The private support for the arts during 2006-7 reached a record £599.5m, an 11 per cent increase on the year before.

According to figures from Art & Business, funding from private individuals during the year increased by 10.8 per cent to £298m, the corporate sector by 10.1 per cent to £172m and trusts and foundations by 11.4 per cent to £129m.

Heritage arts received substantially more in UK private support than any of the other 16 evaluated art forms, with 30.1 per cent of the funding. Museums were second in line with 14.3 per cent, followed by the visual arts and theatre.

Overall, 78 per cent of arts organisations in the UK received some form of private investment during the year. Only 27 per cent of the organisations which did not receive private funding were refused it, while 73 per cent never applied for it.

Alan Davey, chief executive of Arts Council England, said: “With ten years of public sector growth and now record private sector figures, these A&B figures show how strong the UK’s arts funding ecology currently is.”

National distribution of funding show London accounts for 64 per cent of all private investment, while the regional profile revealed West Midlands picked up 61 per cent, Scotland 49.7 per cent and North West 48.1 per cent.

The figures show the significant contribution the private sector makes to the success of arts in the UK, as private investment accounts for more than half of the income for around ten per cent of the arts organisations which receive private funds.

Chief executive of Art & Business, Colin Tweedy, however, warned that the arts could still be the first expenditure businesses cut if financial turbulence causes a downturn in company

Tweedy said: “Arts organisations must keep spelling out the returns companies make on their investments to maintain their support: be it improved business performance or transformations of the public opinion.”

The Arts and Business’ annual Private Investment in the Arts report draws on the business investment and individual giving of 4,676 arts organisations.