R&D tax credit specialist Amplifi hails Scottish business wins 18 months after Edinburgh launch

Research and development tax credit specialist Amplifi Solutions has hailed a string of business wins since the turn of the year as it continues to build its presence in Scotland.

Left to right are Roger Daynes and Jamie Watts of Amplifi Solutions. Picture: Stewart Attwood

Founded in Belfast in 2014, the firm has grown rapidly in Scotland over the last 18 months with half of the firm’s new clients headquartered in this country.

Business wins in Scotland in 2021 include eco start-up Pawprint, social enterprise One Year No Beer and e-learning platform My Online Schooling.

Former Copart senior executive Roger Daynes joined the firm’s Edinburgh office last year, working alongside commercial director Jamie Watts, who was brought onboard to establish the brand in Scotland.

In the recent UK Budget, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced a research and development (R&D) tax credit consultation, which will include a review on whether data and cloud computing costs can be considered under the scheme. Amplifi said the review was a clear sign of the UK government’s continued commitment to supporting innovation with a competitive initiative.

During the last year on record (2018/2019), the scheme awarded Scottish businesses a record £235 million in total funding, though other areas of the UK benefited proportionately more than Scotland.

Daynes, who is the firm’s regional manager for Scotland, said: “The consultation could result in real growth for the R&D tax credit incentive and with the Chancellor also announcing a corporation tax (CT) rate increase over the next few years, the benefits of innovating, whilst utilising R&D tax credits to offset your CT rate are even more apparent.”

Watts added: “HRMC’s own statistics show that Scottish SMEs [small and medium-sized enterprises] increased their R&D tax credit funding over the last reporting year, however the numbers also show that Scotland is still lagging behind the UK average on a proportional basis.

“We know that we are surrounded by innovative companies, but many are still overlooking or are unaware of this opportunity to reward that innovation.”

Amplifi Solutions was co-founded by Jeff Drennan and Chris Maylin in Belfast seven years ago, and, since launching, the Edinburgh operation has grown rapidly over the last year and a half.

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