Burton’s Biscuit Company is a British biscuit and snack manufacturing company headquartered in St. Albans.
The company designs, develops and manufactures a variety of biscuits under brands such as Jammie Dodgers, Maryland and Wagon Wheel. With a £233 million turnover in 2017, Burton’s had been successfully claiming significant R&D tax relief in previous years. However, the company had previously focused its claims purely on new product development and had ignored other areas of the business where R&D might have taken place, thus not maximising the size of its claim.
Mike McClean, Financial Controller, Burton's Biscuit Company
The project
Ayming increased internal engagement throughout Burton’s Biscuits business in order to gather accurate technical and financial information and to analyse and assess a larger number of eligible projects. This involved peer-to-peer engagement on technical aspects such as manufacturing and new product development, as well as facilitating extensive engagement with Burton’s key competent technical professionals.
In order to provide the best possible service to our clients, it is important that we truly understand their business as much as we do tax. Ayming’s consulting teams consist of both tax-qualified consultants and industry specialists. For Burton’s Biscuits, our project team included food scientists and product developers. With this experience, Ayming was able to identify further areas of innovation, which helped to increase the number of projects included within the claim. As a result, the qualifying expenditure for Burton’s was increased by 400%.
The innovation
One of the standout projects in our engagement with Burton’s involved the design and production of a nutritious, low-calorie snack for children. The innovation process required research and development to increase the nutritional values of the product and reduce the fat and sugar content without compromising its taste and stability. Our consultants involved used their food science and NPD backgrounds to ensure the scientific and technological uncertainties were clearly articulated to HMRC, which resulted in a fully optimised and technically robust claim.
The results
Ayming significantly improved Burton’s claim methodology and identified more qualifying expenditure, improving their projects’ technical justification. The team from Ayming had extensive experience within the industry, which ensured Burton’s remained engaged and its teams were fully involved throughout the claim process.
For more information on Ayming’s R&D incentives service, get in touch today:
