Cardiff leads the way as the county with the highest percentage of innovative businesses across the 22 unitary authority areas in Wales.
A total of 315 successful claims were made by Cardiff companies (2.4% of all enterprises within the area), including SMEs and large businesses, for R&D tax relief in the latest 2017-18 figures released today by HMRC. This puts Cardiff at the top of an Innovation League Table by innovation funding specialists ABGI UK. It shows the percentage of businesses making successful R&D tax claims in each of the region’s unitary authority areas (see FIGURE 1 below).
The latest updated HMRC figures show companies in Wales secured a total of 1,530 R&D tax relief claims in the 2017-18 period. A total of £95m in tax relief was claimed on the back of £525m worth of innovation-focused investment made by Welsh companies.
The Wales League Table shows Bridgend is the second most active area with 2.32% of businesses securing successful R&D tax relief claims while Denbighshire ranked third with 2.12% of businesses claiming. Merthyr Tydfil is at the foot of the table with only 0.34% of its businesses securing a successful claim.
Commenting on the new figures, Wendy Smith, Innovation Funding Adviser at ABGI UK said:
“Today’s HMRC figures form the basis of our Innovation League Table. It shows Cardiff leading the way in making successful R&D tax relief claims in Wales. A relatively high percentage of local companies in key sectors such as finance and IT/software are driving its strong regional placement. Significant numbers of local businesses have been successful in securing R&D tax relief for their investment in innovation to improve operational processes and enhance competitiveness.
“At a time when the Covid-19 pandemic is having such a detrimental impact on the UK economy, investment in innovation, with support in the form of R&D tax relief credits and other government incentive measures will be more essential than ever.”
Introduced in 2000, R&D tax credits are designed to drive competitiveness in British business by incentivising companies to invest in innovation.
