The Business Exchange Swindon & Wiltshire Edition 38: Aug/Sept 2018 | Page 38

BUSINESS ADVICE

Are you aware of Research & Development tax relief ?

By Martin Gurney
“ There are many business owners who don ’ t consider R & D tax relief because they believe it ’ s only suitable for research based businesses ”
Looking to the future of business , this government has shown a commitment to innovation through research and development .
It was recently announced that up to 2.4 per cent of GDP would go into this over the next ten years . Part of this investment will be R & D tax relief or , as it ’ s sometimes called , tax credit .
Many businesses can apply for this tax relief although awareness of that fact is poor . However it ’ s very important to take advice around it says Martin Gurney , tax partner at Haines Watts Chartered Accountants in Swindon . Why ? “ Firstly to ensure that the available relief is maximised and secondly to ensure that only allowable expenditure is claimed .
“ It is also important not to fall foul of rules that state that receiving grant funding which qualifies as “ notifiable state aid ” will potentially result in the reduction in ( as well as the clawing back of previously received ) R & D tax relief .
“ There are many business owners who don ’ t consider R & D tax relief because they believe it ’ s only suitable for research based
businesses – in other words it ’ s only suitable for businesses where staff wear lab coats !
“ That ’ s simply not the case . For example , we have a client that designs , builds and installs ramping systems for disabled access , together with other related products
“ They didn ’ t think R & D tax relief could possibly apply to their business – however we suggested that there was potentially relief available and arranged a meeting with our specialist R & D Team .
“ The key is that any activity which “ seeks to attain appreciable improvement to products , services or processes ” can qualify . In any sector .
“ We worked with the client and our R & D Team to identify the activity and related expenditure that would qualify for the relief . Over the past few years claims have been submitted annually and rebates received which have been re-invested to continue development .
“ We have invested recently in a series of animated videos on this subject , in order to help get the message out to UK business owners that are missing out on this valuable relief . You can find it on our website , Facebook and LinkedIn feeds ”
01793 533838
To find out more contact Martin Gurney at Haines Watts Swindon on the number above , or email msgurney @ hwca . com
For more info : www . haineswatts-swindon . co . uk

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE THE DIRECTORS CUT

By John Morris , director at Swindon-based JxD Consultants
The problems on the high streets have not escaped our notice and customer experience should now be high on everyone ’ s agenda .
We know there is a direct correlation between a brands leadership team involvement and great customer experience delivery , however we have also found that in many cases what the board thinks is happening and what is actually happening are often two very different things .
Why and why now ?
The macro business trend is that customer experience has overtaken product quality and price as the key differentiator with research showing that 86 % of customers will actually pay more for a better customer experience . Oracle Customer Experience Impact Report . …. why now ?
• Customers are better informed and more demanding .
• Increasing threat from disruptive competition .
• Much more choice
• Direct impact on profitability and survival .
The benefits
The argument for making an investment in customer experience improvement becomes more and more obvious and necessary with the benefits being a combination of revenue increase , cost reduction and customer and price preservation with Bain & Co stating .. “ companies that excel at customer experience grow revenues 4-8 % above the market .”
So what if we do nothing and let a few customers down ?
Three-quarters of consumers say they are unwilling to stick with a brand that has treated them badly even if they love the brand ’ s products . However it ’ s not only that , distressed customers leads to increasingly stressed employees , brands become open to competition and social media allows disgruntled customers to make their dissatisfaction known to a wide audience generating a spiral of discontent .
Who ’ s accountable ?
The simple answer is , everybody , however who takes the lead ? Many departments will believe that they should ‘ own ’ the customer experience , however this isn ’ t about ownership it ’ s about leadership and accoutability . If the leadership team deprioritise the customer so will everyone else , the right attitude starts at the top and supported by cooperation across the departments with a common goal to deliver an exceptional experience to the customer .
Where to start ?
Customer Experience is all about people and getting the right balance of investment and effort to make improvements . The JXD 7Ps Approach to Customer Experience is designed to help organisations take a step by step approach to improving their Customer Experience by starting with the basics and building out from what ’ s already working .
For more info : www . jxdconsultants . com
38 THE BUSINESS EXCHANGE 2018