International Life Sciences Awards 2020

GHP / 2020 International Life Sciences Awards 19 , Best Biotech Financial Services Firm 2020 While the tenth anniversary celebrations of the Biotech Financial services firmConfluence Tax were put on hold in September this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the firm’s recognition as the Best Biotech Financial Services Firm2020 at the International Life Sciences Awards were a happy testament to a decade of success. As the only UK tax advisors specialising in biotechnology and technology businesses, sectors that are only growing in significance, Confluence Tax is gaining recognition on a national and international scale. As the only UK tax advisory firm to provide advice to businesses and individuals purely within the biotech and technology sectors, Confluence Tax is well-versed in the industry’s issues and trends and how they relate to the UK tax system and its international aspects. Confluence Tax provides its clients with clear, sensible and concise tax advice, specialising in life sciences and tech, two sectors with similar tax and business advice needs. As a result, the firm is committed to staying ahead and keeping their clients informed about changes made by the Government, HMRC and HM Treasury that would have an impact within the industry. Confluence Tax therefore maintains strong links within the industry as a member of the BioIndustry Association, as well as with Government departments and a huge network of life sciences contacts. Colin Hailey founded Confluence Tax in 2010, recognising that he could use his expertise of the tax system which, when applied to biotechnology and technology companies, can be complex and uncertain. Thus, Confluence Tax was created to provide sound and customised tax advice to help clients navigate through it. This mission has remained consistent in the decade since the firm’s inception, but today, Confluence Tax exceeds these aims, offering complete business advisory services that support the core tax business. As the only UK tax advisory service of its kind, Confluence Tax is well placed to make the most of the buoyant life sciences and tech sectors that are seeing continued M&A activity, company listings and new start-up companies emerging on the scene. In addition, the outbreak of Covid-19 has put life sciences centre stage globally and companies within the sector are faced with innumerable challenges. For Confluence Tax, fluctuating world markets, Government changes to tax laws and more local issues such as staff recruitment, constitute the daily challenges that they face, yet the firm remains undeterred. When protecting the viability of their clients and industry sectors, the firm takes a lobbying stance, prioritising the representation of their clients’ views to the Government, even if this means proactively challenging decisions that they consider to be wrong or poorly thought through. However, this is not to suggest that the biotech and technology sectors are only facing hardships. Instead, the new focus and scrutiny from the public and other scientists and industries has facilitated rapid growth and development. This is creating buoyancy in funding and the renewed expectations from all sides is motivating the sector to improve standards and perceptions overall. Sep20675 Confluence Tax Thanks to the hard work of their talented team, Confluence Tax is contributing a great deal to exceeding these expectations. A small and collaborative team, training is integrated into everyday working life as they learn from one another, whether it be about new and complex software, finance, communication, client care or, most importantly tax. Diversity is a key element within the Confluence Tax team, and each individual brings different experiences and knowledge, benefitting both clients and each other. This is supported by both day-to-day internal training and technical sessions, as well as support for ongoing professional exams. This is only strengthened by external collaboration and networking, which is facilitated by Confluence Tax’s work with US and European companies too. Although being based in Cambridge offers the advantage of proximity to many life science and biotech companies, it by no means limits where the firm operates. Indeed, as regular attendees of the annual JP Morgan conference in San Francisco, Confluence Tax has been able to cultivate relationships and opportunities all over the world. Although Covid-19 may have put a pause on networking, the future remains bright for Confluence Tax, as major breakthroughs take place within the life sciences industry every day, supporting the cycle of venture-capital backed funding and new company launches. With many reasons to be positive for companies in the biotechnology and technology industries Confluence Tax have made several commitments to help their clients. This includes a Biotech Employee Equity Survey, which includes a framework for how the industry uses incentives to motivate and attract talented employees to work in what can be a relatively low paid, high risk area, the results of which are to be released in the near future. Contact: Emma Dahm Company: Confluence Tax Web Address: www.confluencetax.com