Specialist R&D Tax Consultants & Advisors
Zest is a specialist R&D tax consultancy for UK SMEs. We do one thing: prepare and submit R&D tax relief claims that stand up to HMRC scrutiny — from the first eligibility review through to submission, and beyond it if HMRC asks questions.
Zest was founded by Adam Park, a specialist tax adviser with more than 15 years of business consulting experience and six years focused specifically on R&D tax relief. As founder and director, Adam owns every client relationship and leads the strategy on every claim. Behind him sits a wider team of CTA-qualified and Chartered accountants, who bring additional technical and compliance depth to each submission. In that time, Zest has saved clients over £4.5 million in corporation tax through successful R&D claims.
We work on a no-win-no-fee basis, so there is nothing to pay unless your claim succeeds. And if HMRC opens a compliance check on a claim we’ve prepared, we handle it — support is included, not an optional extra. Our clients have given us a 5-star rating on Google.
Why choose Zest as your R&D tax consultants
An experienced founder leading your claim, backed by a qualified team. At many R&D tax firms, the senior adviser wins your business and then disappears — your claim is passed down the line. At Zest, Adam is your single point of contact from day one: he reviews your projects, leads your claim strategy, and shapes your technical narrative personally. Supporting every claim is our wider team of CTA and Chartered accountants, who provide technical and compliance depth. You get the direct attention of a specialist founder with the continuity and rigour of a proper team — not a faceless large firm, and not a one-man band either.
A track record you can check. Zest has saved clients more than £4.5 million in corporation tax across successful R&D claims. That figure comes from real submissions for real UK SMEs — engineering firms, software companies, manufacturers — many of whom are happy to say so publicly.
No-win-no-fee, and better value than most. Our fee is a percentage of the benefit we secure for you, typically starting from £2,850 with an average fee of around £4,000. If your claim doesn’t succeed, you pay nothing. Many R&D consultancies charge 20–25% success fees with minimum fees upward of £4,500, often with additional costs that aren’t clear upfront — our pricing is simple, agreed in writing before any work starts, with no hidden charges. That also means we have no incentive to submit weak claims — our business only works when your claims do.
HMRC compliance-check support included, free of charge. HMRC has significantly increased its scrutiny of R&D claims. If a claim we’ve prepared is selected for a compliance check, we manage the response and correspondence with HMRC at no additional cost. We stand behind our work.
Less than half a day of your time. Our process is built around busy owner-managers. Most clients spend under half a day in total on their claim — typically one structured conversation about your projects, plus gathering a few financial records. We do the rest. See how our claim process works.
What our clients say
Here’s what a few of our clients have said about working with Zest:
Ray Methuen – Director, Gwentec Limited
Michael McLeod – Uni Green Scheme
Vince Taylor – MD, Kinetic Workplace Limited
Read more on our testimonials page.
How our claim process works
Every claim starts with a free, no-obligation eligibility review — an honest conversation about whether your work is likely to meet HMRC’s definition of R&D. If it does, we interview your technical team, identify the qualifying projects and costs, write the technical narrative, prepare the figures, and submit the claim to HMRC with your approval. Adam leads this process end to end as your main point of contact, and our team reviews the figures and compliance position before anything is filed. You stay in control throughout, and your total time commitment is usually less than half a day.
How to choose an R&D tax advisor
The R&D tax market is crowded, and the quality of advice varies enormously. Before appointing any R&D claim consultant, ask these five questions:
1. Who actually prepares the technical claim narrative? The written narrative is what HMRC judges your claim on. Ask who leads the work, who reviews it, and whether the senior person you meet at the start stays involved — or whether your claim quietly goes to a junior team member, or a template. At Zest, Adam leads and reviews every claim narrative, and each claim is supported by our wider team of CTA and Chartered accountants for technical and compliance review.
2. What happens if HMRC opens a compliance check? Some firms charge extra for enquiry support, or disappear entirely once the claim is filed. Ask whether support is included, what it covers, and who provides it.
3. How do they identify what qualifies as R&D? A good consultant interrogates your projects against HMRC’s definition — seeking scientific or technological advance, and the uncertainties your team worked to resolve. Be wary of anyone who says “everything qualifies” before they’ve understood your work.
4. What is the fee structure? Percentage of benefit, fixed fee, or hourly — any model can be fair, but you should know exactly what you’ll pay and when, and whether anything is owed if the claim fails.
5. Will they turn work away? This is the most revealing question. A consultant who never declines a marginal claim is loading risk onto you — it’s your company’s name on the submission. Ask when they last told a prospective client their work didn’t qualify. At Zest, we regularly do.
Specialist consultancy vs. your accountant
Most accountants are excellent at what they do — but R&D tax relief is a niche within corporation tax that turns on HMRC’s technical definition of R&D, not on accounting judgement. The scheme has also changed substantially in recent years: merged rates, enhanced support for R&D-intensive SMEs, claim notification deadlines, and far more aggressive HMRC scrutiny. A dedicated R&D specialist works with these rules every day, knows how to frame a technical narrative HMRC will accept, and knows where claims fail. With Zest you don’t have to trade one for the other: our team includes Chartered accountants, so your claim gets R&D specialism without losing general accounting rigour. We work alongside your accountant, not instead of them — they keep doing what they do best, and your R&D claim gets specialist attention.
Sectors we help
Zest works with SMEs across the UK wherever genuine technical problem-solving happens. We have particular depth supporting engineering firms and software and SaaS companies, and extensive experience in manufacturing — see how Jay Jays claimed for innovative manufacturing techniques. If your team has spent time and money overcoming technical uncertainty — whatever your sector — it’s worth a conversation.
Frequently asked questions
How much do R&D tax consultants charge?
Fee models vary across the industry: some firms charge fixed fees, some hourly rates, and many charge a percentage of the claim benefit. It’s common to see success fees of 20–25%, with minimum fees upward of £4,500 and additional costs that aren’t always clear upfront. Zest works on a no-win-no-fee basis — our fee is a percentage of the benefit we secure, typically starting from £2,850 with an average fee of around £4,000, and if your claim doesn’t succeed, you pay nothing. We agree the fee in writing before any work starts, with no hidden charges and no extra cost for HMRC compliance-check support.
Do I need a consultant or can my accountant handle this?
Your accountant can legally submit an R&D claim, and some do it well. But R&D tax relief is a specialist area: the claim stands or falls on a technical narrative that maps your projects onto HMRC’s definition of R&D, and the rules have changed significantly in recent years. A specialist consultancy prepares these claims every day — and because Zest’s team includes Chartered accountants, you get that specialism without giving up accounting rigour. We work alongside your accountant rather than replacing them. If you’re unsure, our free eligibility review will tell you honestly whether specialist input would add value in your case.
What happens if HMRC opens a compliance check on my claim?
HMRC now checks a much larger proportion of R&D claims than it used to. If a claim Zest has prepared is selected, we handle the compliance check for you — preparing responses, managing correspondence with HMRC, and defending the technical narrative we wrote — at no additional cost. Because we prepare every claim as if it will be checked, we can stand behind every submission.
How long does an R&D tax claim take?
From our side, most claims are prepared and submitted within a few weeks of the initial consultation, depending on how quickly records are available. Your time commitment is usually less than half a day. Once submitted, HMRC typically processes claims in around one to two months, though timescales vary with HMRC workloads and whether a claim is selected for review. We keep you updated at every stage — see our claim process for details.
Is Zest an R&D tax advisor or a consultant?
Both — the terms are used interchangeably in this market, along with “R&D claim consultants” and “R&D tax specialists”. Whatever the label, what matters is what’s underneath: Zest is a specialist R&D tax consultancy founded and directed by Adam Park, a specialist tax adviser with six years of dedicated R&D tax experience, who acts as your main point of contact and leads every claim. Each claim is supported by our wider team of CTA and Chartered accountants, from eligibility review through to submission. If you’d like advice on whether your work qualifies, book a free consultation or try the R&D tax calculator.
Ready to talk about your R&D claim?
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