Coming soon
In July 2025 the directors of Foresight Enterprise VCT announced their intention to launch a new offer for subscription. Details are expected to be published in due course.
You will be able to download documents and apply online here.
Fully subscribed (5 Dec)
The manager has received applications up to the full capacity of the offer.
Applications with cleared funds are being processed on a first-come, first-served basis.
Foresight Enterprise VCT, formerly Foresight 4 VCT, is a generalist venture capital trust managed by Foresight Group.
The VCT favours businesses with proven demand for their products and services. Typically, this means companies generating between £1 million and £5 million in annual revenue at the point of investment. The portfolio has a bias towards the healthcare and technology, media & telecoms sectors, and there is a strong regional focus, with 70% of new investments in the year to June 2024 outside London.
The VCT has a portfolio of around 45 companies and net assets of £171.1 million (June 2024).
Over the five years to 30 June 2025, the VCT generated a NAV total return of 59.9% (including dividends) and paid cumulative dividends equivalent to 63.1% of the VCT’s starting net asset value – past performance is not a guide to the future; dividends are variable and not guaranteed.
- Seeking to raise up to £20 million with a £10 million overallotment facility
- Targets annual dividends of 5% of NAV – not guaranteed
- Minimum investment: £5,000
Important: The information on this website is for experienced investors. It is not a personal recommendation to invest. If you’re unsure, please seek advice. Investments are for the long term. They are high risk and illiquid and can fall as well as rise in value: you could lose all the money you invest.
The manager
The VCT is managed by the private equity division of Foresight Group, responsible for £1.6 billion across the Foresight VCTs, EIS, and institutional private equity funds (September 2024).
Founded in 1984, Foresight Group started as a specialist technology venture capital manager and now oversees c.£12.6 billion.
The VCT is overseen by James Livingston, Co-Head of Private Equity who is responsible for sourcing and supporting investments across a variety of sectors. Prior to joining Foresight in 2008, James was a Strategy Consultant at Deloitte, advising healthcare and technology businesses. He is supported by a team of over 58 investment professionals, whose backgrounds range from corporate finance to operations.
Foresight aims to be a regional specialist and relies on its 10 offices across the UK and Ireland for deal origination.
Investment strategy
Foresight Enterprise VCT adopted the current generalist growth capital approach in 2018, after a long history of takeovers, mergers and strategy changes.
It now looks to provide capital to more mature companies with a proven market fit. Companies typically have an enterprise value of between £5 - £25 million and revenues of £1 - £5 million. Deals may include the use of loan notes and preference shares to help protect the downside – although as all VCTs, this remains a high-risk investment.
The investment team vets all potential deals against several criteria:
- Strong management teams
- Technology-enabled and scalable
- Well formulated strategies
- Attractive entry valuations and structures
- Growing, non-cyclical markets
- Strong market positioning reflected in margins
- Low cash burn
Deals are sourced from Foresight’s regional network intermediaries as well as internal follow-on opportunities from the Foresight Technology funds which target earlier-stage investments.
Foresight believes regional opportunities can generate superior value. In the 12 months to June 2024, approximately 70% of new investments across the Foresight VCTs have been in businesses based outside of London.
In addition to its VCTs, Foresight manages 10 institutional regional funds. These target similar investment amounts to the VCTs but have greater flexibility in the types of transactions they can pursue, such as buyouts. Foresight believes they offer a valuable source of co-investment capital for the portfolio.
Portfolio overview
The VCT has 45 holdings with net assets of £171.1 million, of which £64.5 million (37.7%) is cash or cash equivalents (June 2024).
The portfolio is reasonably well diversified with the top 10 investments accounting for 30.0% of net assets.
The holdings are split across seven sectors, with over half the portfolio allocated to healthcare and technology, media and telecommunications. The portfolio is a mixture of growth capital investments (31.3%), established legacy investments (31%), and cash (37.7%).
In the six months to June 2024, the VCT invested £6.5 million in three new investments and £2.5 million in three follow-on investments.
Sector allocation (%)
Source: Foresight Group, sector allocation by value, June 2024.
Portfolio example: largest Holding
Hospital Services Group
Established in 1962, Hospital Services Limited (“HSL”) is a specialist distributor of medical supplies and surgical equipment and consumable products, servicing public and private hospitals across the UK and Ireland.
Since the VCT’s first investment, HSL has made several acquisitions, including Video South, a hospital video communications specialist, and MDI Medical, a leading medical technology supplier. Most recently the VCT supported HSL’s acquisition of Fleetwood Healthcare, a distributor of endoscopy and surgical devices.
Foresight Enterprise VCT first invested in April 2015. HSL is now the VCT’s largest holding valued at £8.0 million, with a total cost of £1.2 million, and represents 4.7% of NAV (June 2024). Past performance is not a guide to the future.
Portfolio example: recent investment
Evolve Dynamics
Founded in 2016, Evolve Dynamics designs and manufactures smaller Unmanned Aerial Systems (“UAS”) for use in intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
Its Sky Mantis system is an all-weather, long-endurance UAS capable of just under 1-hour flight time on battery or two days on tether. It can be fitted for a variety of roles in defence, police and security services, search and rescue and the oil and gas industry. It is widely used within UK and international police forces, fire services, energy inspection and search and rescue organisations.
In March 2024, the VCT invested £2.0 million to help scale the business and support new product launches.
Exit track record
The VCT has enjoyed some notable successes with the current growth-capital strategy, including Edinburgh-based software development company Codeplay, which was acquired by Intel in June 2022 for £48 million, generating a 16x return for the VCT.
In the six months to June 2024, the VCT exited its two largest holdings. The sale of Callen-Lenz resulted in proceeds of £23.4 million including £2.9 million of earnout – a 5.4x return for the VCT. Specac, a legacy holding, delivered proceeds of £11.2 million, in addition to the £1.5 million of cash returned pre-exit, resulting in a 10.3x return for the VCT. Past performance is not a guide to the future.
The exits proceeds have contributed to a 7.1p special dividend declared in October 2024. New investors in this offer will not qualify for this.
Recent exit
Callen-Lenz
Callen-Lenz is a Salisbury-based designer, developer and manufacturer of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for aviation research and development. It specialises in products customised to a client’s needs in a short timeframe.
Founded in 2007 the company has grown rapidly and now employs more than 150 people across four sites. The VCT first invested in 2021 to enlarge its engineering and sales teams, plant and manufacturing facilities and expand internationally.
In May 2024, the VCT exited Callen-Lenz, returning £23.4 million with a further £2.9 million of earnout recognised at the period end. The sale represents a 5.4x cash‑on‑cash return on the total investment of £4.9 million. Past performance is not a guide to the future.
Example of a previous failure
Crosstown Dough
As is to be expected when investing in small companies, not all investments work out. Crosstown Dough is an example.
Crosstown Dough sells premium doughnuts from 31 sites including shops, food trucks and market stalls. The VCT invested £1.5 million in December 2021 to support the rollout of the retail network beyond London.
However, the business suffered from increases in wage and supply costs, which it was unable to pass on to its customers. As a result, in June 2024 the business was sold to the Karali Group, a large Burger King franchise operator in the UK and US. This allowed creditors to be paid and the business to continue operating. The VCT’s initial investment was written down to zero.
Performance and dividends
In the five years to June 2025, the VCT generated NAV total returns of 59.9% (including dividends reinvested) – past performance is not a guide to the future. Note, we show VCT returns over a five-year period as a minimum, where possible. Where a VCT has followed the same investment strategy for longer, we also show returns over 10 years.
The VCT aims to pay annual dividends of at least 5% of NAV. Over five years the VCT has paid cumulative dividends equivalent to 63.1% of the VCT’s starting net asset value. Dividends are variable and not guaranteed.
NAV and cumulative dividends per share over five years (p)
Morningstar. Past performance is no guide to the future. Dividends are variable and not guaranteed. The bar chart shows net asset value and cumulative dividends per share for the period 31/12/2019 – 30/06/2025.
Dividends paid per calendar year
Morningstar. Past performance is no guide to the future. Dividends are variable and not guaranteed. The bar chart shows dividend per share paid in each calendar year.
Dividend yield history (% of starting NAV)
| Calendar year | Dividend as % of NAV |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 4.3% |
| 2021 | 6.8% |
| 2022 | 10.6% |
| 2023 | 5.1% |
| 2024 | 23.5% |
| YTD | 5.7% |
Source: Morningstar. Dividend yields are based on the dividends paid over the period divided by the starting NAV of the VCT over the same period. Past performance is no guide to the future.
Dividend Investment Scheme (DRIS)
There is a Dividend Reinvestment Scheme which allows shareholders to reinvest future cash dividend payments in new shares, if desired. As these are new shares they should be eligible for tax relief (you will need to claim this on your tax return or directly with HMRC) and the shares will count towards the VCT annual subscription limit.
Share buybacks
The board intends to buy back shares at a 5% discount to the prevailing net asset value. This is not guaranteed – please see the offer documents for details.
Discount history
VCT shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange. Similar to investment trusts, the share price can fluctuate and can be different from the VCT’s net asset value (NAV), i.e. the value of the VCT’s underlying investments. The difference between the share price of a VCT, and its net asset value per share, is called a discount.
Based on data from Morningstar, the discount to NAV as at 30 June 2025 was -3.7%. Over the previous five years the average discount to NAV was -10.1%.
The discount history is based on the closing share price of the VCT at the end of each month, divided by the latest net asset value at the time. Past performance is not a guide to the future. Investors looking to sell their VCT shares may get a better price using the VCTs’ share buyback facilities, although this is not guaranteed.
Risks: important
This, like all investments available through Wealth Club, is only for experienced investors happy to make their own investment decisions without advice.
VCTs are high-risk so should only form part of a balanced portfolio and you should not invest money you cannot afford to lose. They also tend to be illiquid and hard to sell and value. Before you invest, please carefully read the Risks and Commitments and the offer documents to ensure you fully understand the risks.
To retain the tax benefits, VCTs should be held for at least five years. If you sell VCT shares and reinvest in new shares of the same VCT (including any mergers) within six months, tax relief can be restricted. Tax rules can change and benefits depend on circumstances.
Charges and savings
A summary of the main charges and savings is shown below. The net initial charge shown includes the Wealth Club saving and any early bird discount. The investment may have additional charges and expenses: please see the provider documents including the Key Information Document for more details, offer price and share allotment calculation methodology.
Please note, capacity – for the offer or any early bird savings – can be reached early, and we may not be notified of this by the VCT in real time.
|
Full initial charge |
5.5% |
|
Early bird discount |
— |
|
Wealth Club initial saving |
1.75% |
|
Existing investors discount |
0.5% |
|
Net initial charge through Wealth Club (new investors) |
3.75% |
|
Net initial charge through Wealth Club (existing investors) |
3.25% |
|
Annual charge |
2% |
|
Annual administration charge |
See offer documents |
|
Performance fee |
15% |
|
Annual rebate (for three years) |
— |
More detail on the charges
The full initial charge shown in the table above is before any savings and discounts; the net initial charge is after available savings and discounts.
When you invest through us, Wealth Club will receive initial commission (2.5%). Please see the provider's documents, including the key information document, for more details on the total fees and charges.
Annual rebate when you invest through Wealth Club
There is no annual rebate for this offer.
Deadlines
- Deadline for final allotment in 2024/25 tax year: 2 April 2025 (noon)
- Deadline for final allotment in 2025/26: 30 April 2025 (noon)
Our view
Foresight Enterprise VCT is a generalist trust with a bias towards regional businesses in the healthcare and technology, media & telecoms sectors.
The VCT’s growth-focused investment strategy is starting to bear fruit. Successful exits include Callen-Lenz, detailed above, and Codeplay, which delivered a 16x return when it was acquired by Intel in 2022.
The proportion of legacy investments (31% as at June 2024) will continue to decrease over time and has been accelerated by the recent sale of Specac, previously the VCT’s largest holding. Past performance is not a guide to the future.
The VCT benefits from a large investment team, strong regional network and access to the resources of Foresight Group. In addition, the trust can co-invest alongside Foresight’s other VCTs and 10 regional funds. This scale may provide the VCT with a competitive advantage when seeking to attract compelling deals.
This financial promotion has been communicated and approved by Wealth Club Ltd on 1 November 2024
Wealth Club aims to make it easier for experienced investors to find information on – and apply for – investments. You should base your investment decision on the offer documents and ensure you have read and fully understand them before investing. The information on this webpage is a marketing communication. It is not advice or a personal or research recommendation to buy any of the investments mentioned, nor does it include any opinion as to the present or future value or price of these investments. It does not satisfy legal requirements promoting investment research independence and is thus not subject to prohibitions on dealing ahead of its dissemination.