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For over 40 years, WCS has provided global customers with innovative retail and supply chain solutions, ranging from warehousing, yard management and mobility solutions to merchandise management, buying, and in-store systems.
Their flagship product, CSnx, is a next-generation supply chain management platform that is flexible, scalable, and easy-to-use, while providing the capability to automate, diagnose, and seamlessly manage the supply chain from the procurement of inventory through to the management of the warehouse. WCS has a number of global customers across a range of industries including grocery wholesale, DIY, and pharmaceuticals. For the past five years, Joshila Makan has been CEO of WCS. During her tenure, the company has focused on developing the CSnx platform on a distributed, open architecture that could support the current needs of global organisations and also meet their future needs through technology such as BYOD, the Internet of Things, and drones.
The company’s journey with Myriad Associates started when Joshila saw information on LinkedIn about a government grant for innovation in technology, which had been posted by Myriad. After further investigation of the grant and Myriad, Joshila determined that, while it was not the right time to apply for the grant, the CSnx project would likely qualify for R&D tax relief. She contacted Myriad Associates to see if the project would meet HMRC’s criteria.
When asked about the challenges of applying for R&D tax relief before contacting Myriad, Joshila said that WCS wasn’t even aware that it qualified “Myriad was the first to give me a full education on R&D tax relief; before that, I wasn’t even aware this tax relief was available. Myriad was very good at guiding me and helping me understand what criteria we would need to meet. After calling Myriad to briefly discuss the project, they sat down with us and we told them what we’d built and explained how innovative our project was and that it was uniquely positioned in the industry, but with a lot of today’s technology built into the architecture.”
Joshila continued, “During the meeting, it became apparent that the Myriad team were really aware of the technological areas I was speaking of. From the financial side to the tech, they had the skill to understand what we had built. They helped us understand the eligible costs and did the final paperwork. Without Myriad, I wouldn’t have even known about R&D tax, and I sure didn’t have the background to pull together the claim. They were a great team, and very quick; as they do this all the time, they knew exactly how to pull our claim together.”
When asked whether Joshila and WCS had considered any of Myriad’s competitors, Joshila said, “no, I actually didn’t. Myriad was very informative. They were very professional in their approach. From the engagements we had, I liked my relationship with them, and I didn’t go out to compare them because the service they had provided right from day one was outstanding. They were experienced from start to finish, and we had a very successful outcome as our claim was approved within a few weeks. Myriad has also done the second year for us and I will continue to keep them on board.”
Joshila didn’t hesitate to point out Myriad’s speed and expertise when handling the WCS claim. “As a business, we didn’t know how to prepare the claim to ensure that it would meet HMRC’s criteria. Myriad knew exactly what to do. They knew exactly what data they needed to pull. They made our lives a lot easier by pulling it together. If we had to do it, I think it would have taken us a lot longer and we wouldn’t have had such a quick turnaround. When I started this journey, I knew nothing about R&D tax relief; by the end, we were able to inject the relief money back into proactive development – which is fantastic.“
We asked Joshila what advice she would give to businesses who are unsure whether they qualify for R&D tax relief. “I think if you’ve done your research and you’ve developed something that’s innovative and that you can justify as innovation and you can prove the effort, skill, and investment you have put in, you should definitely try. From our side, the effort that we put in led to a successful claim and it wasn’t that difficult to do. Myriad knew exactly what information they needed, so it made the process much easier to pull our claim together.”
“I would definitely recommend Myriad Associates because they’re excellent at what they do. I would also encourage other businesses to educate themselves on Myriad’s R&D tax relief services, number one, but also to look into the other services and benefits they offer.“
To learn if your business project qualifies for R&D tax relief, simply click here and talk to one of our R&D tax experts.
Food and drink R&D (eligible under the R&D tax credit scheme) covers any project that aims to push the boundaries of knowledge and technology within the industry.
This article provides a summary of the key Creative Industry Tax Relief reforms announced in the 2024 Budget
Jeremy Hunt–Chancellor of the Exchequer–presented his Spring Budget 2024 with a keen eye on the upcoming elections, easing the cost of living pressures, and boosting the economy with R&D incentives.
Please contact us to discuss how working with Myriad can maximise and secure R&D funding opportunities for your business.
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