Specialist units set up by UK Revenue and Customs Departments to encourage SMEs to apply for R&D tax credits made cash payments totalling £150 million in the past year.
The units, set up a year ago in Cardiff, Southampton, Maidstone, Manchester, Cambridge, Leicester and Croydon, have dealt with almost 5,000 claims in the last 12 months.
Some of the industries that have received support include: computer games, sports cars, artificial intelligence, manufacturing, cheese making, cell research, food testing, plant breeding and machine safety.
R&D tax credits, which can either reduce a company’s tax bill or provide a cash sum, were established to encourage greater R&D spending. Companies can deduct up to 150 percent of qualifying expenditure on R&D activities.
Receive the Funding Newswire each Tuesday, our Policy Bulletin each Thursday, and news about bridging Europe’s east-west innovation gap twice a month in The Widening. 
A unique international forum for public research organisations and companies to connect their external engagement with strategic interests around their R&D system.