BlueRock adds directors to R&D and government incentives team

BlueRock has added former Big Four consultants Jason Crawford and Rachel van Ketwich as directors in its research & development and government incentives division in Melbourne.

A former partner at Deloitte, Crawford joins BlueRock after spending the past seven years running his own firm, Incentives Advisory, while van Ketwich crosses from GrantReady, bringing previous experience at EY and KPMG.

BlueRock said the appointments come on the back of growing demand for its incentives services, with the pair to focus on supporting clients in preparing for the government’s upcoming Export Market Development Grants.

“Rachel and Jason aren’t just incredibly experienced operators in the R&D and government incentives space, but they’re also fantastic leaders and great people,” said BlueRock accounting executive managing partner Trevor Gordijn. “We look forward to seeing them help our valued clients prosper through increased grant funding and tax incentive maximisation.”

Jason Crawford

Prior to establishing Incentive Advisory in 2017 – which has now merged with BlueRock – Crawford spent over two decades as a partner and director at a number of leading accountancies, including SW (previously ShineWing), Moore Stephens, and Deloitte, the latter where served for eight years as R&D tax incentives lead partner for both New South Wales and Victoria.

Bringing altogether close to three decades of experience serving the engineering, manufacturing, consumer goods, agribusiness, and ICT sectors among others, Crawford was noted by BlueRock for excelling in areas such as strategy formulation and execution, operational excellence, team leadership, business development, and new market segment identification.

Rachel van Ketwich

Meanwhile, van Ketwich joins the firm after spending the past five years as head of R&D and grants at specialist advisory GrantReady, before which she spent five years as a consultant between KPMG and Ernst & Young, where in addition to incentives she advised clients, including startups, SMEs, and other listed companies looking to expand overseas, on strategic trade and investment.

Tom Moore

The new recruits join Christchurch-based Tom Moore as directors of BlueRock’s R&D and government incentives practice, the latter who was promoted to the rank at the beginning of the year after being tapped to lead the firm’s official expansion into New Zealand at the end of 2022. The local branch also supports Kiwi companies with expanding or exporting back into Australia.