The matter

“We were looking to buy a country hotel, which was a huge career change at an important juncture in our lives. We were advised to engage the expertise of an accountant as part of the purchase; our solicitor recommended we speak to Richard Place Dobson.

In our initial meeting with them they tabled several unexpected areas which we needed to consider before and during the purchase.”

Proposed solutions

“As a result of our discussions, we were advised to look closely at how the purchase price was broken down to ensure we optimised any possible tax relief on the purchase. They explained about the potential pitfalls of capital allowances on the purchase and future sale and assisted with the commissioning of an integral features audit to maximise our tax relief in our first year.

The team at Richard Place Dobson also helped us with our business plan and financial forecasts which helped to secure the required financing.

When we first approached Richard Place Dobson, we were fairly sure that we would benefit from buying the hotel through a limited company; we had heard that this would be much more tax efficient. However, once we had discussed our circumstances, we were advised to structure the purchase outside of a company as this would give us more favourable tax relief in the early years of our business.”

Result

“After the first year as owners of Glewstone Court we saw the results of the advice we received. The advice resulted in a tax position which was not only more than twice as favourable, but we benefitted from it earlier rather than later.

As a result, we were able to invest more in developing our plans for the hotel. In our first year we saw Glewstone Court Hotel awarded a 2 AA Rosettes for culinary excellence, and more recently we won the Matrimony Award for best Wedding Venue and received a first recommendation for AA Red Star status.

We would like to thank Richard Place Dobson for their professionalism and support throughout the purchase process and our early years here. In business you have to surround yourselves with the best people and that is what we did and why we agreed to write this article.”