Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering

BC&A Innovation

R&D Spotlight

The UK’s advanced manufacturing and engineering sector is known worldwide for its innovation and technical expertise. From aerospace and automotive to electronics, precision tooling, and materials science, these industries are constantly pushing the limits of what’s possible. Whether you’re improving production processes, developing new materials, or engineering high-performance components, you may be carrying out activities that qualify for R&D tax relief.

R&D tax relief is aimed at companies making scientific or technological advancements by overcoming technical uncertainties. In manufacturing and engineering, this often means developing new products, improving manufacturing techniques, or refining designs where the outcome isn’t certain and requires experimentation, prototyping, or testing.

Here are some examples of qualifying activities in advanced manufacturing and engineering:

Developing New or Improved Products

Engineering new components, assemblies, or materials with enhanced performance characteristics such as greater strength, lower weight, improved heat resistance, or reduced environmental impact.

Enhancing Manufacturing Processes

Improving production techniques to increase speed, accuracy, or yield while reducing waste, cost, or energy consumption. This might involve developing new machinery, tooling, or automation systems.

Prototyping and Testing New Designs

Creating and iterating physical or digital prototypes, testing them under real-world conditions, and refining designs to meet performance or regulatory requirements.

Overcoming Material Compatibility or Durability Challenges

Researching and solving problems related to material behaviour under stress, temperature, or chemical exposure, particularly where materials must meet demanding specifications.

Developing Bespoke Manufacturing Equipment

Designing and building custom machinery or production lines to meet specific manufacturing challenges not addressed by off-the-shelf solutions.

Integrating Digital Manufacturing Technologies

Implementing Industry 4.0 solutions, such as IoT-connected machinery, data-driven process optimisation, or real-time quality monitoring systems, where significant technical challenges must be overcome.

Meeting New Regulatory or Industry Standards

Adapting products or processes to meet new UK or international regulations, such as aerospace certification, automotive safety standards, or environmental legislation, particularly where this requires engineering innovation.

Improving Product Lifecycle or Recyclability

Developing manufacturing methods or materials that extend product life, improve maintenance, or make end-of-life recycling more efficient and environmentally friendly.

If your business is involved in any of these activities, you may be eligible for R&D tax relief. This government-backed incentive helps UK manufacturers and engineers recover a portion of their innovation costs, freeing up resources to invest in future projects and stay competitive on the world stage.

Our Process

What to expect when working with
BC&A Innovation

1. Discovery Call

Book your FREE 15 minute discovery call today to discuss your R&D activity and we'll guide you on best next steps and estimated claim value.

2. Information gathering

Our technical experts and industry specialists will work with you to uncover all areas of work activity eligible under the R&D scheme, ensuring we have everything we need to support a robust, defensible and maximised claim.

3. Create R&D Tax Claim

Our technical experts will write your claim and supporting documents with a clear assessment of your eligible activity and costs, ensuring compliance with the scheme's governance throughout.

4. Approval & Submission

We'll share, for your approval, the claim draft and supporting documentation. We'll explain in detail how we have arrived at our assessment of your claimable activity, costs and claim value. When you're happy, your claim can be submitted as part of your standard end-of-year processes.

5. Liaising with HMRC

Should HMRC require any further information or have queries regarding your claim, we'll liaise with them to ensure speedy payment without any reduction in claim value.

6. Payment

Once your payment is received, we'll send it across the same working day and advise you on processes that can be put in place to make future claims even more hassle-free. Don't worry about claims going forward, we'll be in regular contact to remind you what is needed and when.

About BC&A Innovation

We've helped hundreds of businesses like yours secure millions in Research & Development tax relief

Our team recognises the importance of R&D in advancing UK businesses, big and small, and we understand the time burden, resources and complexities of claiming tax relief for that R&D. These constraints often leave companies failing to get the tax relief they’re entitled to or underclaiming significantly due to unclear, often confusing guidelines about what constitutes R&D. As experts in R&D tax relief, we’re here to unblur the lines and create robust, defensible and maximised claims on your behalf.

We’re experienced tax professionals, accountants and technical experts with a deep understanding of the R&D tax relief regulations. We’ve worked in many of the industries we now serve and are ideally placed to understand your business’ R&D Activities. As part of HMRC’s panel on R&D, we stay up-to-date with the latest developments in the guidance, to provide our clients with the most accurate and up-to-date advice.

At BC&A Innovation we take the burden of claim generation away from the business so you can do what you do best, while we do what we do best. We pride ourselves on our integrity, professionalism and commitment to our clients.

Not sure if you qualify for R&D tax relief? Book a FREE discovery call today.

Many of the businesses we work with were unsure if they qualified for R&D tax relief at first. A few had even been told by other agencies that they could not claim. Yet, with our help they were able to correctly identify eligible R&D projects and claim back vital funds.

As experts in HMRC’s definitions of Research & Development, we’ll be able to tell you if you should make a claim or not. We’re success fee based, which means it isn’t in our interest or yours to take forward claims that won’t pass HMRC’s stringent checks. If we say it’s worth doing, you can take that to the bank.

Ready for a discovery call? Think of it as a no-obligation chat where we can discuss the work you’ve undertaken and identify tax-saving opportunities. Our expert consultants are keen to speak with you.