Jon Moulton ups stake in City professional services firm Norman

() shares soared on Friday after a handful of major shareholders and board members soaked up more than 3mln shares put on the market by Garraway Capital Management.

Garraway, a boutique asset manager, had been one of Norman Broadbent’s biggest backers, owning a 7% stake in the City executive search firm.

READ: Norman Broadbent returns to profitability in first half as diversification pays off

But it has now sold out of the AIM company, which, among other things, helps businesses recruit for their top roles.

Normally such a big sale would weigh heavily on a company’s share price, but Norman Broadbent shares were up by 78% to 8p on Friday after several other shareholders and directors stepped in to mop up any excess shares.

Chief executive Mike Brennan and finance boss Will Gerrand, as well as a few others, spent around £30,000 of their own money buying up the company’s stock.

Other institutional investors, including two of Norman Broadbent’s largest backers, snapped up most of the remaining shares put on the market by Garraway.

Downing acquired another 838,000 new shares to take its total stake to 27.2%, while Moulton Goodies’ – Jon Moulton’s investment vehicle – interest rose to 17.4% after it bought another 1.3mln shares.

Irish entrepreneur Pierce Casey, who, alongside Moulton, took a majority stake in Norman back in 2010, bought another 500,000 shares to take his holding to 12.6%.