Equity funding and trading in Britain is about to take a step back in time - for the better.

In 1973 the regional stock exchanges in Britain were merged with the London Stock Exchange, but that step is about to be reversed in Birmingham, where the Regional Development Agency is set to open Investbx this summer.

The idea is to match up local SME's in the West Midlands with investors on an electronic trading platform to tackle the problem of the 'funding gap' that makes it difficult for companies to raise investment of between £500k and £5m.

It's a great idea - but the challenge will be in finding companies who are 'investment ready' or in helping them get to that stage. There are plenty of high-net-worth individuals in the UK these days who would be interested in investing on a platform such as this because of the potentially high returns (of course, these are matched by higher risk too!) - but these people won't have the time or the patience to deal with half-baked ideas and inexperienced management teams.

Another great effect is that it then offers a rolling exit route for investors, so companies can raise funds without having to target a re-financing, trade sale or full flotation at a later date. Investors can sell when they want to, and new investors can buy in when they wish too.

Plus, companies will be able to dip back into the market from time to time to fund new products or initiatives.

I hope this experiment is a huge success and other regions are encouraged to roll out clones. I'll be watching with interest, and will bring you updates here.