Meet the Team in 90 seconds – Emma Richards

Introduce yourself…

Hi, I am Emma Richards, Innovations Director at Wilson Partners and have only just joined the team in February 2022.  I have been married to my husband Paul for fifteen years and have two children who keep me on my toes trying to keep track of all their sporting and social arrangements!

I grew up in Windsor before heading to London to study Law at Kings College and then ended up moving to Maidenhead after I met my husband in 2001. Whilst I knew I didn’t want to practice law after finishing my degree I wanted to use what I had learnt in some way and tax seemed like a good fit given all the legislation! I started out with a mixed tax role, before moving on to focussing on corporate tax which is when I became involved in R&D claims.  After a few years of working on R&D claims I knew helping companies obtain cash back and hearing about all the innovative work they were doing was what I wanted to focus on and I have been an R&D specialist for over 17 years now.

Describe your role at Wilson Partners

As Innovations Director I will be helping businesses claim the full spectrum of innovation reliefs available across a business’s IP life cycle including R&D relief, Patent Box, Creatives and Capital Allowances.  These are valuable reliefs for many businesses, and I am passionate about helping them claim their full entitlement as it can really make a difference to their ability to develop their IP and grow.

Ask one colleague to describe you

“I’m really excited to have Emma on the team. Since she joined us she has demonstrated her wealth of experience in innovations tax, and has been a great presence in the office. I’m really looking forward to working with Emma and seeing how she can really positively impact our clients.” Steve Lawrey

Favourite drink in the office and out of the office

I am a big tea drinker, although it has to be on the weak side with plenty of milk (is that still tea?).  Out of the office I will never say no to a glass or two or Prosecco!

Favourite Film

The Lord of the Rings films were epic and still look great today, I’m also a big fan of the Harry Potter movies.

Favourite Hobby

It has to be running, due to a knee injury I’m not able to do some of the mileage I did in my younger days but there’s nothing better than getting out on a run whatever the weather to blow the cobwebs away!

Favourite Food

My husband’s home cooked roast dinner with a lot of gravy, I have even been known to have my own gravy boat too!

Favourite Country/ Holiday

I love sunshine so anywhere hot and sunny please!!  But my favourite holiday was taking the kids to Lapland to meet Santa a couple of years ago, it was just magical and a holiday I will never forget.

Cats or Dogs?

Cats, we did have two Smokey and Torres, but Torres deserted us when we built our extension and he is now the Newlands girls school cat with his own Facebook page!

One thing that most people don’t know about you

When on honeymoon on safari in South Africa, we were inadvertently hunted by a Lion on a walking safari, chased by a Bull Elephant in a Jeep and got too close to a family of hippos on the Zambezi River!

Wow…that sounds a bit hair raising! Thanks for sharing Emma, we look forward to hearing more about your role as Innovations Director as your journey continues.