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R&D tax credits: £1.2m+ secured for UK tech.

If you've built software, improved a process, solved a technical problem or trained an ML model — you probably qualify. We do full qualification, technical narrative, HMRC submission and defence. Success-based fees available.

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£1.2m
In R&D tax credits secured for UK clients
£28k
Typical first claim for a £500k-revenue SaaS company
6wks
Typical time from review to cash in the bank
How we claim

The four stages of a defensible R&D claim.

R&D claims are increasingly scrutinised by HMRC. Every claim we file is built to withstand an enquiry — not just pushed through for speed.

Qualification assessment

Free 20-min scoping call where a partner evaluates your projects against HMRC's BEIS guidance (science / tech advance + uncertainty). We only proceed if we're confident you qualify — so you're never wasting money on a speculative claim.

Technical narrative + financial apportionment

We co-write the technical report with your engineers — detailing baseline, advance, uncertainty and resolution per project. Then we apportion staff time, subcontractor costs and consumables. This is where weak claims fall apart and strong claims win.

HMRC submission + additional information form

We file the claim with the mandatory Additional Information Form, including named senior officer responsibility. Credit typically lands in your account in 4–8 weeks if HMRC doesn't open an enquiry.

Enquiry defence included

If HMRC opens an enquiry (now ~17% of SME claims), we defend it end-to-end at no additional cost to existing monthly-plan clients. Our claims are built to survive this — we have a 94% retention rate on enquiry outcomes.

What goes wrong elsewhere

Why most R&D claims are weaker than they should be.

HMRC rejected or reduced ~25% of SME R&D claims in 2024. Almost always for the same four reasons.

Technical narrative too generic

Boutique R&D firms often copy-paste narratives ("we used React and Node.js to solve technical uncertainty"). HMRC can spot this instantly. Our narratives name the specific uncertainties, baselines and advances — per project.

Non-qualifying activities included

"Routine" coding, UX polish, data migration, market research — often swept into claims by overly aggressive firms. HMRC strips them out and may penalise. We exclude cleanly up front.

Staff time over-apportioned

"80% of our CTO's time is R&D" — defensible? Often not. We base apportionments on project trackers, standups and actual engineering output. More defensible = more likely to survive a challenge.

No advance assurance for pre-revenue

Pre-revenue startups can get HMRC advance assurance — reducing investor risk and speeding fundraising. Generalist accountants rarely pursue this. We handle it routinely.

★★★★★
"Filed an R&D claim for work I was convinced wouldn't qualify. £28,000 credit landed in the company account six weeks later. That one claim paid for three years of fees in one cheque — and the technical narrative they wrote was so thorough HMRC didn't open an enquiry."
JH
James H.
IT services director · Shoreditch · SaaS / dev agency
Common questions

Questions we hear about R&D claims.

Do I qualify for R&D tax credits?

If you've faced a genuine technical uncertainty — writing software that solves a non-trivial problem, training ML models, integrating systems in novel ways, building hardware, optimising performance beyond off-the-shelf tools — almost certainly yes. The 20-min call will give you a clear answer.

What's the difference between SME and RDEC schemes?

SME (fewer than 500 staff, turnover <€100m, balance sheet <€86m) gets an enhanced 186% deduction or (for loss-making) a payable credit of up to 18.6% of qualifying costs. RDEC (larger companies or subsidised R&D) gets a 20% above-the-line credit. We handle both and the "Merged Scheme" from April 2024 onward.

What are success-based fees?

For one-off R&D claims we can quote on either a fixed fee or a success-based fee (typically 12–18% of the credit secured, capped). Existing monthly-plan clients usually get claims included at a heavily reduced fixed rate. No win, no fee available for first-time SME claimants.

What if HMRC opens an enquiry?

Our claims are specifically built to survive enquiries. If one opens anyway, we defend it end-to-end — included in the original fee for monthly-plan clients, or within the enquiry defence cover (to £5,000) we provide. 94% enquiry survival rate across our claims over the last 3 years.

Can I claim R&D for work already done?

Yes — you can claim for R&D in the current and previous accounting period. If your year-end was <2 years ago, we can go back. Often we find 2 prior years of unclaimed R&D when we take on new clients.

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