MACH effect boosts Midlands manufacturing
THE MACH effect is helping to provide a welcome boost to West Midlands’ manufacturers as firms look to capitalise on the success of the important trade exhibition.
Exhibitors at the week-long show say they have been encouraged by the response of visitors, with many firms taking inquiries from businesses overseas including Europe, Japan and the United States.
Tamworth-based machine tool design and build firm Neuteq Europe, was one of those to take part in the show.
Mark Hendel, sales director, said, “MACH 2010 has been an excellent show for us with enquiries well up on the 2008 show.
“The new product we’ve introduced at the NEC – an automated deburring machine – has been very well received by the automotive and aerospace sectors.”
All of the firm’s products are designed, manufactured and installed by them in the UK and it has its own in-house research and design facility at the Tamworth plant.
“We have over 80 hot enquiries from MACH 2010 a great deal of which we can convert into solid business, which is great news for the machine tooling industry and particularly in the present climate,” said Mr Hendel.
“We believe we offer a unique solution – we’re flexible, we design to our customers’ requirements and take every individual project on its merits and then design a solution to fit those requirements to the customer’s budget.”
Wolverhampton-based R&D Tax and Grants, which helps UK manufacturing businesses reclaim tax on their research and development, was another to take an exhibition stand at the show.
It presented a seminar to offer advice to visitors and exhibitors on how the Government-backed tax scheme works.
Based on this, the company established over 200 contacts at the show from UK-based businesses keen to explore possibilities of reclaiming tax paid on research and development from HMRC.
Mark Evans, managing director of R&D Tax and Grants, said: “This was our first time at MACH and we’ve had a really positive show with many enquiries – there was a real buzz.
“Research and development is at the core of all manufacturing and the exhibitors we’ve talked with are keen to explore the scheme further.
“Many business owners assume that they are not eligible for tax refunds because they don’t realise that what they do counts as research and development, or they think it just applies to certain sectors.”
In the firm’s first year of trading, which ended March 31, 2010, it helped 32 UK manufacturers reclaim over £1.5m from HMRC.
“In the current financial year we’ve already helped businesses claim back over £200,000 in tax paid to HMRC, with an average per client of £50,000,” said Mr Evans.
“Our largest to date was a single reclaim of £244,000. It’s vital that our manufacturing industries get all the financial support they need, and not just in the recession – they are the backbone of the UK economy.”
Graham Shearsmith, exhibition manager at MTA, said, “MACH 2010 was a great success, with visitor numbers exceeding our target and exhibitors reporting a high number of sales throughout the week.
“We were delighted with feedback from the visitors on the innovative nature of the show, particularly regarding the new products on display. Exhibitors were equally impressed with the excellent quality of the visitor group, made up of buyers and decision makers ready to do business. We are now looking forward to our centenary MACH exhibition in 2012.”
This is a Government-backed initiative instigated by the European Union to encourage SMEs to develop their products and processes and then to claim back corporation tax paid on R&D.
