Increasingly, they will also want to hear views on corporate governance – the framework of practices and processes by which the business is directed. Governance is about balancing the interests of shareholders, management, staff, customers, suppliers, financiers, the wider community and even government.

Years ago, early-stage entrepreneurs placed such factors low on their list of priorities, if they featured at all. But a string of scandals, from the Guinness share price scandal and Polly Peck right up to the world financial crisis and since, have elevated business principles to the top of many investors’ concerns.