Being ready to move when exit opportunities arrive is critical for owners who want to secure the best valuation for their businesses, a leading panel of venture-backed entrepreneurs has said.

Speaking at Venturefest in Oxford, the panel warned that businesses with private equity backing should plan for a quick exit in advance to get the most out of a sale.

The “window of opportunity” is often very short, it said, so a “constant state of readiness” is important.

The panel, including Peter Wrighton-Smith of Oxford Immunotec Global; Shirin Dehghan, of Arieso; Ian Crosbie of Circassia; and Adam Whittaker of NaturalMotion, all recently floated or sold their businesses for a total of more than £1 billion.

Circassia and allergy immunotherapie business recently floated on the London Stock Exchange with a market cap of £581 million, while mobile gaming house Natural Motion was subject of a £320 million trade sale.

Peter Wrighton-Smith, Oxford Immunotec said: “When VC-backed, you must always have an evolving plan for the exit.

“From our analysis, we knew an IPO might be our best option, but the opportunity to list came sooner than we had expected. When the opportunity did arise, we had the ability to act fast as we’d already done the groundwork with our shareholders.”

The four were speakers on the “£1 billion panel of Oxford cluster entrepreneurs” held Venturefest in Oxford last week.