Rallying cry for defence businesses in new podcast

Homeland February 26, 2026

Defence businesses have been urged to join forces within a new group to strengthen the industry in the South Central area.

They were told that the South Central Regional Defence & Security Cluster (SCRDSC) will deliver tangible benefits rather than being a ‘talking shop’.

The comments came in the latest podcast by Hampshire-based global solutions provider Barnbrook Systems.

Andrew Barnett, who is Barnbrook managing director and SCRDSC chair, was interviewed along with special guest Farnborough Aerospace Consortium (FAC) chief executive Alan Fisher.

Founded just one year ago, the free-to-join SCRDSC connects businesses from SMEs to defence prime contractors to coordinate capability across land, sea, air, cyber and aerospace.

It breaks down communication barriers between SMEs and primes, helps unlock accreditation pathways, identifies business and funding opportunities and aims to shorten slow timelines that often exclude smaller innovators from defence supply chains.

FAC chief executive Alan Fisher told how the organisation has thrown its weight behind the SCRDSC to support the regional supply chain and help businesses develop and grow through access to primes, government and the MOD.

He also announced that the FAC intends to work with the SCRDSC to launch a defence specific programme for the supply chain to develop technologies that the MOD and armed forces require.

Andrew outlined the SCRDSC’s activities and priorities over the coming year. They include:

Mentoring and skills development
Exploration of innovation funding for members
A roadshow of meetings and workshops to understand members’ pain points
Attendance at the Defence Procurement, Research, Technology & Exportability (DPRTE) trade show with the UK MOD on March 25-26
Farnborough International Airshow on July 20-24

Andrew said: “We’re just at the start of our journey. It doesn’t matter what type of businesses someone is, there is almost certainly a part they can play.

“None of us want to see what happens at the wrong end of defence but on the right end of defence, it can be beneficial to us all.”

Alan added: “If anybody’s thinking of joining, and they think it’s just going to be a talking shop, which there have been enough of in the past, don’t think that.

“We will deliver product and we will deliver the solution that are required for the southeast. And if they want to be part of that journey, they need to get off the station and onto the train.”

SCRDSC brings together industry leaders across Hampshire, Surrey, the Isle of Wight and West Sussex to grow the sector in support of the UK’s evolving defence and security needs.

Supported by Hampshire County Council, it is part-funded by the UK MOD and has more than 550 members.

Visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZ9RIs69QHQ to watch the podcast and https://www.hants.gov.uk/business/southcentralrdsc for more information about the SCRDSC.

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