The government’s plan for private companies to trade shares on exchanges is seeing early interest from prospective operators — but critics have warned that the City should be focused on reviving public markets.

The Private Intermittent Securities and Capital Exchange System is expected to launch in May as a regulated secondary market for private share trading. It is intended to unlock more investment for fast-growing UK companies, of which the ScaleUp Institute estimates there are around 14,000 with a combined turnover of £372.3bn.