insideKENT Magazine Issue 41 - August 2015 | Page 161

LOCALBUSINESS insideKENT TALKS TO Jan Post founder and managing director of RIFT Group So, tell us about RIFT. The RIFT Group is a leading tax refund and accounting company based in Ashford, but operating right across the UK. Our job is to recover thousands of pounds of tax for individuals in our Tax Refund division and tens of thousands of pounds for SMEs through our Research & Development and Capital Allowance divisions; last year was a record year for us and to date we have recovered over £90 million for our clients. In addition, we help small businesses needing online accounting and business support services. What’s your background? My family owned and ran a successful local estate agency for many years, so you could say that entrepreneurial spirit is written into my DNA! Before I set up RIFT, I founded a small business support company that helped companies at the beginning of their ventures.Some of my construction company clients at the time were incurring expenses they were not claiming tax relief for; I spotted an opportunity to offer a hasslefree service with no upfront costs, and from this, RIFT was born. We now offer a tax refund service to more than 36,000 workers across Construction, Ministry of Defence, Oil and Gas, Sports and Healt