34 focus on oxford


Locally available expertise with global capabilities


Innovation and growth is alive and well and living in Oxfordshire – a vibrant economy, “full of world-class companies that are successful, but not in a boastful way”.That’s the view of Margaret Savory, tax senior manager for BDO. And she should know. Not only is Savory joint head of BDO’s specialist Oxfordshire Focus Group but she has also lived in Oxford and worked for and with companies in its creative environment since she left university.


“Actually, I think the Oxfordshire region rather undersells itself. It’s got market-leading companies, a highly skilled work-pool, renowned university education, great R&D facilities and established business parks, a positive working culture, and all set within stunningly beautiful surroundings. Is it any wonder that people choose to either set up or locate their businesses here?"


Savory’s upbeat views about the Oxfordshire region are supported by a specialist BDO team of seasoned professionals – as well they might be, since the majority of the team live in Oxfordshire. It also seems that the Government shares the same view having recently created the Science Vale UK Enterprise Zone. The zone is already one of the most successful science hotspots in the country with 13% of research and development employment in South East England* (* Science Vale UK website).


BDO’s Thames Valley lead partner Julian Frost, who lives in Thame, and jointly heads the Oxfordshire Focus Group with Savory, goes further in praise of the area: “The Oxfordshire region is well-placed to act as an engine for growth, and to lead the vanguard of businesses that will enable the eventual recovery of ‘UK plc’.”


With Frost (head of BDO’s national TMT team); Savory concentrating on tax matters, supported by manager Frances Edwards (tax); Jonathan Roberts (business assurance); Martin Woodhall (business restructuring); Steve Beever (corporate finance) and Karen Meenderink (business development), the BDO team represents a powerful ally and support facility for companies in Oxfordshire – providing locally available expert advice. With BDO’s extensive international links,


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that assistance also has global capabilities for companies growing beyond the UK.


With its Oxfordshire-centric specialist team, BDO plays an integral part in supporting the local economy, through its professional advice and practical services for businesses within a 25-mile radius of poet Matthew Arnold’s "city of gleaming spires".


specialist fabrication and welding specialist LTi Metaltech in its Business Magazine Leading Edge series of world-class companies.)


Over the years, that client base has broadened and grown to cover sectors ranging from medical products to manufacturing, retail to real estate, engineering to education, automotive to agriculture, biotech to IT and telecoms.


Furniture day


opportunities for local businesses to make the most of favourable tax rules connected with R&D and the new Patent Box scheme.


“These tax opportunities are arguably more relevant to Oxfordshire than anywhere else in the UK, since innovation is a core quality of many of the businesses with which we deal,” said Savory.


By popular demand, the R&D/ Patent Box seminar will be repeated in early September in Oxford. The BDO team is planning several other seminars and networking events for Oxfordshire businesses this year.


“Networking is another strength of the region with its culture of clustered skillsets creating unparalleled communities of knowledge,” commented Savory.


Martin Woodhall, Frances Edwards, Margaret Savory, Luke Holt (not for profit sector), Karen Meenderink,Rachael Elliott (business analyst), Julian Frost


Certainly in BDO minds, those "spires" describe a region that aspires and inspires. A region that already contains global leading technology businesses such as the Diamond Light Source Synchrotron at Harwell and automotive expertise in its Motorsport Valley, not forgetting the academic excellence of Oxford’s two universities. The brand-name Oxford itself has a worldwide attraction.


BDO’s Oxfordshire region client base has a combined turnover of some £2.9 billion and while this includes leading corporates – Amey, Blackwells, MeetingZone, Oxford Metrics Group, Penlon and UK AEA, to name but a few – the BDO team has wide-ranging professional links with many influential SMEs and mid-market businesses that play a major role within the local economy. (Recently BDO featured Land Rover parts supplier Allmakes 4x4 and


Being Oxfordshire people, the BDO team prides itself on getting to know its local clients, understanding their business and being able to meet with them locally.


But the BDO Oxfordshire team also takes pride in putting something back into its community – both in business and charitable terms.


Savory has recently joined the Board of Oxford Young Enterprise, having previously been on the judging panel and has been particularly impressed by the enthusiasm and enterprise of this year’s contenders.


BDO tax partners recently delivered a presentation on tax strategy and tax planning to a Senior Finance Leadership Forum in Oxford.


In April, a very successful seminar at Harwell was hosted by the BDO team, jointly with specialist patent attorney Dehns. It highlighted the


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – JUNE 2012


As a firm, BDO undertakes a Corporate Social Responsibility programme, which encourages employees to take up to six days a year volunteering to carry out charitable work projects.


Recently, members of the BDO Oxfordshire Focus Group were joined by Thames Valley colleagues in refurbishing donated furniture for the Oxford-based Helen & Douglas House hospice organisation at the charity’s Abingdon warehouse. The furniture will be sold in Helen & Douglas shops across Oxfordshire.


Details: Margaret Savory 0118-9254404 07896-119506 margaret.savory@bdo.co.uk


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