Riddlr are an independent creator of live escape room games in Bristol. They are an underdog competing with some of the biggest players in their industry and are currently one of top ranking Escape room providers in Bristol on TripAdvisor.
The escape room industry had become highly competitive, with companies striving to provide the most innovative and immersive experiences. To stand out and remain competitive, Riddlr recognised the need to innovate and develop new technologies.
Tom and the team identified a flaw in the industry's standard practice of having staff members provide hints to players through intercoms or monitors. They realised that this broke the immersion and prevented players from fully engaging in the game's narrative and production. Riddlr saw an opportunity to enhance the customer experience by creating a clue device that would automate hints, keeping players immersed and maintaining the "fourth wall" between the game and reality.
Another driving factor was the overhead cost associated with having staff members dedicated to each game, providing hints manually. By developing a clue device that could automate hint delivery, the company aimed to reduce staff overheads. This would allow them to operate more efficiently, potentially running multiple games with fewer staff members.
Overall, the company recognized the need to innovate, enhance immersion, reduce costs, create valuable intellectual property, and address market gaps in order to stay competitive and provide a unique and compelling experience for escape room players.
Riddlr had never made a claim for R&D tax credits before, and so Tom was introduced to Easy R&D by introduced by a supplier back in 2020.
"..we highly recommend the scheme to anyone innovating – no matter how small or obscure you might think your business is."
Our R&D tax consultant, Stephen Toomey, guided Tom and the Riddlr team through process and up to a successful pay-out. Since that first successful claim, Tom works with our team every year resulting in substantial R&D tax relief for Riddlr to further drive their innovation efforts.
We invite you to join us for a free exploratory call to find out whether your business may be eligible to make a very substantial claim for this year and previous financial periods
We look forward to seeing how we can help you and your business to be better off - just like Riddlr.
From day one, making a claim was very easy, it went smoothly and was much simpler than I had anticipated. The money from HMRC went into designing, manufacturing and developing new games. As we do everything in-house it was great to have this cash flow back.
Thomas Stephens
Director, Riddlr Entertainment
If you’re a small to medium company in the UK, you could also be claiming back up to £33 on every £100 spent on R&D. The work you do that qualifies for the R&D tax credits scheme — often embedded in the day-to-day running of your business — may surprise you.
Get in touchFind out what our clients and partners have to say about the R&D tax relief experience and how we’ve helped them.
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