Value of funds from AIM market falls by third

Business advisor Grant Thornton said 247m was raised by 17 companies, compared to 396m raised by 18 companies in the final three months of last year.

There was a huge increase, however, on the performance in the first quarter of last year, when only 3m was raised by four firms.

Will Oxley, partner at Grant Thornton's Leeds office, said: "It is encouraging that more money has been raised on AIM in the last two quarters than in any comparable period since the collapse of Lehman Brothers."

Listings in Yorkshire included healthcare software company Emis Group, which in February revealed plans to raise 50m by selling a quarter of the company to new institutional investors and floating on AIM. Emis employs about 780 people, including about 500 at its Leeds headquarters.

Mr Oxley added: "Comparable figures were last achieved in the first quarter of 2008, when 32 companies raised 290m on AIM. Sadly, very few traditional trading companies are benefiting as they continue to find it difficult to raise money on AIM. In the last five years, fundraising on AIM has been dominated by the financial sector, mainly property and private equity funds, and by mining and other natural resources groups.

"The main problem is the valuation gap – entrepreneurs are holding out for pre-crunch valuations while institutional investors continue to be very risk averse and seem to be holding out for bargains."