Mr Gemmell has been with the firm for eleven years.

As head of innovations tax, he will play a leading role in continuing to develop and grow AAB’s specialist Research & Development (R&D) Tax Relief and Patent Box (PB) services.

The firm’s innovations tax team seeks to maximise the tax reliefs available to businesses undertaking R&D expenditure and has a strong track record in agreeing successful R&D claims with HMRC, securing £10 million of tax savings for clients in the last three years alone.

The team also used the available PB reliefs in order to reduce the effective tax rate on commercial transactions.

Neil Dinnes, head of corporate & international tax at AAB, said: “Derek has extensive knowledge of various specialist tax services and significant experience of being able to identify where these unique tax rules can apply. Delivering solutions for clients in this area culminated in this richly deserved appointment to head of innovations tax.

“He is a superb fit for this new role and I am confident that his drive and vision for ‘innovation’ will not only continue to positively impact our clients but will also contribute towards this specialist team playing their part in the ambitious growth plans across the AAB group.”

Mr Gemmell said: “I am delighted to take on this role and work closely with the fantastic innovations tax team we have here at AAB. We have achieved some significant results for our clients in this space, and we are now looking to develop this further by growing our offering.

“A common misunderstanding is that these reliefs only apply to pure scientific research in a lab, which is not the case. We help businesses who are carrying out R&D in a number of different areas including design, engineering and software where their activity also qualifies for the relief.”

He added: “This is just one of the challenges we see our clients facing, as gaining access to the relief is notoriously complex and requires a specialist advisor to guide them through the process. I am looking forward to continuing to deliver results for clients, driving awesome service with the team, growing our offering and being able to capitalise on new opportunities across the UK.”