Business spending on research and development (R&D) hit a record high of £13.2bn in the last year, up by 10% from the previous year, according to research by UHY Hacker Young.
In the year to 31 March 2013 there was a particularly sharp rise in the amount of R&D investment made by SMEs, which increased 42% from £420m to £595m, the firm said.
UHY Hacker Young added that the increased investment in R&D by small businesses was partly due to the removal in April 2012 of a minimum R&D investment requirement of £10,000 to qualify for tax credits.
Businesses investing in R&D can claim tax credits through schemes including the SME R&D scheme and the large companies R&D scheme.
“Many SMEs and bigger businesses only need to make slight changes to the way they undertake business investment to ensure that they get the most out of R&D tax credits and improve their post and pre-tax profitability,” said Matthew Hodgson, R&D Specialist Partner, at Hacker Young.
“Unfortunately, we’ve seen many cases where businesses have invested in R&D without realising that they are entitled to tax relief on their investment. Often, this is because they have been poorly advised.”