Sports Labs Ltd

What does your business do?

• There are 2 main parts to the business. We provide consultancy and project management for the installation of artificial sports surfaces for football, hockey and rugby. The second part of our business is providing testing and calibration of artificial sports surfaces. This may be for the manufacturers of the artificial surfaces or to retest the surface for the owner to ensure that it still falls within the performance parameters of their sports association. We are one of 4 FIFA accredited labs within Europe.

What is the main business challenge you face?

• As the business continues to grow we need to make sure that we have the resources and funds in place to allow for continued investment. We have a growing overseas customer base and this has dramatically increased the amount of travel we have to do! We have also been investing in developing our own test equipment which gives us a competitive advantage over other labs.

What were you looking for in an accountant before finding One Accounting?

• As we were growing we used a combination of our own in house resources and external bookkeeping support to look after the company finances. It was initially our bank manager who suggested that it would be a good idea to get professional accountancy support. He introduced us to One Accounting.

Why did you choose One Accounting?

• We wanted to work with a firm who weren’t just going to look after the year end accounts. From day one, the One Accounting guys brought some innovative tax planning solutions to the table. Although we didn’t implement them initially, it gave us confidence that they would be actively looking for ways to save us tax.

Do you feel the services One Accounting provides have helped with your business growth plans?

• Undoubtedly. Over the last 3 years One Accounting have helped us save a substantial amount in tax which we have used to reinvest in the growth of the business. They have completed a share restructuring which has allowed us to take money out of the company in a more tax efficient way. Through other advanced tax planning we have saved almost £200,000 after costs over the last three years. In addition, they have helped us submit R&D tax credit claims. We had thought that we might be eligible for the credits but One Accounting provided the catalyst to complete a claim and get it submitted.

What is the main service you have benefited from?

• Up until now, it has been the tax planning. We were also impressed that One Accounting introduced us to a successful IFA company who have been able to advise us on our pension planning and we now feel that we are in a much better place with that. As the business becomes more complicated we have recognized the need for regular management accounts and One Accounting have helped us set up divisional reporting which will help us to better monitor our business performance.