On 7th July 2025, TechUK hosted a conference in London to explore the shape and function of a proposed UK Semiconductor Centre. With £19 million earmarked by the government for its creation, the question now is how this centre will turn ambition into action.
From the opening remarks and across three panel sessions the message was clear – that for the UK to thrive in semiconductors, the sector must be better coordinated, better funded, and more globally engaged. It is believed that the centre, if delivered well, could provide that unifying infrastructure as a catalyst for growth, scaleup, and strategic alignment.
Part of the six-point delivery plan
The centre will form a key part of the UK Plan for Chips – a new technology blueprint and sub-strategy of the national Industrial Strategy. The centre’s purpose will be to act as a neutral, inclusive umbrella organisation delivering across six key areas:
- Chip design IP support
- R&D and manufacturing enablement
- Investment into emerging technologies
- Scaleups’ access to funding and markets
- Skills development
- International and domestic partnerships
The government has made clear this is a long-term commitment and has a 10-year roadmap to industrial growth. The £19 million semiconductor centre allocation will fund operations across four to five years, equating to roughly £3.5 million per year to fund a lean team of around 20 staff plus a hub or office. But the centre will not act alone – delivery will be in partnership with industry and academia.
Regional strength and strategic focus
The importance of connecting the UK’s currently fragmented semiconductor landscape, including regions such South Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland, the North East, and the South West, was stressed during the event, as these valuable clusters each bring deep expertise – from photonics and non-linear optics to compound semiconductors and advanced packaging. But without coordination, this regional strength remains siloed.
The centre could help resolve this by:
- Federating existing assets and institutions, rather than duplicating them
- Acting as a signposting and facilitation body to remove friction between R&D, design, and scaleup
- Maintaining a UK-wide infrastructure database to surface underused facilities
- Serving as a single front door for international partners seeking collaboration or investment opportunities
Speakers from across the panels called for the centre to remain technology-agnostic but commercially driven. Key recommendations included embedding secondees from industry, building advisory panels with regional representation, and avoiding a one-size-fits-all approach – particularly for the different needs of design-focused versus manufacturing-led organisations.
Scaleup support and international positioning
One of the most immediate tasks for the centre is to accelerate commercialisation. Programmes like ChipStart and Innovate UK’s quantum and photonics initiatives already support early-stage work, but the UK has historically struggled to scale.
The centre could help address this by:
- Advocating for later-stage funding to bridge the “valley of death”
- Hosting prototyping and testbed infrastructure accessible to SMEs
- Supporting IP strategy development and connection to global supply chains
- Encouraging better investor education and engagement with semiconductor startups
Throughout the conference, it was acknowledged that while early-stage ideas are often well supported, a persistent challenge lies in equipping venture capital (VC) investors with the right technical insight to assess the potential of semiconductor businesses. For the sector to scale successfully, greater training and engagement with the investment community will be needed – not only to increase funding but also to improve understanding of the timelines, infrastructure needs, and exit paths unique to hardware-driven innovation.
Another theme discussed was end-user readiness – ensuring that key UK industries (such as automotive, aerospace, telecoms, and defence) understand and integrate home-grown semiconductor innovations. The centre has a role to play here in increasing visibility and supporting adoption.
Internationally, the centre is expected to improve the UK’s profile. With countries across Europe, Asia, and the US funnelling billions into domestic semiconductor capacity, the UK’s relatively modest financial commitment needs to be offset by speed, agility, and clarity of offer. The centre can help by acting as a consistent international partner and promoting the UK’s niche capabilities in materials science, compound semiconductors, and photonics.
What happens next?
The funding for the semiconductor centre has been announced but not yet mobilised. Over the coming months, CSA Catapult – which is leading the mobilisation effort – will be running a series of stakeholder events to define:
- The centre’s structure and advisory panel
- Where it will be located (with debate ongoing about a single hub versus a distributed model)
- How it will partner with regional clusters and national Catapults
- Opportunities for secondment and industry input
A shared infrastructure database is expected to be rebuilt and updated. Skills guidance will be aligned with the National Semiconductor Skills Programme (£35 million), as well as broader schemes like the £187 million Digital Tech First programme.
Questions still to be answered
While enthusiasm for the centre was high, questions remain:
- Will the centre’s £19 million be enough to deliver meaningful impact over four to five years?
- How will its role complement (not compete with) existing initiatives such as ChipStart, Innovate UK’s sector funds, and the photonics IKC?
- Will international investors and end-users see the centre as a credible entry point for UK capabilities?
- Can the centre move quickly enough to support emerging areas such as photonic semiconductor fabrication and heterogeneous integration?
The success of the UK Semiconductor Centre will hinge not on the size of its budget but on the clarity of its mission and the depth of its relationships across the sector. Coordination, not centralisation, may be the centre’s most valuable contribution.
If it succeeds, the centre could help shift the UK from a dispersed network of niche strengths into a more cohesive, competitive, and self-sustaining ecosystem – one that secures a greater share of the global semiconductor economy and supports resilient supply chains at home.
