. . . Hats off to canniest investor in Britain

BUY low, sell high is the stockpicker’s code – but few achieve the stellar returns small building firm boss David Hardy has made by investing in oil company Serica Energy.

In four years, Mr Hardy has spent at least £1 million buying more than 27 million shares, giving him a 10 per cent stake and making him its secondbiggest shareholder behind a venture capital firm. His faith was rewarded in November when Serica announced a deal to buy BP’s interests in three major North Sea oilfields.

Overnight, the Aim-listed minnow became one of the top three European-listed North Sea oil producers and the shares rose from 27.6p to 91p in January. Mr Hardy’s holding soared from £7.6 million to £25 million.

Chairman Tony Craven-Walker talked of a ‘win-win’, as Serica is mostly funding its £300 million BP deal through profits from future oil production which is expected to rise 16-fold.

Mr Hardy’s stake in Serica. which he holds jointly with his wife, was not announced to the stock market until July 2017.

Their holding should have been declared when the couple passed the 3 per cent threshold in 2015 and the 9 per cent in 2016. An ‘administrative over- sight’ was blamed. It is believed Mr Hardy has previously profited from bets on blue-chip firms such as United Utilities and Taylor Wimpey.

Serica will drill two wells this year, and the BP deal is expected to complete in the autumn. The oil firm said: ‘Mr and Mrs Hardy are committed long-term investors.’ Mr Hardy declined to comment.