AI Issue 6 2018

36 Acquisition International - Issue 6 2018 Accolades and achievements have become the signals of success for Infinity Partnership over the past seven years. ed by managing director Simon Cowie, the business has gone from a one-man firm to an 18-strong team that recently moved into prestigious new offices double the size of its previous premises. Infinity has more than a dozen national awards – including three at the British Accountancy Awards, increased its turnover and grown its client list year- on-year, developed a successful model for research and development (R&D) tax credit claims, worked with six PLCs in the past 18 months and completed more than 50 M&A deals worth over £300m in total. However, the statistic that matters most to Simon – and the one core to his firm’s success – is its 99% client retention rate. Simon explains: “We’ve grown the business through client referral, and that’s only possible through delivering a service that exceeds expectations. We are approachable, available at a time that suits the client – few business people work 9 to 5 nowadays – and have processes and procedures in place for the benefit of the client.” Based in Aberdeen, Infinity Partnership has had to evolve as a business when the oil price drop led to a 50%-plus drop in M&A activity – it had been Infinity’s main source of income. Infinity continued to re-align the business, focusing on advisory work, tax planning, corporate finance and reviews of company processes to help businesses survive through difficult times – a large percentage of its clients are focused on servicing and supporting the North Sea oil and gas industry. Simon added: “We needed to change after the key revenue stream of investments, mergers and acquisitions dried up due to the low oil price. We developed a process for preparing and submitting R&D tax claims to counter the drop in M&A activity. It has now become a key part of the business. Contact: Simon Cowie Company: Infinity Partnership Limited, 5 Carden Place, Aberdeen, AB10 1UT Telephone: 01224 618460 Web Address: www.infinity-partnership.com Customer Service isKey to InfinityPartnership Growth L 1805AI08 “We have a 100% success rate for every claim made using our processes, and Infinity is now one of the leading R&D tax claim companies. To date, we have proactively assisted with R&D tax credit claims in excess of £80m.” The commitment to customer service has been supported by a six-figure investment in IT infrastructure. Simon explained: “The move to cloud-based accountancy solutions is one of the biggest changes in the profession. We were early adopters of new technology and that has made a huge difference to our clients. It provides them with valuable, up-to-date information on which they can base informed decisions. “The staff has bought into the cloud-based accountancy strategy and we have supported them with training and development each and every step of the way. In turn, they have been able to pass on this knowledge to our clients.” “We have a 100% success rate for every claim made using our processes, and Infinity is now one of the leading R&D tax claim companies.”