Chief executive Tom Bewick announced in December 2010 that funding from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) was to come to an end.

Since then, he had been considering how to continue operating the charity ‘in a different guise’.

Bewick has now confirmed that Enterprise UK will begin to wind down with immediate effect, while all offices and activities will be closed by the end of April.

He explained that other organisations will be invited to submit proposals for acquiring key assets.

‘Enterprise UK still has some modest assets, expertise and unrestricted reserves of approximately £0.5 million,’ he says, adding that it would be looking for proposals for how the funds could be used once the charity is wound up.

The campaigning organisation was founded in 2004 by the British Chambers of Commerce, the Confederation of British Industry, the Institute of Directors and the Federation of Small Businesses to inspire and support entrepreneurs.

The charity, whose chairman is Peter Jones, co-founded Global Entrepreneurship Week.