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The Government has announced that it will invest £250 million to remain part of the important Horizon Europe fund.

The commitment of millions of pounds will help pay for the UK’s association with Horizon Europe, the European Union’s funding programme for research and innovation.

A statement from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, said: “This investment reinforces the Government’s commitment to putting research and development at the heart of plans to build back better from the pandemic.

“It will support vital and pioneering research while enabling the UK’s brilliant scientists, researchers and businesses to access and benefit from the world’s largest collaborative research programme, Horizon Europe – worth about €95 billion (£80 billion) over the next decade.”

As part of the EU trade deal, the UK retained participation in the Horizon Europe programme, but there were fears from some involved in research and development (R&D), that the UK would not contribute to the cost of taking part and would instead seek to fund it from existing research budgets.

UK businesses have been reassured by the investment. Welcoming the additional funding, Prof Julia Buckingham, president of Universities UK, which represents university leaders, said: “We are very pleased that the Government has averted threats to UK science and research by allocating additional funding to support the UK’s association to Horizon Europe and welcome their commitment to increase investment in R&D to 2.4 per cent of GDP by 2027.

“Given current pressures on public finances, this is a significant affirmation of the Government’s belief in research, recognising the pivotal role it plays in the UK’s current and future prosperity, and ensuring UK universities will remain at the forefront of efforts to address the most pressing global challenges.”

Horizon Europe funding is mainly used to support publicly funded R&D projects, including many of the leading studies in UK academia. It is part of a wider network of R&D funding options open to UK organisations and their business partners.

This works alongside schemes, like the R&D tax credit system, to ensure that innovators have access to the money needed to develop some of the world’s leading technologies and ideas.

At Made.Simplr, we support a wide range of businesses and accountancy firms with R&D tax credit claims through our own innovative cloud-based claims system.

This integrates with platforms like Xero to allow for the automation of R&D claims; making the process easier, quicker and more cost-effective. To find out more about Made.Simplr, please arrange a demo with our team today.

The Government has launched a new independent review into UK research bureaucracy, which is intended to help researchers free up greater time to focus on projects.

The latest review is part of a wider policy within Government to support publicly and privately funded research and development (R&D) across the country via the &D Roadmap, published in July 2020.

The new review will be led by Professor Adam Tickell, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Sussex and will look to make recommendations to remove unnecessary red tape in the UK research and development system.

It will also look to identify practical solutions to bureaucratic issues faced by researchers and businesses across the UK such as overly complicated grant forms that require in-depth financial knowledge, a lack of clarity over funding available to researchers and having to provide the same data multiple times in different formats to different funders.

The Government said that the review and its reforms will balance safeguarding the need to demonstrate impact and value for money while supporting the UK research environment.

Amanda Solloway, Minister for Science, Research and Innovation, said: “The UK is home to some of the world’s leading scientists and researchers and their response over the past year to the coronavirus pandemic has shone a light on the vital need for them to be able to carry out their ground-breaking work at pace. Their discoveries have created much needed medical treatments and vaccines that are saving lives across the world.

“As we build back better by unleashing innovation, it’s crucial that we create a research environment that harnesses this same scientific speed and endeavour. This review will identify how we can free up our brightest minds from unnecessary red tape so they can continue making cutting edge discoveries while cementing UK’s status as a science superpower.”

The review will end in early 2022, with interim findings published later that year. The review will involve broad engagement with the whole UK R&D community.

The UK has an ambitious vision for the future of R&D, including the goal of minimising bureaucracy whilst maintaining flexibility, diversity and necessary accountability. This review is the next phase in delivering on that commitment, according to the Government.

A key factor in the success of many research projects is the generous R&D tax credit system, which provides around £5.1 billion in funding a year that supports £36 billion of R&D expenditure.

If you would like help making the R&D tax credit claim process simpler, find out how our automated cloud-based solution can help you today by arranging a demo with our experienced team.

Standing before Parliament, the Chancellor Rishi Sunak outlined several plans to invest in innovative UK businesses and the research and development (R&D) sector.

The nation has set a target to raise total investment in R&D to 2.4 per cent of UK GDP by 2027, with the country’s existing R&D tax reliefs playing an important role in achieving this.

During the Budget 2021, the Chancellor confirmed a review of the existing R&D tax reliefs, which will be supported via consultation with key stakeholders.

Through this consultation, the Government hopes to explore the nature of private-sector R&D investment in the UK and how the tax relief system can better support innovative work.

This new wide-ranging consultation process will look at the two key elements of the tax credit system, the SME scheme and the Research and Development Expenditure Credit (RDEC).

In particular, the review hopes to consider:

• How the two R&D relief schemes support R&D in the UK;
• How they operate; and
• How effectively they interact with modern R&D practices.

Importantly, the consultation will also look at the definition of R&D and the scope of what should qualify for relief, to ensure that the system is still fit for purpose.

Stakeholders will be asked to share their views on the two current systems and whether they should be merged in some way to make the relief simpler to claim.

The consultation document states: “Having two schemes also means having two, overlapping sets of rules instead of a single coherent system.

“The 2017 Budget promised to simplify the R&D claim process, and stakeholders have suggested that ‘RDEC for all’, potentially with a higher rate for SMEs, could be one such simplification.”

HM Revenue & Customs, which operates the scheme and manages claims, also wants to know whether the claims process might be improved, both to give a better experience for claimant companies and to improve controls.

At Made.Simplr we work with lots of businesses and accountancy firms to help automate the claims process. Like many, we would welcome any improvements to the R&D tax relief system that would enhance companies’ ability to claim.

If you or any of your clients are interested in making an R&D tax credit claim and would like to know how our cloud-based system can save you time and money, please book a demo with our team now.

 

A recent study from recruitment agency Hays shows that around four out of five accountancy practices in the UK experienced a skills shortage in 2020 due to staff absences and changes to their workforce.

Mainly the result of COVID-19, the study highlights the difficulties that many accountancy practices are facing when it comes to maintaining a skilled team of professionals.

With such a significant skills shortage in the industry at this time, some practices are experiencing a backlog of work, including in areas such as R&D tax credit claims.

While some firms may seek to outsource manual work overseas, there is a much simpler and cost-effective solution that could allow many practices to retain their clients’ work in-house.

Automation in the accountancy profession has come on in leaps and bounds in recent years, with many apps and software packages developed to do a wider variety of tasks, from automating invoicing and payroll to managing credit control.

These innovations are revolutionising the industry by removing much of the manual administrative input from teams and freeing up professionals to offer a higher level of advisory services to clients.

One area where automation can help is the production of accurate and effective R&D tax credit claims. While many smaller accountancy firms may outsource this kind of work to larger partners, automation through software, such as Made.Simplr, allows them to bring this work in-house and increase the volume of claims they handle.

Using existing cloud accounting software like Xero, these programs can collate, analyse and check the information necessary to make a claim, meaning that firm’s need only submit the final documents for their clients.

If you would like to know how the automation available through made.simplr could help your firm deal with skills shortages and increase your practice’s revenue, please arrange a demo with our team today.

 

A report from the National Audit Office (NAO) has given the UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund positive feedback after finding that it is helping academia and industry to engage better on research and development (R&D).

The Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund was established by UKRI to improve long-term productivity within the economy and support research and development projects in future mobility, clean growth, artificial intelligence and data.

Through this initiative, UKRI invites academics and businesses to make suggestions on particular challenges that might contribute to these objectives and provide a worthwhile use of financial support from the public purse.

As part of this, the NAO has a supervisory role, to ensure the Fund is meeting its objective and providing value for money. The report looked at how UKRI is managing the projects and meeting the objectives set by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), which oversees the UKRI.

The BEIS set out five key objectives for UKRI to follow in running the Fund. These are to:

• Increase UK business investment in R&D and R&D capabilities, capacity and technology adoption;
• Increase multi- and inter-disciplinary research;
• Increase engagement between industry and academia;
• Increase collaboration between new small companies and those that are established; and
• Increase overseas investment in R&D in the UK.

Up to £3 billion is being made available via the Fund to spend during the next eight years. To date it has already made £1.2 billion available to 24 challenges involving a total of 1,613 individual R&D projects.

As well as using taxpayer funding, the initiative also relies on financial support from industry, which has contributed £567 million to these projects.

Those who have applied for funding were successful in one in four bids and were positive about the support provided to industry through the Fund.

Despite the success of the scheme, the NAO has asked the Government to look at ways of speeding up the process to approve funding requests, as some bids took more than 100 weeks to move from an expression of interest to an offer of funding.

The NAO is concerned that this lengthy process for approving bids deters applicants, which may be why the current budget for the project is 11 per cent lower than estimated (as of March 2020).

The Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund is part of a wider R&D campaign by the Government to improve innovation in the UK and works alongside the popular R&D tax credit scheme.

Similar to this fund, claims for this tax relief continue to be below official estimates, suggesting more businesses could make a claim.

To find out how we can help you and your clients make a claim, using our automated, cloud-based solution,  book a demo. 

Recent research reveals that the global cybersecurity market is estimated to rise to £180.77 billion by 2023.

In 2018 the market reached £111.23 billion, and this estimated increased number represents a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10.6 per cent.

Due to the numerous key individuals and tech companies residing in North America, this region is forecast to obtain the largest market size. Europe comes in second, with Asia-Pacific following.

Why the demand for cybersecurity?

The coronavirus pandemic and its enforced social distancing requirements caused a demand in cloud adoption, remote working technology advances and, therefore, the increased use of cybersecurity.

Additionally, due to recent hacks in the US, the market for informational security reached £93.89 billion in 2020 alone. The private company Microsoft was among one of the victims that got exposed to malware.

Malicious software’s design is to cause widespread damage to data, systems or to obtain unapproved access to a network.

Within cybersecurity, security services saw the highest spending, then infrastructure protection, followed by network security equipment.

Cybersecurity in the UK

In March 2020, the Government published its Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2020, which revealed 46 per cent of businesses, plus 26 per cent of charities had encountered cybersecurity violations between March 2019-2020. 

With the attacks becoming an increasing threat to UK organisations, the Government committed to investing £10 million in developing new cybersecurity technology solutions over the next four years.

Funded from the Digital Security by Design program (2018), nine grant winners will divide the funding to create or develop their software and solutions to decrease the risk of hacking attempts.

This initiative is part of the Government’s promise to drive innovation in the UK, through increasing investment into Research and Development (R&D) by 2.4 per cent by 2027.

Did you know that there is funding available from the Government for R&D-related projects? To see if you could be eligible, book a demo with our team now.

 

A new study has shown that UK tech start-ups have accessed more funding in the last year than new businesses in France and Germany combined.

According to The State of European Tech report, from venture capital firm Atomico, tech firms in the UK attracted capital funding worth around £37.4 billion within the last five years – including more than £9.3 billion in finance in the last 12 months.

Despite the uncertainty regarding Brexit and the Coronavirus pandemic, the report shows that investment in tech start-ups in Britain in 2020 was double the amount raised by its European counterparts in places like Germany and France.

Although other parts of the UK are seeing increasing investment in tech, London remains the primary tech hub when it comes to the amount of capital invested, attracting £7 million in 2020.

Paris was Europe’s second-largest tech hub, attracting £2.5 billion of investment this year – around 35 per cent less than London.

Reflecting on the latest findings, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said: “The UK is the tech powerhouse of Europe. We want to make sure that UK tech comes out of the COVID-19 crisis stronger than ever – supporting the sector through the recovery just as tech supported all of us through the pandemic.

“Our forthcoming digital strategy will unleash the full potential of tech innovators and entrepreneurs across the country, driving a new era of growth. The UK has long been one of the best places to start and grow a tech business and we intend to keep it that way by taking an unashamedly pro-tech approach.”

A key factor in the success of many tech businesses launching in the UK is the generous R&D tax credit system, which provides around £5.1 billion in funding a year that supports £36 billion of R&D expenditure.

If you would like help making the R&D tax credit claim process simpler, find out how our unique cloud-based solution can help you today by arranging a demo with our experienced team.

The UK Government has funded £22.5 million into five advanced research centres in Exeter, London and Loughborough, so industries can tackle waste, drive recycling and bounce back more sustainably from coronavirus.

Recycling of chemicals, construction, electronics, metals and textiles will now be more feasible with this funding.

Many sectors welcome this news, particularly the UK’s textiles industry, which almost create the same amount of emissions as cars, which are used for private journeys. Additionally, an estimate of £140 million worth of garments ends up into landfill every year.

These research centres will examine how the reuse and recycling of waste materials from chemical, construction, electronics, metal, textiles and transport industries can help to stop the production of 154 million tonnes of mineral waste each year. For reference, this is enough to fill 30,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools and will ultimately help to protect the environment and boost the economy.

Expanding and advancing the circular economy can help to lessen greenhouse gas emissions, it will conserve natural resources and present new opportunities for UK industries, and up to 500,000 jobs by 2030 (according to research).

Kwasi Kwarteng, Minister of State at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, said “we want to further the UK’s status as a world leader in finding green solutions to industrial challenges. Projects like these are excellent examples of placing manufacturers at the forefront of the green industrial revolution.”

“Creating a more circular economy for our waste and resources lies at the heart of this Government’s transformative agenda for the environment. We are committed to going further and faster to reduce, reuse and recycle more of our resources, with strong measures to enable this in our landmark Environment Bill,” adds Rebecca Pow, Parliamentary under Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

To find out how we can assist you and your clients with innovation funding via our software, book a demo today.

Businesses in the North of England and Midlands are still far less likely to make an R&D tax credit claim compared to their peers in the South of England, according to HMRC data.

R&D tax specialists Made.Simplr believe that this issue needs addressing to ensure the UK enjoys a swifter and more equal economic recovery.

HMRC’s R&D tax credit report for the last year suggests that most claims for this generous tax relief are still being made by business with a registered office in London, the South East or the East of England.

While Made.Simplr says that figures are slightly skewed by the fact that the data is based on where a business’s registered offices are located, rather than were the R&D took place, they still feel that there is significant potential in other parts of the UK to make a higher number of claims.

“This is a historic trend that is repeated year in and year out in HMRC’s R&D tax credit data,” said Dimitris Vassiliadis, Marketing and Business Development Director at Made.Simplr.

“While it is clear that the method for recording claims does complicate matters, there are clearly fewer claims being made in the North and other parts of the UK, like the Midlands, which is difficult to explain.”

The firm believes that a lack of understanding of the R&D tax credit system or limited access to advice may be an issue for some businesses.

Dimitris said: “The South contains a higher concentration of firms offering advice on R&D than many other parts of the UK, but we know that there are still many fantastic accountancy firms out there in the North and the Midlands working hard to provide advice and support to their clients.

“Unfortunately, it may be that many SMEs in the UK simply aren’t aware of what is on offer or they do not consider themselves suitable for the scheme.”

Made.Simplr says that potentially thousands of claims may be being missed as a result, preventing innovative businesses from a wide range of sectors from claiming millions of pounds of tax relief.

For example, preliminary data shows that £5.3 billion of R&D tax relief support has been claimed for 2018-19, corresponding to £35.3 billion of R&D expenditure – a further increase in the tax relief claimed on the previous years.

Made.Simplr believes the cloud-based technology that it has developed may be the solution, as it is able to pull data from existing sources, such as online accounting platforms to produce HMRC-ready R&D claims using the latest automation.

Dimitris added: “Now is the perfect time for accountancy firms to invest in technology, such as our own platform, to help automate the claims process.

“This can help to reduce man-hours, expand their capacity to provide advice to more clients and significantly reduce the costs and burden of making a claim.

“More must be done to help businesses across the UK access this vital tax relief, especially during difficult times such as these.”

Led by UK Research and Innovation (UKR&I), the Digital Security by Design (DSbD) challenge welcomed two new funding awards which will help with their objective of preventing hackers from remotely gaining command over online data and digital systems.

For example, these systems include autonomous cars and smart home security systems.

The Hut Group’s consortium’s funding 

A British e-commerce company named The Hut Group (THG), who is leading a group of researchers such as the University of Manchester and the University of Oxford, has been awarded £5.8 million.

This consortium will form a significant demonstration element to work with the multi-million-pound government-funded program, Morello, by Arm Ltd. Morello was previously awarded the UKR&I.

THG will advance £2.8 million of the funding into recruitment, plus specialist supplies for the study. The remaining £3 million, will be distributed to the universities.

Tests will be done on the benefits of DSbD technology to ensure the increased productivity and advancement of future world-leading services and products, plus the improvement of e-commerce security.

DiScriBe’s funding

A research collaboration at the University of Bath, named DiScriBe, has been awarded £3.5 million to concentrate on the social science side of digital security.

The aim is to “join the gap between security engineering challenges and the businesses and people who will implement them.”

To achieve this, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has contributed £1.2 million, and the DSbD challenge has funded the remaining £2.3 million.

Professor John Goodacre, the Director of DSbD, states that “The significance of these two important awards is the momentum they will provide to the whole programme of work planned.

“The Soteria project led by THG takes a leader’s position in this undertaking and will provide a crucial demonstration of the security benefits DSbD Technology can bring to the increasingly critical e-commerce industry.”

For more information or advice on R&D investments, please contact our team.