Holding(s) in Company

Merrill Lynch Br. SmallerCo Tst PLC
23 March 2007

                                  SCHEDULE 10

                   NOTIFICATION OF MAJOR INTERESTS IN SHARES

1) Name of company:

Merrill Lynch British Smaller Companies Trust plc

2) Name of shareholder having a major interest:

Asset Value Investors Limited

3) Please state whether notification indicates that it is in respect of
holding of the shareholder named in 2 above or in respect of a
non-beneficial interest or in the case of an individual holder if it is a
holding of that person's spouse or children under the age of 18:

Non-Beneficial

4) Name of the registered holder(s) and, if more than one holder, the
number of shares held by each of them:

BoNY Nominees - 693,289 shares - Beneficial Holder:  AVI Value Fund LLC
Chase Nominees - 1,891,160 shares - Beneficial Holder:  British Empire
Securities
State Street Nominees - 134,998 shares - Beneficial Holder:  Carnegie
Corporation
BoNY Nominees - 280,121 shares - Beneficial Holder:  CF AVI Global Fund
Mellon - 193,566 shares - Beneficial Holder:  Columbia University (non voting)
Pictet - 132,342 shares - Beneficial Holder:  Lord North Street
Chase Nominees - 145,203 shares - Beneficial Holder:  Rockefeller University
Nortrust Nominees - 612,277 shares - Beneficial Holder:  Yale University

5) Number of shares/amount of stock acquired:

459,200 shares

6) Percentage of issued class:

0.92%

7) Number of shares/amount of stock disposed since last notification:

N/A

8) Percentage of issued class:

N/A

9) Class of security:

Ordinary shares of 25p each

10) Date of transaction:

19 March 2007

11) Date company informed:

23 March 2007

12) Total holding following this notification:

4,082,956

13) Total percentage holding of issued class following this notification:

8.17%

14) Any additional information:

N/A

15) Name of contact and telephone number for queries:

Ms C Driscoll- 020 7743 2427

16) Name and signature of authorised company official responsible for
making this notification:

Ms C Driscoll
for BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited
Secretary

17) Date of notification:

23 March 2007


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