From ideas to wealth

The Research and Development Society is saddened to learn of the death of HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh on April 9, 2021. We offer our sincere and heartfelt condolences to Her Majesty the Queen and all the Royal Family at this difficult time.

His Royal Highness was a patron of the R&D Society; our former and long-standing Administrative Secretary, Clive Jones notes in a history of the Society that “In 1969 steps were taken to obtain the Patronage of HRH the Duke of Edinburgh. After lengthy negotiations with Buckingham Palace, His Royal Highness eventually attended an Evening Meeting held at The Royal Society in May 1970 and thereafter kindly consented to become the Society’s Patron”.

His passion for reserach and development spanned a whole spectrum of activities; he served as Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh from 1953 to 2010 and the University of Cambridge from 1976 until 2011; played a key role in establishing the Royal Academy of Engineering, commissioning the Prince Philip Medal which is awarded biennially by the Academy to an engineer of any nationality who has made an exceptional contribution to engineering as a whole, through practice, management, or education. He had a strong interest in the industrialisation of science and engineering, visiting research centres and laboratories, mines and factories, engineering facilities and industrial sites with the objective of understanding and contributing to the improvement of British industry, a key area of focus for the R&D Society.

The translation of research outcomes into commercially viable products is a critical part of the innovation process. The R&D Society is therefore delighted to be supporting an event on this topic being held on the Norwich Science Park on Sept 9, 2019

The event will highlight the translational science vision and its implementation at Norwich Research Park and its on-site and adjacent collaborative organisations - the Earlham Institute (plant genomics), the John Innes Centre (plant science, genetics and microbiology), the Quadram Institute (food science, gut biology and health), the Norwich and Norfolk University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, the Sainsbury Laboratory (plant disease) and the University of East Anglia. However, this event will also provide context for a wider discussion on the challenges in the translation process, opportunities to improve its effectiveness including the role of government. This is an area of focus for the R&D Society and we will be looking to leverage the output of this meeting and other activities to advance this discussion.

The event is jointly organised by S-Lab and UKSPA with support from several other organisations including the R&D Society.

We are delighted to be able to offer a number of free places at the event. If you are interested, please get in touch or sign up via this link indicating that you are an R&D Society member.

In a keynote speech at the opening of McLaren’s new production facility in Rotherham, Professor Keith Ridgway (a past RDS event speaker and founder of the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre - AMRC ) gave an upbeat assessment for UK high value manufacturing sector. He said that the work at AMRC with firms like McLaren, Boeing and Rolls-Royce demonstrated the significant impact that can happen when industry, translational research and governments collaborate. He cited the opportunity through growth in use of composites and new materials as well as the transition to the changing nature of production (robotics, automation and artificial intelligence/data analytics). In the case of McLaren all of these ingredients are well blended.

Research shows that a 10% reduction in vehicle mass improves fuel consumption by 7%, and every litre of fuel saved reduces CO2 emissions by 2.6kg. There are also important lessons for the government’s Industrial Strategy. He believes that the partnership between industry, government and research could develop processes that significantly reduce the cost of using these advanced materials in vehicle structures, this would not only benefit the car industry, but other industrial sectors such as wind energy, sporting goods and aerospace. With a Brexit deal lurching towards what might be an end-game, more and more firms may choose to bring manufacturing back onshore like McLaren, as they seek to get closer to their supply chains and the research partners who can insulate them against the competition.

R&D Tax Credit is a valuable UK Government tax incentive aimed at encouraging companies to invest in innovative technology projects. It can be claimed by any company doing R&D to develop an advance in their field. It can even be claimed on unsuccessful projects and can be back claimed for two years from the current accounting period. For profitable companies the benefit used to offset any tax liability tax (equivalent to 25% of any qualifying R&D expenditure. Loss making companies can also claim and in this case the credit can either be offset against future profit or recovered as a cash payment.

For tax purposes, HMRC requirements are quite broad and are basically defined by whether you are taking a risk by attempting to ‘resolve scientific or technological uncertainties’. This could include creating new products, processes or services or modifications to an existing product, process or service. Qualifying R&D expenditure includes cost of staff , subcontractors, materials and consumables. For more detail see

here

In late November last year, the Prime Minister confirmed the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) would be a major element of its industrial strategy. Innovate UK has recently run a series of workshops on where the focus of this fund should be and have identified 8 areas where they believe there is great market potential – characterised by excellent UK research, and industrial capability – where this fund could be applied: Bioscience and biotechnology; Leading edge healthcare and medicine; Manufacturing processes and materials of the future; Smart, flexible and clean energy technologies; Quantum technologies; Robotics and artificial intelligence; Satellites and space technologies; and Transformative digital technologies. The R&D Society, with industrial partners, will be evaluating where the major opportunities for UK businesses lie, and how best to influence Government policy to support business R&D in these areas.