A look back in time, as we celebrate 20 years of business.
This month Universal Smart Cards celebrate twenty years in business.
Back in the day we were travelling with Pesetas and Deutschmarks, using Nokia 3201’s and no one had heard of social media, never mind Facebook, Twitter and Linked in.
Many of you will also remember the little bleeping sounds when you tried to log onto the internet using dial up!
So, today we take a look back at some of the key events during our twenty years of business, for both USC and the world we live in.
2001 - The year it all began!
In August 2001, Universal Smart Cards started life in the spare room of one of our directors. Twenty years later who’d have thought the company would have been the success it is today.
2003 – Supersonic flight comes to an end.
This is the year we saw Concorde take its last flight. Move forward 20 years and the first private space flight has now been achieved.
2004 – Facebook is launched
A huge advancement in the way we share photos, memories, business updates and more. You may have even clicked through to this article from Facebook today.
2007 – iPhone
The year the iconic iPhone was launched. Today Apple and it’s iPhone site in the top 5 vendors in the world and was the first company with a $trillion valuation.
2008 – The Financial Crash
The year that hit business hard, with huge drops in the wealth of the leading nations. A tough period but USC made it through.
2010 – Our UK Expansion
With business expanding throughout the UK, we opened our Lancashire based regional sales office to service the needs of our Northern-based clients. Bringing new employment opportunities to the area.
2011 – World Population: 7 BILLION
In 2011 the world population reached a new milestone – 7 BILLION PEOPLE.
2012 – Queen Elizabeth II – 60 years on the throne
In 2012 the Queen celebrated an amazing 60 years on throne. She’s now oldest and longest serving monarch in history and next year she’ll be celebrating her 70th anniversary.
2016 – Brexit and the year we ventured to the United States
In this year Article 50 was triggered following a vote on leaving the EU, which received 51.89% support from those who voted.
It was also a year of huge achievement for USC. Having worked with many US customers over the years we took a leap of faith and opened our US office to take on the American smart card market.
2019 – Winning by the Queen’s standards
In 2019, Universal Smart Cards were the proud winners of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the International Trade category. A fantastic accolade to all the hard work we’ve done to expand internationally.
2020 – The pandemic that stopped the world
Globally one of the toughest years in modern history. Businesses closed, schools shut and people were trapped in their own homes. Nearly two years since the first signs of the COVID-19 virus appeared we’re all still feeling the effects.
2021 – We’ve made it to 20 years in business
We celebrate an impressive 20 years in business – what a milestone.
We hope you’ve enjoyed our look back at some of the key events we’ve seen over our 20 years in business.
As you sit there on your iPhone (or Samsung), trawling through your social media, internet banking and buying your shopping online, just try to imagine a world without broadband, Amazon or Microsoft.
How different life would be.