It’s official! According to the latest figures from HMRC, more and more companies are now benefiting from the Government’s R&D tax credits scheme. What’s even better news for SMEs is that they’re leading the charge, with an impressive 30% hike in the number of claims submitted in 2012-13 compared to 2011-12.
Encouraging though this is, the 28,500 companies that have made claims under the SME scheme since its introduction in 2000 represent less than 2.5% of all the SMEs in the UK. The vast majority of companies therefore still haven’t caught on to this potentially very lucrative source of additional funding, be that through lack of awareness or concerns over the perceived complexity of the scheme.
Take Beverston Engineering, a world class manufacturer, which specialises in the prototyping and manufacture of state-of-the-art engineering components. One of the more likely candidates for R&D tax credits you would have thought! But like most SMEs, “I didn’t know whether I qualified,” says Rod Wah, Beverston’s MD. “I approached my accountant about claiming. We both looked into it and my accountant came back to me and said it’s a very complicated process.”
Jumpstart met with Beverston, considered the complex manufacturing techniques that Rod’s team had developed to produce safety-critical aerospace and pharmaceutical components using exotic materials, submitted a claim and recovered a significant sum from HMRC.
“When the cheque arrived in the post I was flabbergasted, because we were talking over £100,000,” says Rod. “For a process that was surprisingly straightforward and required minimal effort from us, we were totally stunned at the amount claimed. What a great result!”
Since receiving the cheque, Beverston has invested in new machinery and recruited additional staff. Their accountant meanwhile has recommended Jumpstart to some of his other clients, contributing (we’d like to think) to that 30% hike in SME claims.
Still think it’s too complicated?
Read Beverston’s story
