MacRoberts Corporate Law e-update 04/02/08

SHOW ME THE MONEY

The Scottish Government last week announced changes to the system of grant
support for growth companies in Scotland.

From April 2008 three existing grant schemes (Scottish Enterprise's Small Company
Innovation Support (SCIS), R&DPLUS and the Scottish Government's
SCORE scheme) are being consolidated into one general grant to make it easier for
companies to secure Government support for research and development.

Under the General R&D Grant, SMEs will be able to attract grant support of up to 35
per cent of eligible costs if the overall grant is less than £40,000 and up to 25 per
cent of eligible costs if the grant is above £40,000. Larger grants (£40,000+), whether
to SMEs or to large firms, must demonstrate a positive impact on R&D jobs in
Scotland. There will be no upper ceiling for grants to SMEs and no lower ceiling for
grants to large firms.

'Eligible costs' will be defined in more detail in April, but generally will include costs
relating to R&D personnel employed on a project, the materials used, associated
consultancy costs directly related to the project, the equipment required for the
project, overheads and in the case of SMEs, patent costs.

If you require any further information please contact Alan Kelly on 0131 229 5046

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