R&D Claim Offers Lifeline Against Rising Raw Material Costs #Engineering #R&D #Claim #FutureDevelopment

Business owner looks to the future again after successful R&D claim injects cash to aid future development

• 300% rise in raw material costs in last 12-months hit businesses cash-flow, as price of plastic soars

• Claim with RDS took less than 3 hours of time yet will inject a combined value of over £18,500 back into the companies.

Business owner, Paul Wilks, from Greater Manchester businesses Jigsaw Controls and kTech Manufacturing looks to the future again after his research and development claim with RDS (Research and Development Specialists LTD) not just saves him 3-days of business hours but injects cash to aid future development and clear impact of COVID-19.

Jigsaw Controls, a bespoke electrical control systems company who specialise in developing solutions to customers problems stand to receive a £14240 cash injection and kTech Manufacturing, a leading manufacturer of electrical wiring and accessories, stand to get a £4,460 injection of cash into the business from successful R&D tax claims with fellow Greater Manchester business RDS.

Paul, director of both businesses, has seen the cost of raw plastics rise from £200 per tonne to over £800 per tonne, in the last 12 months. This, coupled with expected delivery dates going from six weeks to nearly six months, has put a squeeze on the expected growth, however a chance meeting at an event has helped to ease business fears.

Here Paul explains more about the process and how it has helped his company:

“The RDS process was much slicker and required much less of my time” begins Paul, who became aware of RDS when he met business development manager, Chris Cunnane at a Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce social event earlier in the year.

My previous claim took nearly 20 hours of my time, which as a business owner I just don’t have readily available. This made me very sceptical about going through the R&D claim again, however after speaking with Chris at the GMCC event, it became clear very quickly how different RDS were. As a comparison going through two claims with RDS took a total of three hours, saving me nearly 3-days.

Paul Wilks, Director at Jigsaw Controls and kTechManufacturing

“Chris and his colleagues spent the time getting to know both Jigsaw Controls and kTech, understanding the R&D we had done, this resulted in the time saving as they did a lot of the paperwork for me, whereas previously I spent endless hours on phone calls explaining about the R&D and my businesses. The different experts they have in the business meant they quickly grasped and understood what R&D we were doing”.

Paul continues “In happier times the money received back from HMRC would have been put back into the business to grow it further, however with the impact of COVID still being felt the invaluable monies this time will be used to reduce the debts accrued during COVID, allowing us to start really planning for 2023 and beyond.”

The HMRC tax incentive is available to any company no matter the size. It rewards those undertaking original research and development with tax credits that can either be deducted from corporation tax or if a claim is historical, claimed back as a repayment of overpaid corporation tax. The aim of the Government scheme is to stimulate innovation and boost the economy.

Mark Joyner, MD of RDS, added: “We love working with and helping fellow businesses in the North-West, especially ones that have been impacted by rising raw material costs or COVID-19. Greater Manchester has always been a main hub for manufacturing and by supporting businesses who undertake research and development as well as bring jobs to the local economy we feel like we are doing a little bit to help keep the local economy growing.”

“At kTech Manufacturing, Paul and his team have developed products that are easier, simpler and safer to use, then with further R&D have found ways to produce these at a cost-efficient price for the end-user. This is R&D working at its best and demonstrates exactly what the scheme was set up to achieve.

“There are so many companies out there like Paul’s that could be benefitting from a cash injection. At RDS, we look to make sometimes complex processes much simpler, giving business owners like Paul peace of mind and saving them valuable time”.

For more information visit https://randdspecialists.co.uk/ or call 0161 823 5281.