Edinburgh-headquartered firm Jumpstart, one of the UK’s leading research and development (R&D) tax relief specialists, is to invest in further expansion in the South East area, following the success of the first year of its Slough office.
Officially launched one year ago this week, Jumpstart’s Slough office has enabled the firm to service a growing portfolio of clients across a range of sectors in the South East of England, and has accommodated an expanding team of business development managers and science and technology experts.
The firm today announced the appointment of an addition technical analyst, Jay Bhatti, in Slough and says it will create further jobs in the year ahead in line with an increasing demand for its service in the area.
Scott Henderson, managing director for Jumpstart, commented: “The South East is renowned for being exceptionally rich in R&D and innovative activity, and that has certainly been our experience in the past year.
“We have found ourselves working more and more with companies across a wide variety of industries in the region – particularly in the manufacturing and software & ICT sectors – and, collectively, they have benefited from hundreds of thousands of pounds in tax savings over the past year.
“The latest figures from HMRC indicate that, aside from London, the South East region has the highest uptake of R&D tax relief in the UK – accounting for 18.5% of all R&D tax relief claimed UK-wide in FY 2015-2016.
“But there is definitely more scope for even more uptake by companies in the area,” he continued. “As the UK prepares to exit the EU in the coming years, investing in R&D must form an essential component in the growth strategies of companies in the South East, ensuring that they have competitive edge in new markets.
“In continuing to grow our footprint in the South East from our Slough office, we will be engaging with more and more companies in the region to support their R&D endeavours and show them how they can reap the tax benefits of their investment.”
As well as growing its client base in the South East, Jumpstart’s permanent presence in Slough has enabled to firm to establish a number of important partnerships in the area over the past year.
One such partnership is with EEF – the manufacturer’s organisation – as part of its Advantages programme. Charles Garfit, EEF membership engagement director, said: “Our role is to support UK manufacturers and help them realise their growth ambitions in an ever more competitive environment.
“Investing in R&D is vital to attempts by manufacturers to do just that by increasing their innovation performance and productivity, and the role of supporting experts like Jumpstart will becoming increasingly important in the coming years as UK companies prepare for Brexit.”
