Emergency chair manufacturer receives R&D tax boost to invest in new product design
A leading Birmingham-based manufacturer of evacuation chairs for people with mobility difficulties is making a significant investment into new production development after working with accountants and business advisory firm Smith Cooper to secure a Research and Development (R&D) tax deduction.
Evac+Chair, which designs, manufacturers and supplies evacuation chairs to ensure a safe exit for users during an emergency, claimed the enhanced tax deduction under the R&D tax scheme, with the support of Smith Cooper’s Birmingham office.
The business, which develops its products for schools, universities, hospitals and clients including Aston Villa FC and the Birmingham Hippodrome, claimed the money over two years following the development of its innovative Neo-Natal Intensive Care Transport systems and District Nurse products.
The business has an on-going R&D programme to enable it to take advantage of new technology to meet growing customer demand for flexible emergency equipment. It will use the tax credits to support the development of a range of patient restrain systems Recovery+ and Nightingale.
Established in 1985, Evac+Chair has 73 employees and sells over 50 per cent of its products internationally, predominantly to clients in Japan, Germany and the USA.
Mark Wallace, Managing Director at Evac+Chair, said: “We invest significantly in the development of groundbreaking new chairs and stretchers to provide clients with products that are both comfortable and simple to use, and the technology and insight that we incorporate into our designs meant many of our latest products qualified for an R&D claim.
“The enhanced tax reduction has provided a significant injection of working capital to help us further boost our product offering and to secure contracts with both new and existing clients in the UK and overseas, and the support and advice from Smith Cooper was fundamental to the business during the claim process.”
Ed Saunders, Tax Advisory Partner at Smith Cooper, said: “We have a long-standing relationship with Evac+Chair and worked closely with its management team to identify the products that had the right elements to allow us to submit a strong R&D tax claim.
“By recovering these costs the business is now focusing on the development of a new range of equipment to aid district nurses and the on-going development into Neo-Natal and Pediatric transport systems and patient restraints. We’ll continue to work closely with Mark and the team to ensure on-going innovative product design is recognised and claimed for.”
