Tax Consultancy Review Results in £25,000 Refund

Often a simple tax consultancy overview can result in huge potential benefits to our clients, as was the case with the example below:

We received a telephone call from the daughter of an ex-client.  Sadly her mother had passed away recently, and she was collating paperwork for the solicitor acting for her mother’s estate.

Governance and profit share review

Governance and profit share seem to be particular hot topics for law firms at present, with many reviewing whether their approaches are appropriate.  Most are considering whether they are fair; whether they are in line with competitors/the market; whether they encourage the right behaviours; and whether they help to attract and retain the best people.

When “Big Law LLP” comes calling – a niche law firm acquisition

Armstrong Watson was engaged by a significant niche firm who were being purchased outright by a large global player in order to create a fully formed specialist team within the significantly larger practice. We were therefore engaged to value the smaller practice, to negotiate heads of terms, to comment on the taxation aspects of the deal and to perform the “reverse due diligence” on the acquirer.

Challenges

Partnership with Capitalise helps client achieve significant and timely cashflow benefits

Background

VWG Mechanical Limited is a mechanical engineering contractor and the Dooling family have been long standing clients of Armstrong Watson.

Bruce & Luke’s, Carlisle

Bruce Brown and Luke Jackson are an entrepreneurial duo from Carlisle whose self-named brand ‘Bruce and Luke’s’ includes Foxes Café, Bruce and Luke’s Coffee Supply and Maintenance, Bruce and Luke’s Donuts and the recently  acquired coffee house Coffee Genius.

The pair’s journey into business ownership began in 2011 when, keen to be their ‘own bosses’, they seized the opportunity to take over a popular local café, Foxes, when the lease became available.

Museums and Galleries Exhibition Tax Relief

We recently assisted a Yorkshire-based museum with their first Museums and Galleries Exhibition Tax Relief claim for a temporary exhibition imported from Canada.

As the exhibition was hired from outside the EEA and this was a significant proportion of the exhibition costs, the client was unsure if the exhibition would qualify for the relief. We were able to review all of the expenditure associated with producing the exhibition and found that there were sufficient costs incurred in the EEA to make a claim.

Public Sector Policy Dispute - Ongoing Litigation

An organisation provided a service to people in the care of a local authority.

The organisation took out an insurance policy to cover litigation costs in circumstances where there was a significant threat to the viability of the company.   

When the local authority threatened to withdraw all its operations from the client, a process of litigation, paid for by the insurance policy, was started.

Claims Management Company Contract Dispute - £200,000+

An entrepreneur sold her claims management business for a sum to be paid in stages over a three-year period, with the consideration linked to the performance of the business and a share of future value upon a sale within a defined period.  During the deferred period, the seller was retained as a consultant by the purchaser.

Production Process and Machinery Hire Contract Dispute - £107,000. Currently being litigated

The claimant installed a bottling production plant into a well-known water retailer, but the system was not commissioned for actual use.

Sports Club Construction Dispute Settlement - £450,000+

A sports club had sold part of its land to a developer in return for the construction of a new clubhouse on the organisation’s remaining land.

As construction costs over-ran, the developer stopped work and refused to resume until additional funds were provided by the sports club.  This resulted in a stand-off that saw lawyers instructed by both sides.

The case got stuck for over 12 months in a legal process that made little headway, other than to highlight weaknesses in the contract that meant each side had some form of potential argument with which to attack the other.