Leading business adviser, Grant Thornton, has become the first professional services firm to open a permanent office at rapidly-growing science and technology campus, Sci-Tech Daresbury.
The move will see the firm’s regional Head of Innovation, Ian Rowland, and his tax team working from the campus. The innovation tax team boasts a number of finance experts with technical experience, and backgrounds in engineering, science and computer software.
The new office will not only provide the traditional accounting and advisory offer, but also the newly-launched G service, which is aimed squarely at supporting startups and solo entrepreneurs.
In addition to financial advice, G offers strategic and operational guidance, along with the chance to be part of a growing community of investors and like-minded businesses, brought together through regular networking events and workshops.
Grant Thornton has been a Gold Partner of Sci-Tech Daresbury for the last six years, supporting a number of the 130 dynamic, high-growth companies at the site.
The Liverpool City Region-based campus is home to internationally-renowned companies including: IBM, Hitachi High-Technologies Europe, Perfectus Biomed and Robotik Technology. In total, 30 new companies moved to the site in 2017.
In the North West, Grant Thornton’s tech and innovation group has a track record of supporting knowledge-intensive businesses. With a focus on maximising tax reliefs and cash incentives for companies involved in R&D, the tax team is ideally placed to advise the startups and SMES at the site, which have posted an average turnover growth rate of 28 per cent over the last four years.
Ian Rowland, said: “We’ve been a proud supporter of the campus and a Gold Partner for more than half a decade. Opening a permanent base here is a natural progression for us.
“We already work with a number of the site’s high-growth, established businesses and a permanent physical presence will undoubtedly facilitate these ongoing relationships.
“But Sci-Tech Daresbury also boasts a dynamic collective of entrepreneurial startups and solo operators, which are a perfect fit for the holistic business support package and the network afforded by the G programme.”
John Downes, group managing director of Langtree and chair of the Sci-Tech Daresbury joint venture company, added: “Grant Thornton has been a very strong supporter of the Sci-Tech Daresbury community for many years. The establishment of this new base at Sci-Tech Daresbury is a fantastic addition to the campus and another important step in our vision to position ourselves as a world-leading location that places innovation and collaboration at its heart.
“We’ve enjoyed a fantastic period of growth over the last 12 months and Grant Thornton’s arrival will help to bring an even richer and more varied range of services and expertise to the campus. We’re now looking forward to the future and working with Grant Thornton’s team as they look to build on their success and shape their new home at Sci-Tech Daresbury.”