Raj Gawera, COO of the UK Semiconductor Centre, explains how the Centre is working to drive the growth of the UK semiconductor industry, and how its new London HQ is a critical step forward in supporting rapid sector acceleration
Powering the devices that we rely on in our daily lives, semiconductors are a crucial element of today’s world. With advances in technology, such as artificial intelligence (AI), electrification, automation and high-speed communications, consistently driving global demand, innovation in semiconductor technologies is a key priority worldwide.
The UK is no exception and, with its combination of world-class knowledge, technical capability and a highly collaborative and innovative environment, is well positioned to become a key player in the global semiconductor space. A major driver behind the acceleration of the UK’s semiconductor industry is the UK Semiconductor Centre (UKSC) – a strategic hub created to unite and promote the sector to drive scale-up and growth. The Centre champions the UK semiconductor industry globally, providing a single point of entry for collaboration and investment. Its key duties include:
- Building a network of connected companies, universities, innovators, investors and government;
- Connecting industry with academia and aligning them to a long-term strategic roadmap; and
- Providing access to infrastructure, investment, talent and expertise through the entire supply chain for the whole of the UK.
Most recently, it has made a major step towards the rapid growth of the sector by launching a London HQ. Located in the heart of London’s ‘Knowledge Quarter’ at the Institute of Physics (IOP) in King’s Cross, the HQ will enhance the UKSC’s capacity to promote the UK’s semiconductor ecosystem, connect and convene businesses, researchers, investors and international collaborators, and secure domestic and foreign direct investment for UK semiconductor companies.
To learn more about the Centre’s work and main objectives, The Innovation Platform spoke to Raj Gawera, COO of the UK Semiconductor Centre.
Can you briefly summarise the work of the UK Semiconductor Centre and its role in the UK semiconductor sector?
The UK is home to a wealth of innovation in semiconductors, but has historically been challenged by limited access to growth capital, infrastructure, and coordinated networks. The UK Semiconductor Centre has been set up to address those barriers and to ensure that our world-leading expertise is translated into scaled commercial success and wider economic growth.
We will achieve this by fostering relationships with global partners to help secure more inward investment into the UK’s industry. We will also help to attract investment around those technologies in areas where this country has a genuine advantage, like chip design, advanced materials and processes, photonics, and compound semiconductors.
Our final priority is talent. Within the next 15 years, almost 40% of the UK’s semiconductor workforce will have reached retirement age, creating a shortfall of roughly 10,000 jobs. To plug this gap and build on its strengths, the UK needs a clear skills pipeline, and we will play an important role in helping the sector develop the workforce it needs.
Why is it so important to have a strategic hub like the Semiconductor Centre?
Semiconductors underpin every aspect of modern life. They are crucial to realising the real-world applications of AI and quantum technologies within our healthcare, communications, infrastructure, and national security. That’s why, globally, the semiconductor market is set to be worth over £1tn by the end of this decade. It’s important the UK is well placed to capitalise on this.
Historically, the country has struggled to retain and scale its most promising businesses in this sector as they’ve faced issues accessing the capital, network, and co-ordinated support needed to thrive domestically. From the outside, the UK’s ecosystem can also appear fragmented, which makes it harder for investors and industry partners to engage with it.
As a dedicated hub, we can focus our time on convening businesses, policymakers, academia, and investors to address these challenges and turn the UK’s technology leadership into greater commercial success. We can also offer the strategic co-ordination that’s become increasingly essential as global demand intensifies, pushing supply chain resilience to the forefront.
In April, UKSC launched its new HQ at the Institute of Physics (IOP) in King’s Cross, London. What is the significance of this step?
Our new home positions us right at the heart of London’s Knowledge Quarter. Here, we sit alongside major tech companies like Google, DeepMind and Meta, as well as the raft of exciting start-ups also choosing to locate here. We’re also soon to be joined by firms like OpenAI and Anthropic, both of whom have plans to open offices at King’s Cross in the near future.
It places us at the centre of one of the most exciting tech and research communities in not just the UK, but the wider continent. It creates a physical hub where we can welcome stakeholders from across the semiconductor ecosystem and collaborate on the shared challenges and opportunities that exist within the sector.
Having this space is about making it easier to bring the right people together, whether that’s linking a university spin-out to potential investors or connecting international partners to UK capabilities.
What are the main challenges facing the UK semiconductor market/supply chain currently?
The UK semiconductor market currently suffers from a scale-up gap. Businesses at the seed and pre-seed stage perform well, but after that we see many struggle to access the growth capital that they need and this has led to a pattern where businesses disappear, or are commercialised abroad.
The other major challenge faced by both the UK and the wider global market is supply chain vulnerabilities. Recent geopolitical events have exposed how concentrated and fragile the semiconductor supply chain is, with raw material supplies and manufacturing heavily concentrated to a small number of locations. It means the industry has to be selective about the global partners it engages with. The UK Semiconductor Centre will play a critical role in developing these partnerships.
How does UKSC work to overcome these?
We want to take a focused approach to help overcome these challenges, by concentrating on the areas where the UK has a genuine strategic edge and then working to make these strengths visible. A big part of this will be to make the country’s ecosystem more coherent for domestic and international investors, helping them to understand semiconductor business models and connecting them with the right UK companies.
Once we’ve brought this investment in, it’s then about making sure as much value as possible stays here in terms of skilled jobs, R&D innovations, and physical facilities.
But these challenges can’t be tackled by us alone. That’s why a critical part of our work will be working closely with government and building international partnerships to develop our skills pipeline, build supply chain resilience, and make sure UK policy is aligned with the overall direction of the market.
What are UKSC’s key priorities for the year ahead?
From the outset, we need to make sure we’re listening to the people heavily involved in the sector, from companies to government, as we need to also understand what’s working before we start trying to fix what isn’t.
Supporting the government with the rollout of its AI Hardware Plan will be an important first step as semiconductors will need to underpin these efforts to make the UK a global technology leader.
Beyond that, our priorities will flow from our central mission of trying to scale up and grow our industry. We’ve already had some success, having recently announced a new partnership with Japanese technology firm Rapidus, as well as delivering a national awareness campaign to encourage more young people to consider a career in semiconductors.
Please note, this article will also appear in the 27th edition of our quarterly publication.
