It would have been a very smart investor who bought Ocado shares at its flotation and is sitting on them still. In July 2010, a sceptical City forced the company to scale back the anticipated price range for stock in its public offering and even then it had to plump for the lowest possible final number, or 180p a share.
At the time, the jury among investors was out on a loss-making company, defined as a retailer that was in the business of delivering groceries ordered online by shoppers of Waitrose supermarkets.
Fast-forward to the present day and while Ocado has yet to generate any sizeable pre-tax profit, it has muscled its way into the FTSE 100, the shares are worth a fortune (£11.40, in