I'm looking at starting a portfolio and need a little advice on what to look for. It would only be a small investment, in the lower regions of 4 figures, that I will grow over time.

I was thinking of going for pretty safe companies that are relatively cheap at the moment. Obviously i'm not expecting to make a fortune, but it will hopefully earn more than sitting in the bank!

Am I better off going for companies such as Tesco, etc, or are there better options available out there for the small time investor?

Well my status has changed a bit since then.

I have around 5k, the only problem being I will need to be able to access this money at some point during the next couple of years. I'm looking at moving to my own home and need it for deposits, etc.

So ideally i'll want some somewhere we I can withdraw immediately, and some in maybe a year long investment where i'm never 'too' far away from getting it.

You could consider using a shares ISA - that's what I'm doing.