The British Venture Capital Association (BVCA) has called for the Government’s continued support for VCTs in order to prevent leakage from the sector or a loss of specialist talent.

The British Venture Capital Association (BVCA) has called for the Government’s continued support for VCTs in order to prevent leakage from the sector or a loss of specialist talent.

In a letter responding to the HMRC’s consultation on VCTs, the BVCA’s chief executive Peter Linthwaite stated that ‘with around £2 billion of capital under management, we believe the VCT sector is a critical component of the Government’s policy of encouraging and supporting SME development’.

He confirmed that the BVCA ‘strongly’ believes that government support for such investment vehicles is essential in the financing of SMEs and younger growth businesses. ‘It is important,’ he went on, ‘for fund managers to retain sufficient funds under management dedicated to investing in smaller growth businesses because if fund sizes become too small the economies of scale could make this sector less compelling for high-quality fund managers.’