The National Technology Awards ceremony is fast approaching, and the EmpowerRD team are gearing up for an exciting and insightful night. We’re proud to have been shortlisted for three categories at one of the UK’s most recognised programmes celebrating excellence and innovation in technology.
- RegTech Project of the Year
- Financial Services Tech of the Year
- Tech Growth Business of the Year
These shortlists reflect something we’ve known to be true from day one: more robust R&D tax claims can be delivered through the right combination of technology and expertise.
For years, businesses have suffered at the hands of a broken claim model that has had a profound impact:
- Regulatory complexity is still the number one barrier to accelerating R&D (52%)
- 20% of R&D claims received enquiries last year, which is a five-fold increase since 2022
- 25% of businesses fear an enquiry following a claim
- Growing gap between strong innovation intent and declining claim volumes nationally
That’s why EmpowerRD was established in 2017 – to provide businesses with a cost effective and scalable model for robust R&D tax credit claims, with the overarching goal of redefining tax claims for businesses through technology and innovation.
Three categories, one consistent story
Financial Services Tech of the Year reflects our core identity. R&D tax relief is finally being recognised as the non-dilutive growth capital it really is, that enables innovative businesses to fund development without giving up equity. Our platform was built with the rigour, auditability and transparency our clients expect.
Tech Growth Business of the Year speaks to the commercial success behind the model we’ve spent nearly a decade developing. Since 2017, we’ve supported over 1,200 businesses, helped secure £260m+ – all without compromising on compliance or claim quality.
RegTech Project of the Year recognises the work we’ve done to build an adaptable platform that keeps pace with changing regulations across the HMRC ecosystem. From 2023 to 2025, we undertook an 18-month programme to align our workflows with fundamental reforms to the UK R&D tax regime. This helps our clients navigate heightened scrutiny while maintaining an all-time HMRC enquiry rate below 5%, compared to an industry average of around 20%.
The market is at an inflection point, and being shortlisted across these three categories at the National Technology Awards is a recognition of our commitment to our clients and the progress we’ve made in delivering on it.
The National Technology Awards 2026 ceremony will take place on the 14th May. Tune in to celebrate the UK’s most innovative technology businesses.
In the meantime, are you interested in finding out how EmpowerRD can support your R&D tax claim? Get in touch with our team.
