Electric car maker Rimac Automobili opened an R&D office in the UK, company owner Mate Rimac on Tuesday during a visit by the UK Minister of State for Trade Policy, Greg Hands, to the company's headquarters in the town of Sveta Nedelja outside Zagreb.

The R&D office, located in the Warwick Enterprise Park some 20 kilometers south of Coventry, is expected to hire some 30 people by the end of the year and is intended to work with the UK automobile industry as well as the company headquarters in Croatia.

Rimac shared the news of the company’s expansion publicly for the first time on Tuesday, when company headquarters were visited by Hands and Britain’s ambassador to Croatia, Andrew Dalgleish. Hands reportedly described the company as “inspiring.”

Rimac said that the UK has some of the world’s best engineers working on new technologies for electrical vehicles and future mobility, adding that in the years to come the UK office could “significantly expand.”

“Even though Croatia will always be our home, we have decided to take this opportunity and form a small team in the UK, where the automobile industry has a long history and a high level of expertise,” he said.

His company currently employs close to 1,000 people and is continuing to expand. Even though Croatia has virtually no history of car manufacturing, Rimac Automobili has built a name for itself as makers of innovative systems for electric-powered cars which they supply for many of the world’s biggest car brands and designers such as Hyundai, Porsche, Pininfarina, Koenigsegg, and others.

They also have experience working with British car companies, having delivered technology for brands such as Aston Martin and Jaguar.

Rimac also makes its own electric-powered supercar. They are currently developing their latest model, the C-Two. The serial production of the car, limited to 150 units, will start “soon.”

Hands told a reporter from the Croatian state agency Hina that he was visiting Croatia to help maintain good trade relations with EU countries now that his country had left the EU.

“Croatia is a like-minded country when it comes to the free market, and is a good friend,” said Hands, who earlier in the day met with PM Andrej Plenkovic’s advisor Vladimir Drobnjak. Hands is expected to meet with several government ministers in the coming days.