The Enterprise Investment Scheme Association has revealed its winner for best tax adviser of the year, among a range of industry awards.

Philip Hare & Associates won the category for best tax adviser. It is run by Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Advisor Philip Hare.

The other winners were:

- Best EIS Manager category – joint winners Parkwalk Advisors and Calculus Capital
- Best Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) Manager award - Symvan Capital.
- Best Legal/Regulatory Adviser: Bovill
- Best Innovation/Newcomer/Rising Star (Company): Sapphire
- Best Newcomer/Rising Star (Individual): Vasiliki Carson

Above: Robert Davis with Madeleine Ingram, both of Calculus Capital. In the middle Victor Hawrych of Edwin Coe with Enrico D’Angelo of Parkwalk on the right.

Above: Nicholas Nicolaides on the left and Spencer Krett in the middle - both of Symvan Capital -with Dermot Campbell of Kuber Ventures.

For the first time in the awards’ history, there was a tie in the Best EIS Manager category, with Parkwalk Advisors and Calculus Capital sharing the honours.

Of Parkwalk, the judges said: “Parkwalk embody the essence of the true principles of EIS. Their work with the UK’s top universities to invest in knowledge-intensive, early-stage technology is quite simply transformational.”

Calculus Capital was lauded for its “unique and exclusive deal flow, detailed due diligence and high level of support to each of its portfolio companies”.

Parkwalk was also named winner in the Best Exit category. Its £4m collaboration with Cambridge University spin-out company Cambridge CMOS Sensors generated a return of many times their original investment for early participants, benefiting over 300 EIS investors altogether. It was described as a ‘textbook’ exit by the judges.

For the second year running, the Best Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) Manager award went to Symvan Capital. The investment manager was praised by the judges for its due diligence, selection process and speed of investment, as well as for its efforts to demonstrate the benefits of its investments in job creation and tax revenues generated, not just returns for investors.

A new award, Best Journalist Writing About EIS, was won by freelance journalist Emily Perryman. The judges said: “In-depth features in the Financial Times and Shares Magazine have helped raise the profile of EIS with countless private and professional investors, helping them gain a better understanding of tax-efficient investments.”

The awards were held at a reception in the House of Lords.

EISA Director General Mark Brownridge said: “The entries were of an extremely high standard and speak of the excellence that can be found right across our industry, from those making the investments to legal advisers, accountants and those writing about EIS.”

The awards judging panel comprised:

Martin Fox – Bulletin Marketing – Managing Director
Declan McAndrew CFA – Foster Denovo – Head of Investment Research
Lee Moran – Baigre Davies – Chair of the Investment Committee & Head of Research
Jenny Tooth – UK Business Angels Association – Chief Executive
Philip Salter – The Entrepreneurs Network – Founder
Malcolm Snook – MPL Wealth Management – Senior Financial Planning Manager
Ewoud Karelse – Tilney – Product Specialist