Birmingham waste management and recovery company reclaims nearly £55,000 in tax spent on research and development.
Betts Envirometal, based in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter with facilities in Kidderminster, recently reclaimed £54,990 from HMRC under the research and development (R&D) corporation tax reclaim scheme.
The business is a division of the Stephen Betts Group which celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2010 having been founded in Birmingham in 1760 by Alexander Betts as Betts and Sons, Sweep Smelters and Refiners in General.
Betts Envirometal specialises in recovering precious metals, including silver, gold, palladium and platinum from all types of waste including photographic, ceramic, printed circuit boards and X ray film from laboratories and medical practices. The group has 60 employees, of which 20 work at Betts Envirometal.
One of Betts Envirometal’s biggest clients is the NHS Trust for whom it archives, stores and destroys confidential patients’ records and X-ray film at a secure facility in Kidderminster.
Following hand-sorting and shredding of the film, the silver content which provides the detail on the X-ray image is removed utilising a chemical process which is eventually recovered via an electro-plating process. The resulting silver waste is then furnace- heated to molten on the premises and cast into 1 kilo ingots for resale to the jewellery trade and associated industries.
Keeping pace with change
Changes in photographic and laboratory processes over the years mean that Betts has needed to keep pace with change. “We invest heavily in R&D”, says Simon Hundal, general manager. “Central to our investment in R&D is our ISO compliance. We are fully accredited to ISO 14001 environmental and ISO 9001:2000 and ISO27001 standards.”
Managing director Charles Betts is ninth generation in the Betts family and says the firm is delighted with the recent tax reclaim which recognises its commitment to progress.
“Working with R&D Tax Claims was a painless process. We were pleasantly surprised at how uncomplicated the whole reclaim was and shall continue to reclaim on R&D in the future” – Charles Betts, Managing Director, Betts Envirometal
“Digital processes have presented us with new challenges and we are continuously looking for ways to offer our clients a better solution, while at all times keeping a strong commitment to our environmental ethos,” he says.
Betts Envirometal made the hefty tax reclaim with the help of R&D tax expert R&D Tax Claims and Charles Betts states that; “Working with R&D Tax Claims was a painless process. We were pleasantly surprised at how uncomplicated the whole reclaim was and shall continue to reclaim on R&D in the future.”
Mark Evans is managing director of R&D Tax Claims, which recently celebrated hitting the £10 million mark in HMRC tax reclaims.
“Betts is still family-owned, has a 250 year old continuous pedigree and has kept at the leading edge of its field because progress and innovation demands change”, says Mark. “The necessity to discover, improve and adapt is just as crucial today as it was at the height of the Industrial Revolution, and Betts is a perfect example of a company that continues to put R&D at the heart of its endeavours. This commitment deserves to be rewarded, and a cash injection of almost £55,000 direct from HMRC for reinvestment into the business is very encouraging.”
Mark says Betts Envirometal’s claim was straightforward and fast thanks to the company’s strong management and clearly documented records. “It’s such a delight to help a business whose forefathers were one of the founders of a revolution that still defines the industrialised world,” he concludes.
R&D Tax Claims does not charge an upfront fee and has never failed to win a tax reclaim yet.
