British Smaller Companies VCTs
London-listed pair of VCTs targeting growth-stage UK small companies; second-largest VCT raiser in the 2025/26 record year.
Last refreshed: 22 April 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Can British Smaller Companies VCTs sustain deal flow when retail inflows fall 65%?
Timeline for British Smaller Companies VCTs
Raised £85m in 2025/26 ahead of the tax relief cut
UK Startups and Innovation: VCTs hit £917.7m record, brace for 65% fall- How much did British Smaller Companies VCTs raise in 2025/26?
- British Smaller Companies VCTs raised £85m in 2025/26, the second-largest manager total in a record national VCT year of £917.7m.Source: Wealth Club
- What will the VCT tax relief cut mean for British Smaller Companies VCTs investors?
- Relief drops from 30% to 20% from 6 April 2026. A Focaldata survey shows 43.5% of VCT investors plan to invest less and 41.6% plan to stop entirely, suggesting the 2025/26 peak is a deadline rush, not a trend.Source: Focaldata / Wealth Club
- What stage of companies do British Smaller Companies VCTs back?
- The trusts invest in qualifying small UK companies at growth and development stage, across technology, services and specialist sectors.
- Are British Smaller Companies VCTs the same as British Smaller Companies VCT 2?
- British Smaller Companies VCTs comprises two listed trusts with the same investment mandate; both are managed under the same strategy and listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Background
British Smaller Companies VCTs raised £85m in 2025/26, the second-largest total in Britain's record VCT fundraising year of £917.7m (Wealth Club), as retail investors rushed to lock in 30% income-tax relief before the Budget-announced cut to 20% took effect on 6 April 2026. The raise places the trusts just behind Albion VCTs (£90m) and ahead of Octopus Apollo VCT (£82.7m) in the final league table of a year that will not be repeated at this scale.
British Smaller Companies VCTs is a pair of Venture Capital Trusts focused on qualifying small UK companies, investing primarily in businesses at growth and development stage across technology, services and specialist sectors. The trusts are listed on the London Stock Exchange and structured to deliver the standard VCT investor benefits: income-tax relief, tax-free dividends and capital gains exemption. The VCT structure requires at least 80% of invested funds to be placed in qualifying holdings within a defined period.
The 65% precedent from 2006/07, when annual VCT fundraising collapsed and took sixteen years to recover, bears directly on a trust that has relied on annual retail inflows to fund new qualifying investments. A Focaldata survey records 43.5% of current VCT investors intending to invest less and 41.6% planning to stop entirely after the cut. For founders, the practical consequence is that the sub-£2m tickets that VCTs historically provided at development stage are projected to become significantly scarcer from 2026/27 Onward.