Specialist tax consultancy, Catax, has opened a new office in Manchester after a year of rapid growth that saw staff numbers increase by two thirds.
The Manchester firm outgrew its previous base in just 10 months after its team soared from 54 in 2017 to 90 in 2018 due to an expanding client base and the acquisition of R&D tax credit consultancy Fast Track.
With a varied portfolio of 14,000 clients nationwide, Catax’s turnover rose by nearly 20 per cent from £7.4m in 2016/17 to £8.7m in 2017/18.
The new office named Catax House in Scott Drive, Altrincham was officially unveiled by Sir Graham Brady, MP for Altrincham and Sale West, on Friday (Nov 9).
The new larger headquarters will support the firm’s plan to treble in size by 2021 and the move comes just one month after Catax launched a new Scottish HQ in Glasgow to target Scottish firms that it said were “chronically underserved” in realising the value of their innovations.
Catax, which assists businesses with the complex process of claiming tax relief on Research and Development (R&D), Capital Allowances and Patent Box relief on intellectual property, now boasts five offices across the UK in Manchester, London, Glasgow, Edinburgh and the Channel Islands,
Catax research shows that while 78 per cent of companies across the UK could be eligible for R&D tax relief, only 45 per cent of these firms have ever claimed it. Since the average R&D tax relief claim is worth £49,000 for firms in all sectors nationwide this suggests innovative businesses are missing out on tens of billions of pounds in unclaimed tax relief.
Catax chief executive Mark Tighe, commented: “We are delighted to be moving into this new larger premises which will support our future growth plans.
“It has been an exciting 12 months, with multiple new office openings, acquisitions and client wins all fuelling our dramatic growth.
“We have ambitious plans to continue this expansion over the next three years to extend our tax relief expertise to many more businesses across the UK that are currently missing out on millions of pounds.
“If we can advise more companies to claim the rewards they are due for their hard work and innovation, whether through R&D tax relief or the Patent Box relief, it will simply enable those same businesses to reinvest this money into further innovation and growth, benefitting the whole economy.”
