A rapidly expanding company has moved into a unique building in Lincoln to accommodate its growth and high-spec tech requirements. Since 2019, research and development business SRC UK has grown from 1 employee to 30 and the company is looking to double in size again by the end of the year. Its core business is with the Ministry of Defence, providing analytical software, big data analytics, consultancy and training. SRC UK was initially based in the Boole Technology Centre at Lincoln Science & Innovation Park but this month moved into the Gravity R&D building part of the Park’s second phase of expansion. This specially designed facility, part funded by the Greater Lincolnshire LEP and the Midlands Engine, was developed for firms like SRC UK. “The Gravity Building gives us enough space to grow into,” says Steve Davies, SRC UK’s managing director. “And its sophisticated design is ideal to our needs.” This means that SRC UK can run its own software and produce its own data within the building on a unique cloud-based system as well as provide innovative space for other local companies to use. Steve, worked in the RAF as a Weapons Systems Officer for 36 years and was retiring just as the opportunity to set up the UK division of US-based research and development company SRC Inc came up.  “I was in the right place at the right time with the core skill set that they needed,” says Steve. “Since then, everybody who has joined has played a vital role to get us to where we are today so quickly.” “Our ethos is centred around collaboration; whether that be creating a new way of working with other companies, the unique way we build the company around graduates or building new products based on our people’s ideas.” The company has broken the mould with how the government works with graduates in the sensitive area of big data analytics. “Initially, the government would only work with people with decades of experience in this niche area. We take STEM graduates with a sound educational background and layer on targeted training so they have specific experience and skills and they evolve into the job that suits that individual the most.”  This blended approach has led to SRC UK being the first company in the UK to have early career graduates supporting MOD data production. SRC UK is a not-for-profit company committed to making a positive impact on the city and county. It aims to employ locally, including graduates from the University of Lincoln, collaborate with local businesses and to use local resources. SRC UK, which is a disability confident employer, has signed up to the Lincoln Social Responsibility Charter and supports charities such as the Give an Hour scheme where staff volunteer in local schools, the C2C2C charity bike ride around Lincolnshire and Lincoln food banks. “We see ourselves as a responsible company which is very keen on generating revenue and jobs for Lincoln and being part of the Science Park’s community and its continuing expansion,” says Steve.

The Government has launched an import tariff regime expected to cut more than £750m from the cost of imports every year by reducing tariffs on hundreds of products exported from developing countries. The Developing Countries Trading Scheme goes further than the EU’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences, and is on top of the thousands of products which developing countries can already export to the UK duty-free, and will mean 99% of goods imported from Africa, for example will enter the UK duty free. The scheme means that a wide variety of products that aren’t widely produced in the UK will benefit from lower or zero tariffs. Secretary of State for International Trade Anne-Marie Trevelyan said: “As an independent trading nation, we are taking back control of our trade policy and making decisions that back UK businesses, help with the cost of living, and support the economies of developing countries around the world.

“UK businesses can look forward to less red-tape and lower costs, incentivising firms to import goods from developing countries.”

The DCTS covers 65 countries across Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas including some of the poorest countries in the world. It removes some seasonal tariffs, meaning more options for British supermarkets and shops all year round. For example, cucumbers, which can’t be grown in the UK in the winter, will now be tariff-free during this period for the majority of countries in the scheme. The scheme also simplifies complex trade rules such as rules of origin – the rules dictating what proportion of a product must be made in its country of origin. This makes it easier for businesses like family-owned textile business DBL Group from Bangladesh to export, encouraging developing countries to play a larger role in the global trade community. Mohammed Jabbar, MD of DBL Group said: “These new rules will be a game changer for us. They mean we will be able to source our cotton from many more countries than we could before, which will make the business more competitive and our supply chains a lot more resilient.” This work is part of a wider push by the UK to drive a free trade, pro-growth agenda across the globe, using trade to drive prosperity and help eradicate poverty. This drive includes a new initiative called Platinum Partnerships, designed to grow trade between the UK and selected lower and middle-income Commonwealth countries and reduce dependency on aid. The partnerships will strengthen two-way green trade and investment, helping countries’ adaptation to climate change.