Companies submitted 39,960 claims for research and development (R&D) tax credits in 2016-17, up from 26,255 in 2015-16, according to HMRC data. Relief worth some £3.5bn was claimed, an increase of £575m on the previous year. This corresponds to £24.9bn of R&D expenditure.

The manufacturing, professional, scientific and technical and information and communications sectors produced most claims. They made 71% of all claims, representing 75% of the relief sought in 2016-17.

Welcoming the figures, James Tetley, partner and national head of …