ONLINE appliances retailer AO World has enjoyed a storming debut on the London stock market after seeing its shares jump by more than one-third.

The float price of 285p gave it a market value of £1.2 billion before the stock rallied as high as 412p and settled at 380p. The online business was started by kitchen appliances sales executive John Roberts 14 years ago.

He has retained a stake of 28%, worth around £450 million, after selling shares valued at £85m in the initial share offer.