Jumpstart staffing seat to leap upwards

TAX credit specialist Jumpstart is poised for its headcount to leap through 100 in the new year as it looks to double turnover on the back of client wins.

The Edinburgh-based firm, which was founded four years ago, is about to file accounts that will show sales in the year to 31 October topped almost £3.3 million, a year-on-year rise of well over 100 per cent. Staff numbers were up about 60 per cent to 79.

Jumpstart specialises in presenting “detailed, accurate and compliant” research and development (R&D) tax credit submissions to HM Revenue & Customs. Fees are based on results, with the firm claiming a success rate of “almost 99 per cent”.

Managing director Brian Williamson said: “It has been an excellent year, and we can now confidently forecast that growth will continue at a fast clip in 2013, with staff numbers rising to 100 and turnover increasing by close to 100 per cent.”

The firm pointed to a “rapidly expanding” client portfolio. Scots companies on its books include BrewDog, Clyde Blowers and Lees Foods.

In the past year, Jumpstart has forged “strategic” alliances with accountancy firm Campbell Dallas, legal practice Harper Macleod and advisory network Peak Performance.

Williamson has estimated that the company already has a 40 per cent-plus slice of the Scottish market for R&D tax credit claims, and some 6 per cent of a UK market that is worth some £100m but growing at about 30 per cent a year.

The firm has been hiring business analysts and technical specialists under its ambitious expansion programme that should also see it push into overseas territories from 2014.