Professionals: Brown Butler, DLA Piper, Axon Moore

LEEDS accountants Brown Butler have been advising ‘Silicon Roundabout’ tech startup Beeline.

The company has invented a handlebar mounted satellite navigation device for bicycles.

BeeLine co-founders Tom Putnam and Mark Jenner undertook a crowdfunding campaign and were advised by Robert Solyom of Leeds chartered accountants Brown Butler.

The Yorkshire accountancy firm is preparing for the company’s R&D tax relief claims.

“This is a very exciting project – particularly as it is unusual for London-based start-ups to use Leeds advisers,” Mr Solyom said. “BeeLine is a genuinely innovative and imaginative product and we are delighted to be working with Tom and Mark to get it rolling, so to speak.”

The money raised by the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) enables investors to claim 50% tax relief on their investments.

Mark Jenner commented: “It is thrilling to see your brainchild take shape after months of planning. Now that we have raised the finance, we are really looking forward to getting BeeLine into full production.”

Tom Putnam added: “Throughout the process, the advice we received from Robert Solyom has been invaluable and it has helped us to get to where we are now.”

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A TEAM from DLA Piper led by Yorkshire partner and energy specialist Natasha Luther-Jones has advised on the hybrid financing of the Cloghboola wind farm in County Kerry, ireland.

It was bought by Gaelectric which develops renewable energy projects across Ireland, the UK and the US.

Cloghboola is a 16 turbine (46MW) wind farm, which became operational in 2015.

The funding is a mixture of a long term note financing, by Hastings’ advised funds, with shorter-term loan and credit enhancement facilities provided by Nord/LB, together with working capital facilities to a separate supply company.

Ms Luther-Jones commented: “We are delighted to have acted on the ground-breaking hybrid financing of Cloghboola Wind Farm on behalf of Nord/LB and Hastings’ advised funds. We are confident that this novel funding structure will be used on future renewables project across Europe”.

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AXON RESOURCING and Watson Moore have officially launched their business structure and branding following last year’s merger.

They will be named Axon Moore, but the firm has retained the Axon Resourcing name for its public sector practice.

The merged firm has a team of more than 40 professionals recruiting at all levels within the finance and accountancy sectors, through a network of six strategically located regional offices.

Axon Moore’s managing director Andy Edwards observed:” As a national player, with a dedicated regional office network, we can offer the best of both worlds in recruitment circles. In today’s marketplace, traditional job searches in which employer and employee seek close geographic proximity are no longer the norm and technology has blurred these lines even further.

“As regional cities seek to compete with London for the best available candidates we need to tap into the most comprehensive talent pool available and the formation of Axon Moore reflects our ability to deliver this service to our clients.”