Enquiry support service for HMRC R&D tax relief enquiries

Jenny is one of the UK’s leading R&D tax policy experts having specialised in the field since 2007. A highly skilled chartered accountant with almost 20 years of experience, she leads client-facing teams and helps us deliver high quality advice to clients and is a respected and influential voice within the industry.

Throughout her career, which includes over a decade spent with KPMG, Jenny has worked on R&D tax relief claims for some of the UK’s best-known innovators, ranging from big pharma companies to F1 teams and household FMCG brands.

Jenny was recommended to the HMRC-sponsored Research & Development Consultative Committee in 2013 and has actively contributed to numerous groups involved in the operation of R&D tax reliefs, R&D tax policy and the future of the incentive. She has worked with the Chartered Institute of Taxation (CIOT), Nesta’s Creative Industries Policy & Evidence Centre and the Confederation of British Industry in response to the government’s wide-ranging consultation on R&D tax reliefs.

She also helped to secure a significant victory for one of ForrestBrown’s clients in the first-tier tribunal, challenging HMRC’s interpretation of subsidised R&D expenditure.

Jenny is a regular author of technical articles, as well as contributing commentary on R&D tax in Tolley’s 2021 Finance Act Handbook and joining the judging panel for Tolley’s Taxation Awards 2022.

Passionate about raising professional standards for R&D tax advice, Jenny initiated a cross-industry working group that drafted the Professional Conduct in Relation to Tax (PCRT) guidance for R&D tax advice, led by the CIOT and the Association of Taxation Technicians (ATT). This has been endorsed by all major UK accountancy and tax bodies and sets the standard for professionally qualified R&D tax advisers, which in turn ensures that UK businesses can access R&D tax relief with confidence. 

Jenny brings insight from these high-profile roles to benefit ForrestBrown’s clients, helping businesses maximise the benefit of their investment in innovation while minimising risks to cashflow and reputation.

James leads our tax advisory practice as well as client-facing teams in the R&D tax credit practice. He provides award-winning R&D tax relief expertise to businesses and accountants on a consultative basis. This can include risk assessing in-house claim methodologies, help with setting up or improving processes for identifying and recording R&D projects within a business, or support to resolve an enquiry through ForrestBrown’s specialist HMRC enquiry support service.

His extensive experience with HMRC allows him to provide an incisive legal perspective when deciding upon initial strategy and in pursuing the best possible outcome for clients. This has led to some ground-breaking results, including a landmark victory in a first-tier tribunal challenging HMRC’s interpretation of subsidised expenditure.

A solicitor who specialises in tax advice for corporates and individuals, with a focus on cross-border and international issues, James trained and qualified at a top London law firm before relocating to Geneva to help set up the firm’s Swiss office. On returning to the UK James worked in the tax team of a leading Bristol and London based law firm, before joining ForrestBrown in 2019.LL

Jayne is an experienced chartered accountant – both in the UK and overseas. She began her career at Deloitte in 2006 where she was based in the entrepreneurial business tax practice. There she studied for her ACA qualification.

In 2010 she moved to Dubai to help establish Deloitte’s international tax practice for the Middle East region. She managed a diverse portfolio of clients from, and investing into, the region: large multinationals, owner managed businesses, start-ups and freelancers. Over the course of ten years she oversaw the growth of Deloitte’s Iraq tax services, leading a team delivering across all aspects of corporate taxes, employee taxes and transactional and structuring work. Jayne also had overall responsibility for global mobility services in the Middle East.

Joining ForrestBrown in 2020, Jayne is part of our advisory practice. She supports innovative businesses in understanding how they can benefit from R&D tax credits and ensuring their claims are as robust as they can be.

With a growing interest in innovation, Phil joined ForrestBrown in 2014 to work with our manufacturing and engineering clients. He trained at Cooper Parry in Nottingham and qualified as a chartered tax adviser in 2009. Phil then moved to Burton Sweet and later Hazlewoods, where he advised owner-managed businesses on personal and corporate taxation. He brings over a decade of experience to our team.

Mark was one of the original tax inspectors assigned to the specialist HMRC R&D units when they were formed in 2006. And he worked in the Croydon unit until 2018. He helped companies use the incentive and ensured they followed the rules. The wealth of experience Mark accumulated is now delivered to ForrestBrown clients through our enquiry support service.

Having been at the tax authority since 1984, Mark actually specialised in HMRC enquiries long before his time at the R&D unit. In 1990, his principal role became conducting full enquiries into companies. This included those who had made honest technical errors and, in more serious cases, those suspected of committing tax avoidance or evasion.

Mark’s technical knowledge of the R&D tax credit legislation is vast and means his experience encompasses the broader tax landscape as well as HMRC’s enquiries processes. With this knowledge, Mark is well placed to provide expert advice on how best to resolve an enquiry.

In addition to his work in enquiry support, Mark contributes to our in-house development programme, the Learning Lab. By sharing his knowledge and experience he helps the next generation of tax professionals at ForrestBrown to thrive.

Find out about a typical day for Mark Andrew in our meet the expert series.

Tom is a software expert at the cutting-edge of technical innovation and HMRC policy. One of our sector specialists at ForrestBrown, his knowledge and experience is invaluable in optimising software claims.

He sits on the HMRC subcommittee that issues software guidance for R&D tax relief. As such, the team utilises his extensive expertise to ensure we deliver robust and accurate advice to our clients.

With a master’s degree in Medical Image Computing from University College London, Tom has a deep understanding of image processing techniques. He can apply mathematical and statistical formulae to large datasets and machine learning. 

Tom also has experience and knowledge of common software design patterns. Specifically, MATLAB, C#, C++, Python, R!, JavaScript, HTML, SQL, SSRS.

On top of extensive experience in the R&D tax relief industry, Tom has held a range of technical positions spanning various industries. In e-learning he engineered tools to aid international broadcast of lectures. In medical technology he helped develop an online CBT tool to help manage unhealthy lifestyle habits.

Tom also uses his industry insight to improve the future of R&D tax reliefs for the software industry. Not only does he work with our clients to represent their views in response to R&D consultations, he also communicates key information to our clients on technical webinars and in key content such as his work in IT Pro Portal, Tech Monitor, SME Web and Business Leader publications.

A natural communicator, Tom is able to express highly technical R&D claims in a way that HMRC will appreciate. He is passionate about helping science and technology firms maximise their funding to drive innovation and breakthroughs.

After qualifying and practising as a solicitor, Anna accumulated more than 20 years’ experience within Big Four environments. She specialised in ex-pat tax and during this time developed a focus on managing HMRC enquiries for a variety of clients. At ForrestBrown, Anna is a senior member of our quality assurance team. She helps ensure that every R&D tax credit claim we submit meets our own high technical standards.

Peter’s experience ranges from getting a PhD and MSci in Chemistry and improving confectuary shelf-life to the invention of a patented elastomeric material for improved radiation stability.

His career started with a role as a chocolate scientist at Mars. That was followed by a move to the defence sector, where he finished a nine-year stint as a Senior Materials Scientist at the Atomic Weapons Establishment.

During that period, he authored numerous scientific papers and spoke at international conferences on the synthesis and characterisation of novel polymers and materials. With ForrestBrown, Peter has also been published in The Manufacturer, The Medicine Maker, Interplas Insights, and the Confectionery Production publications.

That scientific and technical capability allows him to quickly understand, challenge and assess clients’ work against the R&D tax credit guidelines. And, it’s seeing the projects companies are able to fund due to the value of their claims – and the excitement they have – that’s driving him.

At ForrestBrown, Peter provides expert peer-to-peer communication for our clients on their technical projects, helping to translate their work into reports for HMRC. Examples of his work include reviewing a claim prepared by a Big Four accountancy firm – and significantly increasing the value of R&D tax relief to their business.

Pete works with our network of associations in the food and drink sector, using his background at Mars as a chocolate scientist to help businesses identify their hidden R&D in this industry. Supporting the activities of our partnerships team, Pete speaks at events, networks with businesses and hosts webinars with industry partners to raise awareness of the value of working with ForrestBrown’s expert multi-disciplinary team to access this valuable incentive.

With an infectious passion for all things science and materials, you can talk to Peter about pharma, food and drink, materials (adhesives, polymers and manufacturing) and engineering sectors.