A Wolverhampton accountant is spearheading an awareness campaign to help microbreweries access thousands of pounds of untapped cash.  

It comes after Paul Thompson, of Accounts Superhero, found up to three quarters of craft breweries across the region are unaware of a research and development tax credits scheme. Mr Thompson said:

“The government’s R&D tax credits scheme is available to any business investing money in innovation, but there is a misconception that it is only available in scientific applications.

“Breweries don’t realise that the development of new flavours of beer could make them eligible to apply for tax credits with an average claim being around £10,000. In these unprecedented and challenging times, having this money on the way could make a massive difference.

“As an accountant specialising in craft breweries and micro pubs, I know there is continual investment being ploughed into the development of new ales. The demand for vegan beer in particular has seen this skyrocket over the last couple of years.

“R&D can also be used for breweries who have switched to a new way of selling. This could include investment in a new bottling process to facilitate home deliveries after always selling in cask, something a lot are doing at the moment to maintain an income."

Development costs in the brewing process can include buying new ingredients and equipment,  time spent in man-hours on research and development and more.

Paul is urging breweries to pursue claims from the past two years. He says these could bring returns of around half their investment costs – that’s potentially thousands of pounds back in the business.

Accounts Superhero are working closely with Helen Gordon of Woodshires, an expert in the R&D claims process, to help breweries submit successful applications. For more information, brewers can contact Paul on 01902 212937.