Jumpstart moves to Birmingham to boost region’s R&D tax relief capability

Edinburgh-based R&D tax relief firm Jumpstart has opened its first office in the West Midlands and is promising to help engineering firms and manufacturers unlock an extra £4.5 million.

Jumpstart believes companies are missing out on getting money back on their investments in capital, innovation and people and has put in place a team of technical analysts to support them to secure the right ‘relief’.

The office in Birmingham’s Newhall Street follows the appointment of Wendy Smith as business development manager for the region and is the latest step in a concerted sales and marking campaign.

She will be responsible for engaging with 100 local firms in the first year and, working with colleagues Sandy Findlay and Anthony Beak, building a network of professional intermediaries, including accountants, lawyers and business consultants.

“The West Midlands is rich in manufacturing expertise, especially across automotive, aerospace and rail, making it a natural fit for the next part of our expansion,” explained Wendy.

“These type of firms, who thrive on innovation and doing things differently, are in a perfect position to claim significant R&D tax relief, but so many don’t take advantage or they do not use a partner that gets them the best possible return.”

She continued: “If the region was as effective at claiming its R&D tax relief as its counterparts in London and the South East, we estimate it could be between £47milion and £64million per year better off. That’s a lot of cash for reinvestment in new equipment, plant and jobs.

“We’ve already had over 110 successful claims in the West Midlands so we know the area and we know what works. This latest investment reinforces our commitment and our desire to double the number of firms we support by 2018.”

Jumpstart is solely focused on presenting detailed, accurate and compliant submissions to the HMRC.

It employs teams with the scientific and technical knowledge to identify and justify eligible projects for R&D submission, including chemists, engineers, material scientists, physicists and software engineers. All of them have come through an internal academy and are fully trained on the latest legislation.

The analyst deals directly with the staff involved to extract the relevant information that explains why the project meets criteria for eligibility, before creating a comprehensive financial schedule that allows HMRC to see exactly how the total claimed is broken down and justified.

Ms Smith continued: “This unique blend of technical expertise and knowledge of the governing legislation allows us to drive more value into the claim process for our clients. “For example, over the last 5 years we have undertaken 27 uplift reviews of claims processed by other providers and this has identified an additional £6.35million of eligible expenditure for our clients.”

She concluded: “There’s a lot of organisations committed to helping local industry achieve innovation and R&D and 2017 will be a big year for firms investing in automotive, aerospace, and advanced manufacturing growth areas, such as including additive manufacturing, connectivity, robotics and automation.

“It’s an exciting time to be investing in the region and growing our presence in the West Midlands.”