SIR Tom Hunter has said he wants to invest in more businesses following a good year for his West Coast Capital operations and the Brexit vote has not affected his appetite for deals in the UK.

However, the Ayrshire entrepreneur expressed frustration about the lack of progress on a landmark property development in Scotland.

Sir Tom said he is looking at adding a number of firms to West Coast’s portfolio as he prepares to draw on the additional firepower which it has amassed in recent months.

The West Coast Capital Holdings property investment business booked £20 million profits in the latest year helped by the lucrative sale of a stake in a trust which owns the Alton Towers theme park and 20 hospitals.

The proceeds from the sale helped West Coast beef up its balance sheet leaving Sir Tom confident it is in good shape to move forward.

He said: “This year marked substantive progress and we are now very well positioned to take advantage of market opportunities with significant cash reserves and a strong net asset position.”

Sir Tom did not provide details of the investments he is looking at.

Asked whether the vote in June for the UK to leave the European Union had made West Coast less likely to invest in the country, he said: “Definitely not.”

However, he complained that businesses face a significant challenge trying to assess what Brexit will mean for them.

“When the Brexit vote happened we had a board meeting the next day but none of us knew what it was going to mean and we’re not any more enlightened today.”

Sir Tom has not disclosed how he voted.

He does not believe the Scottish Government should hold another independence referendum amid the uncertainty that has followed the vote on membership of the EU.

“I really do think it would be the wrong thing to bring up another independence referendum at this point,” noted Sir Tom. “I’m not saying never, just not now.”

Sir Tom wants the Scottish Government to focus on addressing the huge challenges the country faces in areas such as the economy and education.

He has shown his willingness to make significant long term investments in Scotland by developing plans to build what would effectively be a new town at Winchburgh in West Lothian.

Last year West Coast Capital Holdings noted it was in negotiations with relevant authorities about ways to reduce the costs of a project which could take around 20 years to complete. The scheme will feature around 3,500 homes with a new town centre, schools and parks. It would require hefty investment in infrastructure such as roads.

Yesterday, Sir Tom said: “We are not much further forward, which I’m becoming very frustrated with.”

He added: “We’re willing to pay our share we just need the Scottish Government and the council to work it out between them.”

Famed for making around £290m from the sale of his Sports Division business to JJB in 1998, Sir Tom suffered big losses on investments he made in housebuilding firms before the market slumped in 2007.

However, he has been pleased with the performance of more recent investments.

Sir Tom was left sitting on a £75 million gain on his investment in the Secure Income REIT in March after selling a raft of shares in the commercial property venture.

Since offloading its 11 per cent stake in House of Fraser in 2014, West Coast has had no big holdings in high street stores groups.

Sir Tom said it might consider investing in a retail business, but only one with a strong e-commerce element.

He noted West Coast has invested heavily in analytics firms, which help businesses in sectors such as retail make the most of the huge amounts of data they hold.

The highlights of the year to March included leading a $15m investment in a US analytics business, Dynamic Action, with Accenture.

West Coast provided an undisclosed amount of backing for Edinburgh-based TV Squared, which has developed technology that lets users see what business they are getting from web searches and TV adverts.

The West Coast Capital Assets technology investments firm made a £400,000 retained loss in the year to 31 March.