By the end of May the trust, one of eight managed by the team at Close Venture Management, had invested £7.1 million in eight businesses.

Four were pub operators and one was a fitness club in Weybridge, Surrey. All these display Close’s forte of backing leisure businesses with freehold assets. For instance, the Weybridge club boasts a valuable 30-acre freehold site.

The remaining three businesses have higher growth plans: Central London post-production company Evolutions Television; occupational health concern Grosvenor Healthcare; and pharmaceutical services outfit Xceleron, spun out of the University of York. Several of these companies have been backed by other Close VCTs.

The trust has yet to isolate a spin-out from its agreement with Brunel University but Close managing director Patrick Reeve is looking at several of these.

Close Venture Management was recently voted VCT Manager of the Year 2005 at the Growth Company Awards.