The tax team at leading independent firm of chartered accountants, Francis Clark, has won the best general tax practice accolade in the prestigious national LexisNexis Taxation Awards.

The team beat off stiff competition from two other strong finalists to win the award.

Francis Clark’s was the only South West tax team to be nominated in the national awards, which are a recognised measure of excellence in taxation expertise throughout the UK.

The judging panel for the awards, made up of leading figures from the world of UK taxation and chaired by Mike Truman, editor of Taxation magazine, was impressed by the Francis Clark submission. Mr. Truman commented: “Francis Clark Tax is a closely-knit practice well-known in its local area with good testimonials from its clients.”

The Francis Clark tax team is the largest of its kind in the South West and deals with all taxes from its offices in Exeter, Newton Abbot, Plymouth, Salisbury, Taunton, Tavistock, Torquay and Truro. As well as providing support and advice to thousands of individuals and businesses across the region, the team also provides taxation services to over 270 other firms of accountants across the UK, many in Greater London.

Steve Collins, partner and head of taxation at Francis Clark, commented: “We are naturally delighted to have won such a prestigious accolade, and my thanks go to our clients and my colleagues who have helped us towards this great achievement. To win the best general tax practice you have to show excellence across a wide range of tax expertise, and it is great that this aspect of our work – the consistent availability of good tax advice and support to clients across the region and beyond – has been recognised.”

Les Burnett, managing partner at Francis Clark, added: “My congratulations go to our tax team for such a superb achievement. The award adds external credence to our belief that we provide the strongest range of tax advice across each of our offices in the region, and to clients across the UK. It is further heartening that we have won such a prestigious award in this, our 90th anniversary year.”

The LexisNexis Taxation Awards have been in existence since 2000 and are held in conjunction with Taxation, the industry journal. The awards are now much sought-after by UK taxation professionals, whether they work for multinational companies or practise as independent advisors.

More information is available by logging on at www.francisclark.co.uk [1] and www.taxationawards.co.uk [2].