EAST Lancashire's Stock Exchange-quoted companies are holding out against the collapse in share prices which has seen the value of the FTSE Index sink by almost 15 per cent over the past 12 months.

The Lancashire Evening Telegraph has produced its own index made up of quoted companies which have their headquarters in East Lancashire or have a significant presence in the area.

Companies listed on the 'East Lancs 14' index have seen their share price fall by an average of just 1.2 per cent -- way below the FTSE figure.

However, investors in just five of the 14 companies saw the value of their shareholding rise over the past year.

Way ahead on the leader board is Enterprise plc, the Leyland-based support services business whose shares have soared by 84.5 per cent over the year.

The company, which began its corporate life as job creation agency Lancashire Enterprises, has been transformed since last August when it was effectively taken over by utility services provider ARM.

Scrip issues have helped financed a series of acquisitions which has led to the AIisted business becoming one of the leading providers of services to the big utilities such as BT, United Utilities, Scottish Power and British Gas.

One man with a smile on his face is chief executive Sean Keogh. The 93p increase in Enterprise's share price has netted him a paper fortune of £10.7 million.

Close behind is JJB Sports, run by ex-Blackburn Rovers star David Whelan. Shares in what has become Britain's top sports retailer have risen by 62.4 per cent, up from 265p to 431p. In July, strong demand for branded leisure gear continued as the company posted a seven per cent rise in like-for-like sales.

The chairman is bullish about prospects. "Trade is very buoyant," he said. "Although the most important selling periods of 'back to school' and Christmas are yet to come, provided trade for those periods is at least as strong as we experienced last year, then we shall see a successful outcome to the results for the current year."

Blackburn-based Interlink Foods has also had a good year, impressing the City with a string of acquisitions in the cakes and confectionery industry. Its share price has risen by 26.9 per cent to 387p per share following takeovers such as the one which brought Interlink the rights for novelty cakes based on TV and film characters such as Bart Simpson.

At the bottom of the table, Altham-based carpet manufacturer Gaskell has had a year it would wish to forget. The share price has dropped by more than 50 per cent to 45p after a combination of boardroom departures, closures and lacklustre sales disappointed investors.

Also in the doldrums are shareholders in conservatory roof maker Ultraframe plc who have have seen almost half the value of their shareholding go down the drain. The share price has fallen from 695p to 341p after the Clitheroe-based company blamed wet weather in the autumn and winter for a fall in first half profits.

Even the recent announcement that the company had taken over the American Four Seasons Group for $125 million failed to ignite the market.

Scapa plc, which still has its corporate headquarters in Blackburn, has also struggled to keep shareholders happy. A 40 per cent fall in the share price to 94p followed a profits warning in March. Have you forgotten a fortune? A NEW database has been launched in a bid to reunite investors with more than £3 billion of unclaimed shares and dividends.

The Unclaimed Assets Register -- which already holds information on the owners of forgotten life policies, pensions and unit trusts -- is extending its database to include unclaimed shares, dividends and securities.

Several FTSE-100 companies, including BP, British Telecom, Prudential and Vodaphone, have already agreed to provide information to the register.

Scottish Widows is also providing data on members who were entitled to windfall shares when it demutualised, but who the group was unable to trace.

Keith Hollender, managing director of UAR, said: "The main reason for investors losing track of their shareholdings is their own failure to inform registrars of a change in address.

"With 1.5 million house moves a year, and so many pressing things to think about when relocating, share registrars tend not to be at the top of the list."

He added: "A cocktail of moving, marrying and dying are the main causes of a lost investment and company name changes do not help."

The move was welcomed by ProShare, the organisation which promotes wider share ownership.

"Anything that can be done to reunite owners with their lost shares has got to be a good thing," said chief executive Diane Hay.

"Many people who bought shares for the first time following privatisation or got windfall shares may have lost track of them." nOFEX, the junior market for unquoted companies, is staging a seminar at the Palace Hotel in Manchester on September 20.

The event is part of a national roadshow designed to increase awareness among companies that are looking to raise new capital, improve the tradability of shares or looking to introduce employee share incentive schemes.

Director Jonathan Jenkins said OFEX had helped more than 400 UK SMEs raise over £940 million in the past five years. It has a combined market capitalisation of £1.8 billion, including household names such as Arsenal FC and Weetabix. No access A SURVEY of ten of the most popular telephone share-dealing services has shown that few customers have ready access to their cash held on their stockbroker deposit account.

Only three of the ten featured accounts offered chequebooks and even fewer provided a Visa card. With many commentators suggesting investors should hold a proportion of their portfolio in cash due to the volatility of the markets, stockbrokers Cater Allen argue it is important investors have instant access to their funds.