Further expansion in the UK for Jumpstart has received the financial backing it needs following a £3.4 million investment round.
Edinburgh-based Jumpstart has closed its first institutional funding round, led by the Business Growth Fund (BGF), five years after being set up in an attic by Stuart Wyse, Don Galloway and Richard Edwards.
Jumpstart helps business through the process of applying for research and development (R&D) tax relief by structuring the submission documents.
R&D tax credits can be applied for by both large corporates and small and medium-sized enterprises. Businesses at the smaller end of the bracket have higher rates of relief and, from 1 April 2012, have been able to access 225 per cent relief.
Jumpstart has a team of scientists and technologists who produce ‘robust applications’. The company now has in excess of 500 clients and an order book of £10 million.
Brian Williamson, managing director of Jumpstart, comments, ‘In less than five years we have gone from two men in an attic to a five floor prime property in the heart of central Edinburgh occupied by almost 50 staff and with a further 50 used on a part-time basis.
‘The investment from BGF will allow us to rapidly increase the recruitment of senior staff to cater for the increased demand from current and prospective clients.’
The capital commitment by the BGF marks the 10th time that it has backed a Scottish business, and 5th investment in the country during the last three months.
More on previous BGF Scottish deals:
- Business Growth Fund backs Duncan & Todd
- Oil and gas investment sees BGF hit quarter century deal mark
- ACS Clothing dressed for expansion
As part of the deal, Jim Faulds will be installed as chairman, with David Evans taking up a position as non-executive director. Faulds is the current chairman of Change Recruitment and WRG Creative Communication while Evans was formerly UK senior partner at accountancy firm Mazars and will assist by helping to form partnerships with UK-based accountancy firms.
Patrick Graham, senior investment manager at BGF and new board member at Jumpstart, says, ‘BGF was established to help growing UK businesses that need long-term capital to drive their future success, so it is especially rewarding to be investing in Jumpstart who share the same business ethos.
‘The quality and integrity of service that it provides helps other companies to maximise their investment in R&D, making the UK more competitive internationally.’
Prior investment into Jumpstart came in the form of Williamson who, in 2010, invested his own money and brought experience of the corporate world.
