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RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT FOOD AND BEVERAGE

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    If you’re a food or beverage manufacturer and you’ve recently developed new products, improved existing ones, or even enhanced your packaging – there is a strong chance that you could benefit from a Research and Development (R&D) Tax Credit claim or you could receive more than you’ve already claimed for.

    The food and drinks industry never stands still and companies are continually looking to enhance their products. Whether it be ensuring that they keep up with the latest customer trends, deliver foods that taste great, or developing sustainable packaging that keeps food pristine, there is always a project to keep the New Product Development (NPD) teams busy.

    Investing in R&D can help you create new products or improve existing ones by looking at ways in which you can claim up to 33.35% cashback on qualifying R&D spend.

    R&D TAX CREDITS FOR THE FOOD AND BEVERAGE INDUSTRY EXPLAINED

    The UK government wants to reward and fuel research and development in the food industry. If your business has been focusing on new product development, including improvements to flavours, shelf life, and nutrition, it’s likely that you’ll qualify for R&D incentives relief.

    With so much news in the press about increased obesity rates and changes in legislation to sugar content, now is a great time to receive cash incentives to make improvements to your existing product range.

    Further developments may also be eligible for R&D incentives.

    WHAT TYPE OF FOOD AND BEVERAGE PROJECTS CAN QUALIFY FOR R&D TAX CREDITS?

    A broad range of engineering projects can meet the Government’s R&D definition, for example:

    Food Science

    Manufacturing Food

    Packaging

    Manufacturing

     

    ESTIMATE HOW MUCH YOU COULD CLAIM ON R&D TAX INCENTIVES

    Have you ever wondered whether you could make a claim for R&D tax incentives? Or, if you’ve already made a claim, maybe you want to find out how it stacks up against your industry peers and expectations? Our R&D Tax Credit Calculator answers those questions and gives you an instant estimate of the benefit available to you.

    WHY IS RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT IMPORTANT IN THE FOOD & BEVERAGE INDUSTRY?

    We speak to so many businesses that don’t feel like they qualify for relief. They think they’re “simply doing their day job”. We think the name ‘Research & Development’ is misleading. It makes people think of lab coats, test tubes, innovation centres.

    In reality, R&D pretty much comes down to two qualifying criteria: 1) you’ve made some changes/improvements to your product or manufacturing process; and 2) these changes weren’t obvious or easy and you didn’t know exactly how to make them work from the off.

    So, have you ever improved a product? Have you developed one further? Changing ingredients to improve the nutrition of a product could qualify too. And if you’ve made improvements and could quite easily say, “those changes took some thought, some time, and some testing,” it’s time for you to consider your eligibility to claim R&D incentives’

    WHY COOPER PARRY?

    In three years we’ve put more than £61 million back with businesses. We’ve obtained in excess of £3 million for companies that had already claimed. And we’re a member of the government’s Research and Development Consultative Committee,

    Our experience and dedicated R&D incentives specialists means we know what to look for and we know where to find it.

    WHAT DO OUR
    CLIENTS SAY?

    • 91

      Total reviews
    • 4.6

      Average rating

    Ian

    R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow us to keep investing in the business. The results went beyond our expectations

    Posted on 28 Mar 2023

    Tony

    R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow for more investment to meet increasing volume demands generally once we get the refund from HMRC. You exceeded expectations in terms of what the output looked like (still to hear from HMRC though). Output was very professional and the journey with Mark, Emma and Tom was great - they were very responsive, fast and met deadlines. I don't know how we would have got the info from our tech guys without you all.

    Posted on 28 Mar 2023

    David

    R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow us to invest more. The results met with our expectations 100%

    Posted on 28 Mar 2023

    Beyhan

    R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow us to continue to invest in our business. The results met with expectations

    Posted on 28 Feb 2023

    Sadia

    R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow us to support the business further. The results were above expectations.

    Posted on 06 Jan 2023

    Andy

    R&D Claim: The additional cash avoids a further liability to assist overall working capital. Expectations met and well conducted workshops. Good comms.

    Posted on 06 Jan 2023

    James

    R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow us to re-invest. Combined with the Capital Allowances Team the results met all expectations.

    Posted on 06 Jan 2023

    Thomas

    R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow for continued investment into our patents and R&D to drive sales. I felt the results were above expectation. I appreciate the timeliness and the assistance when resources were constrained. The push to meet deadlines and helpfulness was unmatched.

    Posted on 06 Jan 2023

    Dean

    R&D Claim

    Posted on 06 Dec 2022

    Esperanza

    R&D Claim: It was great working with the team. All very supportive and knowledgeable. The additional cash will help with our corporation tax payment

    Posted on 21 Nov 2022

    Harpreet

    Very professional and knowledgeable to our market of business. Cooper Parry's regular notifications of industry updates as well as personal reach outs keep us well informed of any market and regulatory changes required within our sector.

    Posted on 08 Nov 2022

    Karan

    R&D Claim: Always first class. The additional cash will allow us to reinvest in the product

    Posted on 08 Nov 2022

    Peter

    R&D Claim: Great service as per previous year. Staff involved had necessary engineering expertise to bridge the gaps between myself and our own R&D team. Just gives us some confidence when investing further in R&D projects, qualifying or otherwise.

    Posted on 03 Nov 2022

    Sabrina

    R&D Claim: The results are not yet complete however the process of the claims have been great and very smooth and easy. It has been a pleasure to work with Cooper Parry and definitely made my life much much easier.

    Posted on 03 Nov 2022

    Richard

    R&D Claim: The results matched with our expectations very well. The additional cash will allow us to pay staff xmas bonus and purchase hampers for our top customers

    Posted on 03 Nov 2022

    Lisa

    R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow us to invest in capex. I had hoped we might be able to get a bit more back, but the reason is that my business does less R&D activity than I expected (i.e. not connected to your work)

    Posted on 03 Nov 2022

    Malcolm

    R&D Claim: Cooper Parry provided a very efficient and professional experience, comprehensively providing guidance as we developed the claim. The additional cash will allow us to develop our business further.

    Posted on 03 Nov 2022

    David

    R&D Claim: The additional cash has allowed us to make additional investment in R+D and new plant & equipment. The process has been great , thorough insight into the latest rules and guidance allowed us to achieve a positive result.

    Posted on 03 Nov 2022

    Alan

    R&D Claim: The additional cash has allowed us to bolster our bank account as we are debt free and well invested. Rather disappointed that because of the size of the Fila Group as a listed Group in Italy we are constrained by the quantity of R&D relief which we appreciate does not fall within the responsibility of Cooper Parry. The relief obtained is much appreciated but simply below expectation as we did not appreciate the rules.

    Posted on 03 Nov 2022

    Gordon

    R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow us to continue to carry out innovative r&d which creates added value for SMS, our customers and society. The results were excellent

    Posted on 29 Sep 2022

    Mel

    R&D Claim: The additional cash will help us to invest into new ventures

    Posted on 29 Sep 2022

    Brian

    R&D Claim: The additional cash will enable us to re-invest in further R & D. We have developed some materials that I believe have an exciting future in the next generation of battery technology. The results totally met my expectations.

    Posted on 31 Aug 2022

    Charlene

    R&D Claim: The results were inline with expectations. The additional cash will contribute to the costs of R&D

    Posted on 21 Jul 2022

    James

    R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow us to invest in new plant and machinery to help grow the business but also to take advantage of the 130% capital allowances so we pay less tax next year! Previously the R&D claims appeared to be a last minute thought. Now CP arrange meetings as soon as the year is finished so the work we have completed is fresh in our minds. We have now started to discuss R&D work undertaken in our monthly directors meetings too.

    Posted on 10 Jun 2022

    Tony

    R&D Claim: We have dealt with CP on numerous occasions now and the overall performance remains as we've come to expect, outstanding. Any additional cash gives us the confidence to continue, carrying out further R&D activity as we continually look at ways to push our capabilities, technical knowhow and upskill our workforce. Of course the cash incentives allow us to accelerate our overall growth too.

    Posted on 04 Jun 2022

    Simon

    R&D Claim: Extremely smooth process and excellent knowledge of our R&D projects within the Cooper Parry team. Friendly yet professional approach. Reporting schedules straightforward to complete. I imagine the additional cash will allow investment in further R&D projects.

    Posted on 04 Jun 2022

    Anil

    R&D Claim: The additional cash will help us to fund further investments. The results matched our expectations entirely

    Posted on 06 May 2022

    Ed

    R&D Claim. The results exceeded expectation and the additional cash will allow us to invest in growth

    Posted on 05 May 2022

    David

    R&D Claim: Bang on - really impressed. The additional cash will allow us to continue investment in our key R&D project well into FY22

    Posted on 04 May 2022

    Amie

    R&D Claim: The results were excellent, as expected. The additional cash will allow us to reinvest in R&D projects and other engineering projects.

    Posted on 03 Apr 2022

    Daniel

    R&D Claim: The results completely met expectations. The additional cash will allow us to invest in productivity / automation

    Posted on 03 Apr 2022

    Lee

    R&D Claim: The professionalism and level of customer service is exceptional. The additional cash will allow us to slightly improve working cap

    Posted on 14 Feb 2022

    Carol

    R&D Claim: The additional cash has allowed us to continue to invest in R&D, The results were more than expected.

    Posted on 14 Feb 2022

    Harpreet

    R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow us to grow the business. Result were as we expected. Efficient communication and logical processes.

    Posted on 14 Jan 2022

    Rob

    R&D Claim: Waiting for HMRC but it all looks positive. We got a good professional submission with a light touch interaction with CP and in what I think was a cost effective way. The additional cash will allow us to continue to invest in product development.

    Posted on 14 Jan 2022

    Alan

    R&D Claim: The additional cash has allowed us to re-invest into our facility and broaden our product range. The results achieved met our expectations.

    Posted on 14 Jan 2022

    Susan

    R&D Claim: The additional cash allows us to reduce our next bill. I wasnt expecting there to be anything on this particular R&D claim, so anything was a win :-)

    Posted on 14 Jan 2022

    Greg

    R&D Claim: the additional cash will really help working capital. The results were as expected - but I already knew what a great team you are!

    Posted on 14 Jan 2022

    David

    R&D Claim: The additional cash has allowed us to cut borrowings! The results achieved were very good.

    Posted on 14 Jan 2022

    Stephen

    R&D Claim: The additional cash has allowed us to invest in £500k of new plant & machinery being delivered in March. We had high expectations that were achieved.

    Posted on 14 Jan 2022

    Bryan

    R&D Claim: The additional cash has allowed us to pay down debt. The result was above and beyond as always. The team is great to work with.

    Posted on 14 Jan 2022

    Barbara

    R&D Claim: The additional cash may be used to pay for additional staff training. The results compared perfectly to our expectations.

    Posted on 14 Jan 2022

    Michael

    R&D Claim: Additional cash will put some working capital into the business which is much needed, especially as Aerospace is still waking up from Covid. It far exceeded what I thought we could claim for significantly.

    Posted on 14 Jan 2022

    Paul

    R&D Claim: The additional cash has allowed us to reduce our overdraft. The results were slightly higher than expected

    Posted on 14 Jan 2022

    Chris

    R&D claim: Our corporation tax liability is due at Christmas when cash flow is tight so the additional cash certainly helps ease the burden. Every year we have completed the R&D exercise, Cooper Parry have always exceeded my expectations.

    Posted on 02 Nov 2021

    Dave

    R&D claim: The additional cash will help us to survive! In terms of results, it's the 3rd year, so pretty much as expected.

    Posted on 02 Nov 2021

    David

    R&D claim: The results achieved were in line with what was promised at the start. The additional cash has already been banked into our cash flow to invest in product team.

    Posted on 02 Nov 2021

    Tony

    R&D Claim: The additional cash has allowed us to continue growing our business. We were expecting a high standard and that's what we received. Delivery was spot on and Customer service is first class

    Posted on 07 Aug 2021

    Perminder

    R&D claim: The service and collaboration is exactly what we have began to expect from CP R&D Tax team. The process simply enabled us to pay less Tax but invest back in to R&D

    Posted on 26 Jul 2021

    John

    R&D claim: Achievement was correlated to expectations given the experience of the team and our prior working relationship. The additional cash has enabled us to increase cash reserves at this moment in time with a view to capital allocation in the next 12 months.

    Posted on 26 Jul 2021

    Lisa

    R&D Claim: At my level it is not about comparing results but the guidance & experience from Marcus North for completion of the task. Marcus was a great support & was very patient too.

    Posted on 24 Jun 2021

    Hazel

    R&D Claim: I've had a previous working relationship with Cooper Parry, so knew my expectations would be met. The additional cash has enabled us to increase working capital and ease cash flow pressure during a difficult year due to COVID restrictions.

    Posted on 27 May 2021

    Adam

    R&D Claim: Very impressed with the quality and speed of response, with the team able to finalise two years worth of R&D returns in short order. The additional cash will enable us to further investment in R&D activities.

    Posted on 27 May 2021

    Gaynor

    R&D Claim: the additional cash will allow us to continue to invest into the business. The results were above expectation

    Posted on 30 Mar 2021

    Arron

    R&D claim: The additional cash will allow us to continue investing in the growth of the business moving forward. Results faired well against expectations. We weren't internally aware of the change to our claim, from SME to RDEC following the acquisition, however the detail was explained thoroughly.

    Posted on 15 Mar 2021

    Katie

    R&D Claim: Better than our expectations! This was the second year which Ece worked with us to complete the R&D claim. Ece put in place half yearly catch ups and processes which ensured that the year end claim wasn't hard work. Thanks for making it so easy! Invest in more new products.

    Posted on 06 Mar 2021

    Stuart

    R&D claim: results exceeded expectations

    Posted on 15 Jan 2021

    Matthew

    R&D Claim: The additionl cash will alllow us to continue the development of our Customs Clearance platform

    Posted on 25 Apr 2023

    Christine

    R&D Claim: An excellent service

    Posted on 25 Apr 2023

    Tim

    R&D Claim: The additional cash will provide working cap to further grow. The results were better than expected. would like to mention Marcus here as he is always very helpful and always provides very helpful and considered answers to my questions

    Posted on 25 Apr 2023

    Shamas

    R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow us to invest in growing the business. The results were better than expected

    Posted on 28 Mar 2023

    Andrew

    R&D Claim: We will use the additional cash to mitigate against other significant one off cash expenditure or alternatively invest in small infrastructure projects within the business to improve our facility and operational efficiency. The results matched our expectations and was a relatively smooth process as we have used Cooper Parry before for our R&D claims

    Posted on 28 Mar 2023

    Sandra

    Thank you, Sandra

    Posted on 27 Mar 2023

    Phil

    R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow us to invest in people. Definitely met expectations. Difficult to exceed expectations since you have set a very high bar in previous years

    Posted on 28 Feb 2023

    Mark

    R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow us to survive. The work was fine

    Posted on 28 Feb 2023

    Julie

    R&D Claim: The results matched expectations

    Posted on 28 Feb 2023

    Chris

    R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow us to carry on investing in the business. The results achieved were about what I expected

    Posted on 28 Feb 2023

    Gary

    R&D Claim: The additional cash will support working capital. The process was fine no issues

    Posted on 06 Jan 2023

    Tony

    R&D Claim: The additional cash will support business financing. The results were very good

    Posted on 06 Jan 2023

    Heather

    R&D Claim: Good communication. Very knowledgeable and want to build a good relationship

    Posted on 08 Nov 2022

    Glen

    R&D Claim: Overall for the main claims we didn't achieve the uplift in claims that I was expecting from a more in-depth workshops with CP. The additional cash will be added to the general cash flow

    Posted on 08 Nov 2022

    Tim

    R&D Claim: The results were what I expected. I think we are coming up with ideas and I think u are telling us whether its claimable or not. Not sure if we have exhausted everything at Instarmac. But we will keep trying. As we are cash rich - the additional cash will help us earn extra interest especially as the rate is rising. More money maybe to treat the Employees

    Posted on 03 Nov 2022

    Jenny

    R&D Claim: Efficient as always. Emma and her colleagues do a great job, are patient and responsive. The additional cash will allow us to invest back into R&D

    Posted on 03 Nov 2022

    John

    R&D Claim: Overall the results were very good. The additional cash will support the growth of the business

    Posted on 03 Nov 2022

    Chris

    R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow us to continue to invest in R&D - allowing us to compete more effectively against international suppliers

    Posted on 03 Nov 2022

    Matthew

    R&D Claim: The report and delivery were of good quality which was in line with my expectations. The additional cash will allow us to pay the electric bill!

    Posted on 03 Nov 2022

    Rob

    R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow is to invest in additional R&D activities

    Posted on 21 Jul 2022

    Trevor

    R&D Claim: The additional cash has allowed us to offset any issues with FY2021. The results compared very well to our expectations

    Posted on 03 Jun 2022

    Anthony

    R&D Claim: Results were in line with expectations, and comparable to other Tax advisers we use

    Posted on 28 May 2022

    Sud

    R&D Claim: Impressed with the knowledge of our projects and the continuity of personnel looking after our claim. The additional cash will allow us to invest in our business

    Posted on 25 May 2022

    Shirley

    R&D Claim: We have been making claims for some years now so we are familiar with the process. However, after discussion on how that could be made more straightforward for our non-financial colleagues, there was a definite improvement this year and we reached submission stage faster. The additional cash will allow us to invest in the business

    Posted on 19 May 2022

    Julie

    R&D Claim: The results were as good as expected. The additional cash will allow us to support the cultural sector and keep in business

    Posted on 03 Apr 2022

    Paul

    R&D Claim: The additional cash has allowed us to make further investment in strategic projects. The results matched our expectations.

    Posted on 14 Jan 2022

    Jon

    R&D Claim: The additional cash has allowed us to pay the premium on a new lease to secure premises. The results were in line with our expectations.

    Posted on 14 Jan 2022

    Phil

    R&D Claim: The additional cash has allowed us to fund working capital. The results were pretty similar to my expectations.

    Posted on 14 Jan 2022

    Andy

    R&D Claim: The results were in line with expectation - team understood technicalities well and first draft of report well put together. The additional cash has enabled us to reinvest into product development.

    Posted on 14 Jan 2022

    Esperanza

    R&D claim: The process has been straight forward. However, it would be good to get to improve communication in regards to the status of the claim. For example if we could access a website were this status is shown. Also, it would be good that the amount claimed and reported is fed back to the Tax Team and Audit team at the right stage of those processes. Therefore, ideally would be beneficial if the R&D reported in annual accounts is the same as the one claimed, and the one incorporated in the Tax calculation. The additional cash will go towards PAYE payments.

    Posted on 26 Jul 2021

    Dominic

    R&D Claim: The results exceeded our initial expectations, once we started discussions with Jonny Brewster it became clear that we could claim for more than we anticipated. I found the process both informative and straight forward.The additional cash has enabled us to increase pension payments, and give us a little more security in purchasing stock.

    Posted on 24 Jun 2021

    Ramesh

    R&D claim: very good, expectations were as planned. The additional cash will enable us to re invest in the business for development & product creation.

    Posted on 25 Mar 2021

    Vicky

    Posted on 11 Mar 2021

    Ryan

    R&D Claim: The additional cash will allow us to reinvest in the business. I was slightly disappointed with the quality and content of the final report. I was not sure that it really captured the elements of the project as we had communicated.

    Posted on 01 May 2022

    CLIENT TESTIMONIAL

    Better than our expectations! Cooper Parry put in place half yearly catch ups and processes which ensured that the year-end claim wasn’t hard work. Thanks for making it so easy! – Katie Milner, Proper Snacks