Said Q in response to James Bond questioning the fact that his Aston Martin really did have an ejector seat fitted in the film Goldfinger.
It seems timely to be writing this in the week Daniel Craig confirmed he will pull on the dinner suit for one last time in Bond 25 but to me, as an avid Bond fan of the films and the books, and everything else, any week is a great week to talk about Bond.
With me it all started in 1977 on a family holiday at Ilfacombe in Devon. I was taken to see my first Bond film, The Spy Who Loved Me. Bond’s van breaks down in the Egyptian desert when the cylinder head gasket blows just as it had on my Dad’s bright yellow Ford Cortina on the way to our holiday. My affinity with Bond was made, and it has grown and grown ever since.
So what is the recipe for a good Bond film? The main actor of course, the villain and his henchmen, the girls, the locations, the theme tune, the plots and, of course, the gadgets.
We have had ejector seats, a car that can turn into a submarine, invisible cars, rings that allow slot machines to pay out, driverless cars, magnetic watches and many, many more.
Of course, MI6 is a government department so I doubt they pay Corporation Tax but what if Q branch was privatised. Imagine the R&D tax relief claim!!
Many companies are missing out on R&D tax relief claims but you do not have to be as inventive as Q branch. Advancements in science or technology within a product or process will qualify even if it won’t end up saving the world, we have 007 for that.
It only takes some of your time to discuss the potential to claim with us and we can then either progress with a claim or give you an honest assessment that the project doesn’t qualify. However, you may be surprised that far more will qualify than you initially imagine, so please get in touch.
NIGEL HOLMES WILL RETURN
by Nigel Holmes FCA CTA, Senior R&D Consultant at Catax
m 0775 273 2958
e nigel.holmes@catax.com
w www.catax.com