Braveheart leaves Perth

The move brings to an end the firm’s decade-long presence on the Fair City’s Dundee Road after it was revealed that its Scottish activity had “diminished”.

Braveheart, which was formed in 1997 and listed on AIM 10 years later, stressed investors should notice no difference on a day-to-day-basis and it would be “business as usual”.

In a statement, Braveheart said that it will also maintain a point-of-contact north of the border having registered an address to the care of legal firm Dentons at 1 George Square, Glasgow.

And Braveheart – which looks after total funds worth more than £71 million – said it will continue to manage money invested in Scotland from its new base.

Confirming the move, director Vivian Hallam – who also serves as chief executive of Strathtay Ventures which manages Braveheart’s operational functions and investment portfolio, said: “The team had reduced steadily in Perth and the last one handed her notice in last year.”

The £48 million Finance Yorkshire Equity Fund is managed by Braveheart’s Viking Fund Managers division, as is the £5 million Viking Fund and £1 million Viking Loan Fund.

All three provide funding for small and medium-sized enterprises in the Yorkshire and Humber regions.

Mr Hallam continued: “We are now operating from the office in Barnsley that we have always had, and that is the focus of our team.”

“It is just that our team in Scotland had diminished and we readjusted the operation.

“We have a number of investments on our balance sheet in Scotland and we also manage some funds in Scotland.”

Last June the group revealed it had returned to profit in financial year 2016-17 after racking up a £1.7 million loss in the prior year.