New research from accountancy group Deloitte indicates that venture capital groups are expecting to witness a sustained high level of investment over the next six months.

According to Deloitte, companies operating in the support services, leisure, financial services and healthcare sectors are particularly likely to benefit from such investment.

Further evidence, meanwhile, comes from private investor network Hotbed, which focuses on deals worth between £500,000 and £5 million. ‘There is plenty of appetite [amongst private individuals] to invest at present,’ director Claire Madden informed Deal Alert, and the challenge facing the industry is to ‘find a way through which these people can back early-stage and growing companies’.

In 2004 Hotbed’s members pumped a combined £26 million into a range of ventures from hotel projects to smoothie manufacturers.