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UK stocks opened higher on Wednesday as a deterioration in Brexit negotiations kept the pound under pressure, assisting exporters.
At 0825, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was up 12.97 points, or 0.2%, at 7.156.12.
Home improvement company Kingfisher added 0.7% to 190p after it appointed Bernard Bot as its chief financial officer.
Bot was most recently CFO of travel technology platform Travelport Worldwide.
Gambling group GVC rallied 3.7% to 778p as it lifted its earnings outlook on the back of strong online revenue growth.
Auto retailer Vertu Motors reversed 0.8% to 32.3p after it reported a 7.1% fall in first-half profit, as challenging trading conditions put pressure on car margins.
Tube manipulation specialist Tricorn slumped 29% to 12.75p after it warned of a full-year result 'materially below' expectations, amid a UK demand slump and margin pressure owing to the US-China trade war.
Industrial and healthcare sector manufacturer Scapa was flat at 196p on guiding for a 17% fall in first-half profit, owing to the loss of a key contract with ConvaTec.
Specialist engineering group Pressure Technologies jumped 8.2% to 105.5p after subsidiary Chesterfield Special Cylinders secured a contract worth more than £3m to supply nitrogen storage solutions to EDF Energy.
Advanced materials group Versarien added 0.3% to 96.75p on signing a collaboration agreement with Spanish industrial furnace manufacturer Refractory Solutions Insertec.