The Chancellor, Philip Hammond, announced a further £2.3bn in investment in R&D as well as an increase in the main R&D Tax Credit to 12% (from 11%). “What about our SMEs and Scale-ups?” asks Matt Watts, head of R&D at Smith & Williamson, the accountancy, investment management and tax group.

“The Chancellor has increased the Research and Development tax credit [RDEC] credit by 1% but has left the SME rate the same. “Whilst the existing scheme for SMEs is still more valuable, limiting the increase to R&D tax credits for the large company scheme sends a mixed message to British businesses.? The R&D tax credits is a popular relief which is promoting investment and creating jobs.  Why should only big business benefit when it’s our smaller businesses we need to be supporting?”