Rebecca Combes, Partner

Bex advises clients on all aspects of corporation tax and leads the firm's advice in relation to SEIS and EIS and also in relation to Patent Box claims. Her clients range from very large private equity backed groups through to early stage, technology focused businesses looking to access SEIS and EIS monies. Bex also works with a number of LLPs, both professional practice and funds.

She has a personal focus on early-stage businesses looking to grow and navigate the complexities of the SEIS and EIS rules, understand how to structure their businesses with tax in mind, how to incentivise their workforce and how to access many of the tax benefits such as R&D tax and Patent Box.

Experience

Bex's particular strength is in managing large advisory projects, or multi-service projects, to ensure clients receive the most efficient and value-add service. Her ability to look beyond tax and take a bird's eye view on projects, coupled with an eye for detail and considered approach to risk management, means Bex is very much a trusted partner working with her clients to achieve their objectives. That might be a corporate reorganisation, a corporate sale, advice on how to structure Intellectual property ownership and commercialisation, or support with incoming equity investment to satisfy SEIS/EIS needs.

Bex trained as ACA in the large international corporate tax team at Deloitte in London and then spent almost 5 years managing the tax affairs of a global plc.

Notable client work & achievements

Bex has been with the firm for over 20 years and has worked on many different projects across a long-standing and loyal client base. Of particular note are corporate sale transactions where Bex will often manage both the transactional tax work and also the wider shareholder tax considerations, including one client where she supported a business from its initial MBO, through to a sale to a larger privately owned group and then onward to a sale to Lloyds Banking Group. Bex also headed up the tax team in Southampton for many years helping transform that team into a successful, vibrant and proactive group of tax advisors with a strong reputation internally and externally.