Albion Ventures sells The Printworks Health Club & Spa

Albion Ventures, one of the largest independent venture capital investors in the UK, is pleased to announce that it has sold Kensington Health Clubs Limited, trading as The Printworks Health Club & Spa to Sports Direct International plc.

The Printworks Health Club & Spa is a premium club located at Olympia in the Royal Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham.  It has a 20 metre swimming pool, sauna, several studios, a beauty spa and a state-of-the-art gym.  Albion first invested in The Printworks Health Club & Spa in 2007 to finance the conversion of a former graphics workshop into a state-of-the-art health club and spa.  The club has been operating successfully for 8 years.

Christoph Ruedig, partner at Albion Ventures said: “We are delighted with the success of The Printworks Health Club & Spa.  The club is located in the heart of West London and has a strong offering that caters well to the needs of its members.  We are looking forward to the continued success of the club under the new ownership of Sports Direct Fitness.”

Panoramic invests to support further Edesix growth

Edesix, a UK-based market leader in body worn camera (BWC) solutions, has secured further investment from Panoramic Growth Equity, who have been backing the company since 2014.

Edesix has raised a further £750,000 to fund expansion into new markets and to continue the development of its technology, product range and sales infrastructure both in the UK and overseas.

Headquartered in Edinburgh, UK and established in 2002, Edesix manufactures BWC’s for those in public facing roles, helping to improve safety, while producing compelling legal evidence when needed. Edesix currently provides VideoBadges and VideoManager footage management software to local authority enforcement teams, police forces, bailiffs, security personnel, and transport firms. Customers include First Great Western, The Ministry of Justice, Police Scotland and the Abu Dhabi Police Force.

Panoramic is a leading investor in fast growing entrepreneurial companies, having been founded by Stephen Campbell, David Wilson and Malcolm Kpedekpo to provide equity for growth companies. Panoramic Growth Equity invests between £1m and £5m of capital into any one portfolio company.

Of this follow investment, Panoramic's David Wilson, who sits on the board of Edesix Ltd, commented: "This additional investment from Panoramic demonstrates our continued support for Edesix to build on the excellent progress the company has made since we first invested in 2014.”

Edesix Managing Director, Richie McBride, commented: “The support for and investment in Body Worn Camera technology, globally, has grown significantly in recent years. Edesix has successfully penetrated key target markets, both within the UK and overseas, and securing this further investment will allow us to continue to expand our reach and meet customer demands.”

Will HMRC’s Advance Assurance scheme make it easier for businesses to successfully claim R&D tax credits? 

Jumpstart, the R&D tax credits expert, argues that it may even have the reverse effect.

9 December 2015 - Following the recent publication of HMRC’s “Information about Advance Assurance” for small companies, Jumpstart, the R&D tax credits expert, asks whether the new initiative will make the process of claiming R&D tax credits easier for small businesses, or whether it has been designed to make life easier for HMRC?

HMRC’s scheme aims to help small businesses (with a turnover of below £2m and fewer than 50 employees) claim R&D tax relief for the first time, by providing them with greater certainty before making a claim.  Under the scheme, a would-be claimant seeks assurance from HMRC that their R&D development is deemed eligible. If it is, HMRC will allow their first three years of R&D tax relief claims without making further enquiry.

The number of SMEs claiming R&D tax credits in the UK has consistency increased since the introduction of the scheme in 2000, with some 16,000 businesses claiming relief in 2013-14 and making an average claim of £50,000 (according to HMRC data).  Approximately £800 million is now claimed by SMEs alone.   This accounts for c. 80% of all claims that are made in the UK and just under half of their total value.

Richard Edwards, director at Jumpstart commented:

“Those that might have hoped to see a light-touch approach to Advance Assurance may be disappointed by HMRC’s online application process. While it certainly makes life easier for HMRC (in that companies will need to present an up-front synopsis of their relevant work), the onus is still very much on the SME to read, translate, and apply the generic, jargon-rich and complex guidelines to their own activities. That isn’t always easy, and our experience tells us that many small businesses will just not be equipped to do so, or will simply not make the effort.  The issue is that while businesses are always clear on what they consider to be R&D, HMRC’s definition is far more specific and can be quite different.

“If SMEs don’t fully understand the guidance, they are likely to fill in what they can, extolling the virtues of their latest development and its commercial applications – and that in turn will drag HMRC into many complex and time-consuming conversations.

“In our view, the Advance Assurance process raises some serious questions.  

“How much of HMRC’s R&D Inspectors’ time is going to be diverted into Advance Assurance? Will the relatively small amounts of money in question justify the effort? What will happen to the processing times of larger cases if there is an explosion in the number of very small claims? Do HMRC realise how much time they’re going to have to spend helping companies understand the terminology of the scheme?

“Advance Assurance could also impact the integrity of the R&D tax credit scheme itself.  Giving companies a promise that no questions will be asked for three years will inevitably invite an element of abuse, where companies falsely inflate subsequent expenditure figures safe in the knowledge that they have a clear window in which to do so. It remains, of course, to be seen how the scheme will work in practice.”

Jumpstart has provided the following five tips to help small businesses prepare a successful application for Advance Assurance:

• The guidance to the scheme is vast. Focus your attention on the most important part – CIRD81900. Get clear on what HMRC’s terminology is.
• Think about what you were trying to do – and remember, your efforts don’t have to have been successful to qualify as R&D for HMRC purposes.
• Base your Advance Assurance application only on the technical aspects of your projects. Remove reference to anything commercial.
• Identify the most significant technical challenges you encountered, and identify these into those that couldn’t be solved using existing knowledge and tools.
• Be prepared to be patient! HMRC doesn’t have many technical experts of its own, so you may need to spend a bit of time explaining the ins and outs of what you do before they appreciate what you’re trying to achieve technically.