5.98%	5.20%	−0.78
B&M European Value Retail PLC	8.00%	7.23%	−0.77
WPP PLC	6.89%	6.14%	−0.75
THE SAGE GROUP PLC.	1.77%	1.02%	−0.75
IQE PLC	2.27%	1.60%	−0.67
Diversified Energy Company	7.84%	7.18%	−0.66
CREST NICHOLSON HOLDINGS PLC	11.01%	10.41%	−0.60
EASYJET PLC	3.48%	2.90%	−0.58

New disclosures

JOHNSON MATTHEY PLC, first disclosed figure 1.99%
STRATEGIC MINERALS PLC, first disclosed figure 0.20%
THE SCOTTISH AMERICAN INVESTMENT COMPANY P L C, first disclosed figure 0.20%

Left the dataset

Last published by the FCA this week, and in no publication since: the figure shown is the one each carried in that final publication. Leaving usually means the position fell below the disclosure threshold, not that shorting stopped entirely.

JTC PLC, last figure 0.42% on 21 Aug 2026
SCHRODERS PLC, last figure 0.23% on 20 Aug 2026
RM PLC, last figure 0.20% on 19 Aug 2026

Most shorted at week end

Vistry Group PLC, 19.94%
IBSTOCK PLC, 17.97%
CAPITA PLC, 13.57%
OCADO GROUP PLC, 11.67%
WH SMITH PLC, 11.52%

Full table: most shorted UK stocks.