Tax windfall boosts Webster & Horsfall
Birmingham manufacturer Webster & Horsfall has claimed back £134,000 in corporation tax, its tax adviser has said.
The cash, linked to research and development (R&D) spending, was returned following advice from Wolverhampton-based R&D tax specialist Mark Evans at R&D Tax and Grants.
Webster and Horsfall manufactures and specialises in the making of wire and strip steel, rope and fittings, including stainless, carbon and low alloy steels. It is based at a 16-acre site in Hay Mills with its chairman and chief executive Charles Horsfall being the fifth generation of his family to run the business.
Horsfall said: "We'd heard about R&D tax credits but it was never really high on our radar.
"We didn't think that our work would qualify and always considered that research and development relief was for cutting edge technology.
"But our niche products are unique, risk-taking stuff."
The company previously manufactured armour wire for the first successful Atlantic telegraph cable in 1866 and provided wire for valve springs for Spitfire planes built at nearby Castle Bromwich during the Second World War.
