History

Time Line

1987 The LowTax Group Managing Director Richard Bayliss leaves The Inland Revenue

1988 Richard starts Abel Morliss offering tax advice and accountancy services to small businesses and individuals. He opens a small office in West Horndon, Essex ideally located to support clients in London and South East England

1989 – 1990 Richard worked tirelessly to establish his practice. He grew his client portfolio through referral and word of mouth as new clients heard of the tax savings he was able to provide clients. Like many of our contractor and freelance clients, Richard supplemented his client work with short term contract assignments to ensure a sound financial footing on which to develop and grow his business.

1991 Richard had grown his own portfolio of clients to a level that was self sustaining and no longer had time to take any contract assignments. His full time job was running his business and continuing to grow his practice.

1992 As more and more people learnt of Abel Morliss’s unique ability to complete their accounts and save them tax, the number of clients wanting to work with Richard continued to increase. Richard could no longer do it by himself and so he hired Gary, his first full time employee to share the workload whilst maintaining his excellent service levels.

1993 Abel Morliss continued to grow and expand its client base. More clients were joining as Richard and Gary saved them money and offered pro-active strategic advice to grow their businesses. New clients were interested and so were investors. In 1993 Richard took Abel Morliss into a partnership agreement in order to increase the growth capacity of the company.

1994 As the number of clients quickly grew so did the number of staff and more space was needed. Having already expanded to two offices within the complex, by 1994 Abel Morliss took over the whole building in West Hordon to increase the capacity of the business.

1995 A year of sustained client growth also saw personal changes for Richard with the birth of the first of his three children. Lifestyle changes meant reassessing his priorities and gave a greater connection to clients. Richard started to venture into the property investment market which he has pursued on a personal level and given many clients strategic tax advice in this area ever since.

1996 With a number of Antipodean clients being represented by Abel Morliss, opportunity presented itself to open an office in Sydney, Australia. Abel Morliss established the Australian operations providing tax and accounting services for British expats and reciprocating the services for Australian clients in the UK. Today the LowTax Group maintain their expertise in this area and are more than able to assist any Antipodean or Australian based Expats.

1997 With business growing rapidly, the partnership was beginning to hit capacity. Part of the learning curve of any business is to make decisions which you wouldn’t necessarily do again. With space at a premium and the business wanting to maintain high service levels, in 1997 an opportunity arose for another firm to acquire a small number of clients from Abel Morliss. As Richarb Branson has said, “if you don’t make mistakes, you don’t make anything”.

1998 After five years, the partners were begging to head in different directions and so the partnership was dissolved. After an amicable separation period, many of the clients and staff stayed with Richard to form the basis of his new company.

1999 In January, formed with the staff and clients of Abel Morliss, The LowTax Group officially began trading. Away from the partnership of prior years Richard’s entrepreneurial skills allowed the new company to thrive, increasing capacity and further growing the client base. To cope with this The LowTax Group moved to new offices in Billericay.

2000 The energy of the company and strong growth drove a period of continued expansion. The practice took on more staff and to this day continues to work with a large portfolio of business, contractor/freelance, sole trader and individual clients. The LowTax Group growth also included opening its second office in Corby, Northamptonshire.

2001 The LowTax Group has an ethos that our team is the most important element to our company. As such we have a commitment to training and development (as well as having fun). In 2001 this commitment was rewarded when The LowTax Group achieved the accolade of ‘investor in people’.

2002 A young Lee Jenkins and future director joined The LowTax Group to head up the payroll function.

2003 More clients meant more experience and clients were now benefiting from the increased industry knowledge that The LowTax Group has and continues to build up. The quality and breadth of consultation and strategic advice was always improving and to this day continues to attract new clients. Keeping ahead of the ever changing rules and strategic analysis of the individual client’s tax position continued to keep The LowTax Group at the cutting edge.

2004 After just four years trading The LowTax Group was awarded the Essex Business Award for Customer Service. This reflected the strong standards The LowTax Group has instilled throughout the team and a key factor in why clients enjoy working with us.

2005 With over 20 staff working for The LowTax Group in Billericay, a strategic decision was made to sell the Corby office. Although successful, improved efficiency and technology within the business afforded better use of resources from one central location. The LowTax Group continues to operate on a national and international level from Billericay.

2006 The LowTax Group continued to improve efficiencies within the business. In 2006 this included the purchase and renovation of new offices at Weir Cottage in Billericay. Moving away from the rented offices of the past has afforded the group a greater fiscal advantage and given the business full control over its own premises.

2007 The LowTax Group acquired Accounting IT in Southend. The company operates as a sister organisation to The LowTax Group working in a dedicated niche market in the area.

2008 Having helped many clients increase their net worth, more complex solutions were required to help reduce their individual tax liabilities. The LowTax Group joined Peak Performance in order to offer high end tax solutions to these clients. This forms the basis of the more aggressive methods some of our clients want in order to reduce their tax.

2009 Always on the cutting edge technologically, The LowTax Group ‘went paperless’ in 2009. Now we handle all documents electronically, including submission of nearly all forms to the relevant authorities online.

2010 To improve security, The LowTax Group implemented the online document management system LUCEY. Now all clients are able to manage the submission and receipt of documents through an online portal. This facility also allows for electronic signatures.

2011 Martin Mckechnie joined the team as Client Services Director to spearhead the groups marketing, communications business development and pro-active service levels to clients. Later in the year, Lee Jenkins was promoted to Operations Director. Lee oversees all the operational processes for the group ensuring clients’ queries are dealt with promptly and all workflow is managed to a high standard with a quick turnaround. Lee is also responsible for personnel management within the Group allowing Richard to focus on providing clients with high end tax solutions, consultancy services and strategic planning for The LowTax Group.

2012 and beyond – The LowTax Group are committed to ensuring high levels of customer service are maintained whilst expanding our operations. The future will see continued staff development, increased value-add services for clients and a pro-active approach to assisting clients achieve their goals. Technology will play a part but the team of experts at The LowTax Group are leaders in the field who will support all our clients to achieve their aims. Exciting times lie ahead founded on The LowTax Group values to generate new growth opportunities.