A Wolverhampton tax claims company has helped a Sandwell based specialist engineering company claim back over £52,000 from HMRC for money spent on research and development.
R&D Tax Claims Ltd, based at Pendeford Business Park in the city, worked with A&M EDM Ltd of Smethwick to claim back for a second time corporation tax on money spent on R&D (research and development). The company provide high specification precision-made parts and tooling to the global aerospace and automotive sector using wire and spark erosion and CNC manufacturing processes.
A&M EDM was founded in 2002. R&D is at the heart of everything we do, says managing director and founder Mark Wingfield. We have the machinery to make anything, and our global clients include JLR, Goodrich Aerospace, Marstons Aerospace and Hadley Sections, plus many more that we cannot mention due to the sensitive nature of our work and the necessary non-disclosure agreements.
The company invests constantly in new plant. Other companies are put off a complex job if they think it will take forever or dont believe they can achieve it, but our clients know that we wont be defeated, says Mark Wingfield. I will purchase a machine that I dont yet have work for, because I need to be ready for that client when others have turned them away. Its a risk, but its always paid off. One piece of R&D can take months to produce. Our recent job for a major Korean manufacturer took about 800 hours and took up one machine for the duration this can create cashflow problems.
Our first R&D tax credit netted a huge £95,000 thanks to the team at R&D Tax Claims continues Mark. Since then we have invested in over £900,000 on new machinery to enable us to offer our international clients the best service.
A&M EDM are looking to expand on its 15,000 sq ft factory but are experiencing problems finding a fit for purpose location. We are looking to double in size and want to stay here, but we literally have no floor space left, says Mark. We have taken on more staff recently and are now up to 39, but could take on more work and more employees if we could expand to 40,000 sq ft. There are plenty of empty factories around the Black Country and Birmingham, but we need somewhere fit for purpose for the kind of precision work we produce.
This is the manufacturing heartland of the UK but there is marked skill shortage, and companies like ours need better quality premises if we want to attract and keep young apprentices here and grab the challenges and opportunities that modern engineering offers. One of our best engineers is over 70 we took him on when he was 66. Its crucial that we can continue to train the next generation to our exacting standards.
Mark Evans, managing director of R&D Tax Claims says,
"The HMRC R&D scheme enables a company carrying out R&D to consistently claim back the corporation tax element. This is the second reduction we have worked on with A&M EDM as almost all of their output is R&D led. The process of accounting for R&D spend is now embedded in A&Ms financial processes and so its more streamlined all round its important for us to build up a relationship with a company so that we can fully understand the complexity of their business model in order for us to isolate the R&D element.
A&M EDM are world leaders in the field of precision manufacturing and Mark Wingfield understands that to stay ahead, they need to consistently reinvest, not just in the latest machinery but also in skills and talent. The decision to expand significantly and take on new staff and apprentices has been helped by the HMRC reclaim scheme, and its imperative that HMRC and the government continue to recognise and understand the importance of supporting SME companies that carry out R&D.