Overview
Literacy Capital’s investment policy is to invest in a diversified portfolio consisting primarily of equity and equity-related securities issued by unquoted companies. The manager, which is sector agnostic in its approach, looks to identify compelling opportunities for investment in under-served parts of the market. It has a core focus on companies that generate EBITDA between £1m and £5m, and will typically invest in family-owned and founder-led businesses. Being a permanent capital vehicle allows for longer-term decision making.
The distinguishing features of this trust are its strong connections to the Pindar family and its charitable aim to improve standards of Literacy in the UK (we have the lowest literacy rate of any OECD nation). Literacy Capital committed to giving away 0.9% of net asset value every year to literacy and education charities. The more successful its portfolio companies are, the greater the size of its annual donations. This arrangement provides a consistent and growing income stream as the fund grows in size. One charity that has benefitted and is actively supported by Literacy is Bookmark Reading Charity.
Click here to visit the fund’s website.
Fundamentals
Price
Research History
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10 May 2024 1 min read
Interview with Richard Pindar from Literacy Capital
In this week’s show, James Carthew spoke to Richard Pindar from Literacy Capital. If you were looking for the first part of QuotedData’s show, focused on the roundup of the week’s news click here. If there is a guest speaker you’d particularly like to hear from, please email us Aiman. Additionally, if you would prefer to […]
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17 Oct 2023 14 min read
QuotedData’s Investment Companies Quarterly Review – Third Quarter 2023
Third quarter of 2023 Investment Companies | Quarterly roundup | October 2023 Kindly sponsored by abrdn ‘Uncomfortable’ Following a fast start to the first half of the year, globally equities took a breather in Q3, as markets assessed the implications of the worst bond sell-off in a generation. Yields on 10-year US treasuries and UK […]
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14 Sep 2023 9 min read
QuotedData’s Investment Companies Roundup – September 2023
September 2023 Monthly roundup | Investment companies Kindly sponsored by abrdn Winners and losers in August 2023 Share price total returns for investment companies were generally poor over August, with the best performing sector, Debt – Structured Finance, returning just 2.1%, with only a few sectors managing to eke out a positive total return. Funds […]
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29 Oct 2021 1 min read
Interview with Richard Pindar of Literacy Capital
In this week’s show, Jayna Rana talked to Richard Pindar of Literacy Capital If you were looking for the first part of QuotedData’s show, focused on the roundup of the week’s news, click here. If there is a guest speaker you’d particularly like to hear from, please email us. Additionally, if you would prefer to […]
News
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06 Nov 2024 1 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 6 November 2024 – GABI, BOOK, GRID, CREI
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 6 November 2024: GCP Asset Backed Income Fund (GABI) announced a quarterly dividend in respect of the period from 1 July 2024 to 30 September 2024 of 1.58125 pence per ordinary share. The board also confirms that the second compulsory redemption will total £45.0m at a price of 89.33875 pence per […]
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01 Nov 2024 1 min read
QuotedData’s weekly news show 1st November 2024
Thank you to everyone that listened in today on our YouTube channel. In this week’s show, James Carthew covered the week’s top stories: Golden Prospect Precious Metals (0:22) Asia Dragon / Invesco Asia (4:08) Ashoka WhiteOak Emerging Markets (8:49) Andrew McHattie pondered whether it was right to chase the big jump in Tetragon’s share price (10:10). Tetragon […]
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28 Oct 2024 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 28 October 2024 – VNH, PIN, CHRY, PPET, BOOK
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 28 October 2024: VietNam Holding (VNH) announced that the final number of shares validly tendered for redemption for 2024 is 3,411,748 shares. This reduced number represents approximately 12.57% of shares in issue as at 31 August 2024. All shareholders who validly applied to have their shares redeemed will receive the redemption price […]
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08 Oct 2024 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 8 October 2024 – BOOK, UIL, ICGT, HWG
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 8 October 2024: Literacy Capital (BOOK) has announced a variation to the terms of its investment management agreement increasing the fee payable to the investment manager to 1.5% of the adjusted audited net asset value as at the end of that year effective from 1 January 2025. The current entitlement is […]
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23 Sep 2024 1 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 23 September 2024 – BOOK
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 23 September 2024: Literacy Capital (BOOK) has secured a new Revolving Credit Facility (RCF) with OakNorth Bank Plc, which has replaced its existing £30m RCF that was due to expire in December 2024. The new RCF has a three-year term, which will expire in September 2027, and provides BOOK with up […]
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27 Aug 2024 1 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 27 August 2024 – BOOK
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 27 August 2024: Literacy Capital (BOOK) announced its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2024. The company saw a NAV total return of 4.4% while its share price increased 9.9%, compared to a 5.8% increase for the benchmark index. In June 2024 Literacy celebrated its third anniversary since […]
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13 Aug 2024 1 min read
Literacy Capital backs Campfire
Literacy Capital has made a significant minority investment into Campfire, a digital marketing agency based in Manchester. Campfire provides technology and data-led influencer marketing services, with the business’s proprietary trend spotting and prediction tool, Spark, at the core of its service offering. You can see some of its work here. The business has completed 10,000+ […]
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29 Apr 2024 1 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 29 April 2024 – BOOK, DGI9, SBSI
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 29 April 2024: Literacy Capital (BOOK) has announced its Q1 2024 NAV as well as providing a quarterly trading update. It generated a NAV total return of 2.0%, an uplift of £6.0m (10.0p per share), bringing its NAV per share to 510.4p, or total NAV of £306.2m. BOOK had cash inflows […]
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12 Apr 2024 1 min read
QuotedData’s weekly news show 12th April 2024
Thank you to everyone that listened in today, whether you watched the Zoom live or on YouTube. In this week’s show, James Carthew covered the week’s top stories: • Third Point Investors (0:30) • Literacy Capital (5:37) • Batteries – Gore Street Energy Capital (8:02) This week’s interview was with Phil Waller from JPMorgan Global […]
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08 Apr 2024 1 min read
Literacy Capital proposes B shares
Literacy Capital (BOOK) has announced, alongside its notice of its forthcoming AGM on 15 May, that it intends to propose a mechanism to return capital to shareholders through the issue and immediate redemption of bonus shares, known typically as B shares. This comes alongside a proposal to amend the AIFM Agreement, designed to ensure that […]
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03 Apr 2024 1 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 3 April 2024 – BOOK, SUPR, SERE
QuotedData’s morning briefing 4 April 2024: Literacy Capital (BOOK) announced the completed refinancing of one of its largest portfolio companies with new lenders. This resulted in new debt facilities allowing the company to return cash to shareholders, including Literacy, with the fund’s share amounting to £20m. Supermarket Income REIT (SUPR) has increased its unsecured debt […]
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25 Mar 2024 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 25 March 2024 – BOOK, SBO, HLCL, GSF, AERI
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 25 March 2024: Literacy Capital (BOOK) has announced a new investment in the Live Business Group, a leading international entertainment supplier to the travel, tourism and leisure industry. BOOK has taken what it describes as a significant minority stake in the London-based firm, with the actual terms being undisclosed. BOOK’s investment […]
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21 Mar 2024 1 min read
Literacy Capital knocks it out the park again
Literacy Capital has published results for the year ended 31 December 2023 and they are very good. The NAV increased by 19.0% and the share price by 30.4% in a period where the All-Share Index only made 7.9%. The NAV per share finished the year at 500.4p and the net asset value now exceeds £300m. […]
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29 Jan 2024 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 29 January 2024 – BOOK, GCP, DORE, LMS, BBOX
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 29 January 2024: Literacy Capital (BOOK) has provided a quarterly trading update and NAV announcement for the fourth quarter of 2023. Over the period BOOK saw a NAV uplift of $4.6m, or 7.7p per share, equal to a quarterly return of 1.6%. Its total NAV for the end of 2023 was […]
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11 Sep 2023 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 11 September 2023 – BOOK, SEED, SYNC
In QuotedData’s morning briefing for 11 September 2023: SEED Innovations (SEED) has announced the partial sale of its stake in Avextra AG, the German medical cannabis company, disposing of 56.4% of its shareholding. The sale resulted in gross proceeds of £2.45m, a 62% return on SEED’s initial investment. SEED retains a 3% stake in Avextra […]
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05 Sep 2023 1 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 5 September 2023 – CLDN, BOOK, RTW, HGT
In QuotedData’s morning briefing for 5 September: Caledonia Investments (CLDN) announced that it has agreed terms for the sale of its majority stake in Seven Investment Management , a vertically integrated retail wealth management business, to Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, a global investor with approximately C$250 billion in net assets. Caledonia is expected to […]
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29 Aug 2023 1 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 29 August 2023 – BOOK, HGEN, JADE, BYG
Literacy Capital (BOOK) is pleased to announce that it has sold an unspecified asset in full, generating a strong return for shareholders and a substantial amount of cash, which will ultimately fund future investments. The company highlighted that this was one of its largest assets, which was sold at a >50% premium to carrying value. […]
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18 May 2023 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 18 May 2023
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 18 May 2023: JLEN Environmental Assets (JLEN) NAV at end March 2023 slipped very marginally (0.4p) from the level at end December. Falling near-term power prices, which have affected other renewable energy funds, are less impactful on JLEN, which has a high degree of protection from short term price hedges as […]
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27 Apr 2023 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 27 April 2023
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 27 April 2023: Literacy Capital (BOOK) says its 31 March 2023 NAV was 467.3p, up 11.1% over the first three months of the year from 420.6p at the end of December. RCI (+£18.6m) was again the most significant contributor in the quarter, driven by strong organic growth. Kernel Global added £8.4m […]
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13 Apr 2023 1 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 13 April 2023
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 13 April 2023: Round Hill Music (RHM) had FTI Consulting produce another independent valuation report on its portfolio. The FTI Report supports the valuation as at 31 December 2022, prepared by the company’s original independent valuer, Citrin Cooperman. FTI comes up with two weighted average discount rates: one assumes the use […]
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22 Mar 2023 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 22 March 2023
JPMorgan Global Core Real Assets (JARA) announced a quarterly NAV and portfolio update for the quarter to 28 February 2023. The company paid a dividend of 1.05 pence per share on 24 February 2023, bringing the share price total return for the quarter to +0.3% and +7.0% for the year, while the total NAV return […]
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14 Mar 2023 2 min read
Literacy Capital cashes in on Kernel Global investment
Literacy Capital (BOOK) announced a transaction involving its portfolio company, Kernel Global, funded by Three Hills Capital Partners. Kernel is a recruitment group, comprised of two trading brands, that Literacy invested into in June 2018. On 31 December 2022, Kernel was Literacy’s fourth largest investment (equating to 7.6% of NAV). The transaction values Literacy’s stake […]
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26 Jan 2023 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 26 January 2023
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 26 January 2023: Literacy Capital (BOOK) has published its quarterly trading and NAV update for the three months ending 31 December 2022. The NAV rose to 420.6p from 384.9p, contributing to a total NAV return of +9.3% in the last three months and +51.7% in the last twelve months. Portfolio companies […]
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28 Dec 2022 1 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 28 December 2022
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 28 December 2022: Literacy Capital (BOOK) has completed the sale of its entire interest in Hometree, generating £3.8m for the trust. This represents a 1.3x return on BOOK’s investment. The cash was used to pay down borrowings and will be recycled in new investments in due course. Richard Pindar, director of […]
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16 Nov 2022 3 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 16 November 2022
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 16 November 2022: ThomasLloyd Energy Impact (TLEI/TLEP) has announced the results of its placing that was announced on 8 November 2022. The ‘subsequent placing’ raised gross proceeds of US$35.3m and 34,277,228 new ordinary shares are being issued at a price of US$1.030 (£0.865 being the announced sterling equivalent price) per ordinary […]
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24 Jun 2022 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 24 June 2022
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 24 June 2022: Literacy Capital (BOOK) has announced that it has received approval as an investment trust, with effect from its accounting period commencing on 1 April 2022. Augmentum Fintech (AUGM) has announced that, following the publication of its annual results on 4 July 2022, it will be holding a capital […]
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14 Mar 2022 2 min read
Literacy Capital outperforms in 2021 while growth means more charitable donations
Literacy Capital outperforms in 2021 while growth means more charitable donations – Literacy Capital (BOOK) has posted its results for the 12 months to 31 December 2021. During the period, its NAV increased by 94.1% while the share price closed the year at 295p, a 6.4% premium to net assets, and 84.4% higher than the […]
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16 Nov 2021 3 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 16 November 2021
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 16 November 2021: International Public Partnerships (INPP) says that the consortium that it is a member of (alongside Amber Infrastructure Group and Transmission Investment) now owns the 400MW Rampion offshore wind farm transmission link. The offshore wind farm is located approximately 13km off the Sussex coast and consists of 116 x […]
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12 Oct 2021 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 12 October 2021
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 12 October 2021: Shareholders approved the liquidation of St Peter Port Capital (SPPC) yesterday. The company was launched in April 2007 to invest in pre-IPO companies but was caught holding a lot of resource companies that didn’t IPO when expected. Partners Group says that its funds, including Princess Private Equity (PEY), […]
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29 Sep 2021 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 29 September 2021
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 29 September 2021: Digital 9 Infrastructure (DGI9) has decided to increase the amount raised for its placing from £200m to £275m due to a significant oversubscription. A number of directors and members of the investment management team of DGI9 were among the biggest subscribers. 255,813,953 new ordinary shares will be issued […]
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16 Aug 2021 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 16 August 2021
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 16 August 2021: NB Global Monthly Income (NBMI) has invested in a new 2nd lien senior secured loan from Parexel, which came to the market in July. The company helps pharmaceuticals manage and execute clinical trials. Following a 3-year turnaround plan under a new management team, NBMI believes it is well positioned to […]
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13 Aug 2021 2 min read
QD view – Reading is fundamental
With the recent flood of good news on GCSE and A level results, it is easy to forget that there are many young people who are being let down by our education system. Needs improvement Every year, it is estimated that 200,000 children leave primary school at 11 unable to read or write to the […]
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10 Aug 2021 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 10 August 2021
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 10 August 2021: Literacy Capital (BOOK) says that Butternut Box, a business providing healthy, fresh dog food on a subscription to dog owners’ doors, has finalised a funding round to raise further equity to support the continued growth of the business. As at 30 June 2021, Butternut Box was Literacy Capital’s 3rd largest […]
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28 Jul 2021 2 min read
QuotedData’s morning briefing 28 July 2021
In QuotedData’s morning briefing 28 July 2021: Literacy Capital (BOOK) has acquired a majority stake in OFJ Spring Topco Limited, the holding company for Oxygen Freejumping, which is an operator of trampoline and adventure parks in the UK, with four sites in England. The investment will provide Oxygen Freejumping with fresh capital enabling the business to […]
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25 Jun 2021 1 min read
QuotedData’s weekly news show 25 June 2021
QuotedData’s weekly news show 25 June 2021 Thank you to everyone that listened in today, whether you watched the Zoom live, on Facebook or on Youtube. In this week’s show, James Carthew covered the week’s top stories: Crystal Amber continuation vote Aberdeen Emerging update Literacy Capital starting trading Watch it again here This week’s interview was […]
Upcoming Events
Videos
In The Press
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29 Nov 2024 1 min read
Boards’ focus on discounts improves corporate governance
James Carthew for Citywire Investment Trust Insider, 29 November 2024: This has been a year of radical change in investment companies. However, unlike previous periods of heightened corporate activity among listed closed-end funds, boards have mostly initiated corporate action themselves rather than having it forced upon them. Share price ratings in the sector weakened for […]
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04 Oct 2024 1 min read
The best investment trust managers you might not know yet
By Emma Wallis, News editor, Trustnet, 4 October 2024: Experts suggested Literacy Capital, Golden Prospect Precious Metals and Ashoka WhiteOak Emerging Markets. The investment trust sector has its fair share of heavyweights: from Scottish Mortgage, which usually features near the top of most-bought lists; to Pershing Square and its outspoken billionaire hedge fund manager Bill […]
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23 Apr 2024 1 min read
A glaring opportunity to snap up these cheap investment trusts
by Cherry Reynard from interactive investor, 23rd April 2024: Private equity investment trusts look like a glaring opportunity. They are trading at or near all-time record discounts after a long period where the sector has been out of favour. Holdings in the trusts have generally continued to perform well, with valuations stable. Yet these trusts […]
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03 May 2023 1 min read
Alternatives de-rating throws up opportunities
James Carthew for Investment Week, 3 May 2023: Over the past 12 months or so, the disconnect between the net asset values of a wide range of investment companies and their share prices has widened considerably. The problem seems particularly acute in the area of alternative assets, which includes private equity, property, infrastructure and renewable […]
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20 Feb 2023 1 min read
Literacy Capital sees NAV return in Q4 as it shifts to more mature portfolio
Kathleen Gallagher, Investment Week, 26 January 2023: Literacy Capital trust saw a total NAV return in the final three months of 2022 of 9.3%, as it continues to shift its portfolio to more mature companies. In its quarterly trading update the trust said that its total NAV return for the year was 51.7%. The trust, […]
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16 Jan 2023 1 min read
Investment trust insider on running last year’s winners
James Carthew: Some 2022 winners are worth holding onto this year I’m uneasy about the resilience of the recent stock market rally. Despite this, I think a few of last year’s big gainers could do well again in 2023. Against a difficult backdrop, only about a third of investment companies generated a positive share price […]
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20 Jul 2022 1 min read
Chrysalis contagion: Analysts warn PE trusts’ perception may suffer
Kathleen Gallagher, Investment Week, 19 July 2022: The £1.2bn Chrysalis investment trust has come under fire repeatedly over the past number of months, first for its performance fee payout, then for poor performance and last weekend (17 July), it was compared to the Woodford debacle. All this negative press could weigh on its peers in […]
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23 May 2022 1 min read
Investment trust insider on Literacy Capital
Investment trust insider on Literacy Capital – James Carthew: Read up on Literacy Capital ready for the right moment With markets as volatile as they are, and talk of recession getting louder, it is perhaps unsurprising that discounts are widening across the investment companies sector. Just under a quarter of funds are clinging onto a […]
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15 Nov 2021 1 min read
Investment trust insider on US versus UK closed-end funds
Investment trust insider on US versus UK closed-end funds – James Carthew: Higher governance standards help UK beat US in closed-end funds The flood of fresh money streaming into the investment companies sector is incredible. I was chatting to investors, directors and journalists at an event to mark the third anniversary of AVI Japan Opportunities […]
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2 min read
Investment trusts rediscover their roots with a 21st century twist
The listed fund vehicles are financing innovation in clean fuels, space and digital infrastructure Mary McDougall, Financial Times, NOVEMBER 12 2021 Investment trusts seem to be coming full circle. For most of the 20th century, they gradually moved away from their origins as entrepreneurial schemes investing in specific targets, often in Britain’s colonies, to running […]