Aberdeen has grabbed pole position as Scotland’s innovation hotspot, with the resurgent oil and gas sector spearheading research and development (R&D), new research suggests.
The Granite City has retained top spot in R&D tax claim firm Jumpstart’s innovation league table, boasting the highest proportion of R&D tax relief claimants of any local authority area in Scotland.
A total of 250 Aberdeen companies, which represents 2.6 per cent of all enterprises in city, claimed for R&D tax relief in the 2016/17 financial year, according to figures released yesterday by HMRC.
The results underline the “relatively high level of innovation” within the oil and gas sector which dominates the Aberdeen economy, according to the Edinburgh-based tax specialist.
Edinburgh was second in the table, with 2.1 per cent of its businesses making R&D-related tax relief claims.
The report cites the capital’s strong IT and financial services sectors as driving forces for its continued strong placement.
Article originally published on The Scotsman
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