Soaring demand drives fast growth for Capital Allowances team

STRONG demand from clients across a wide range of sectors has driven dramatic growth for Grant Thornton’s specialist Capital Allowances North team a year on from its launch.

The team was established and is led by Nicola Bottley, who has a Big 4 background and was recruited from global engineering and development consultancy Mott MacDonald. The Capital Allowances team has grown to five based in Manchester and covers the north of England with hubs in Liverpool and Leeds.

All members of the team are dual-qualified or working towards dual qualification, with extensive tax and chartered surveying experience and skills. This allows them to deliver highly analytical specialist service to clients.

Nicola, who has more than 32 years’ experience in the construction industry and 20 years’ experience in Capital Allowances said: “We are unrivalled in the regional mid-market in terms of the size of our team, we are continuing to see strong traction and are looking to grow the team further. The excellent progress we have made in the first year gives us confidence for expansion into other key locations.

“Capital Allowances is a valuable incentive and we can obtain significant tax relief for our clients by advising and working with them in their property transactions and on their capital expenditure. We have a strong track record which, together with our efficient and cost effective robust claims process, has led to seven figure tax savings.

“When undertaking a retrospective review of previously categorised ineligible capital expenditure we typically identify and switch an additional 20-40% of from non-qualifying to qualifying for tax relief.”

She says the team is working across multiple sectors including heavy and light industrial, retail, real estate, healthcare and hospitality.

Vic Stewart, Finance Director at The Alchemist said the team had done a “fantastic job” for the leading bar operator.

“The engagement ran really smoothly, there is the right balance of interaction and communication. The team worked closely internally with the compliance team providing a seamless service with little disruption to our day-to-day activities.

“They demonstrated deep technical knowledge, applying both a practical approach to our business and industry with a clear understanding of our objectives. Overall they achieved a great result with a substantial saving and I would be more than happy to recommend them.”

Alongside Nicola, the team comprises: Emma Roberts, Ryan Smillie , Darryl Owen, and Aamna Ali.