Last stop Bristol

This Tuesday was the tenth and final stop of the UK Semiconductor Centre roadshow at the Engine Shed in Bristol. The collective hunger to see the UKSC succeed as a national effort was palpable, but the day also highlighted the significant work ahead in coordination and communication.

The workshop opened with a clear directive from Dan Browne at DSIT on how semiconductors are frontier technologies central to the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy. Next up was UKSC’s COO Raj Gawera whose vision for the Centre is to act as a unified front door for the UK. This is vital to tell a clear story to international partners to boost inward investment and strategic partnerships.

Crucially, the UKSC is not intended to be a silver bullet or a primary funder. Instead, it’s a coordinator and signposter, designed to connect an ecosystem that is often fragmented. One of the most strategic areas identified is the convergence of semiconductors with other critical technologies, including for once-in-a-generation transitions like the demand for power electronics in data centres.

This is a key priority for Fractile, where Ed Bithell urged us to be more unBritish in our promotion of the semiconductor industry’s potential to offer jobs where you can simultaneously do the right thing and ‘get disgustingly rich’. Ed’s suggestion to get our ambitions on TikTok isn’t just a throwaway comment, it’s a necessity to reach beyond higher education, support apprenticeships and engage children early. Hear, hear! We need to nurture content champions who shout about this stuff.

Andrew Robertson Bay Photonics gave us an overview of the Torbay Hi-Tech cluster including the EPIC Centre which we learnt more about from its director Richard Scutt. Martin Kuball a familiar face from Bristol Innovations' talks, highlighted innovation in advanced packaging and modules alongside device manufacturing.

The workshop sessions split attendees into groups to discuss challenges. Regions are often unaware of each other's strengths, and here I'd include great comms material and video assets that I’d urge clusters to audit and exploit. As Ruth Oulton on my table pointed out, innovation in semiconductors underpins so many of our other tech priorities including quantum and AI. How do we use this to develop unified messaging that's easy to absorb and effortless to champion? The consensus from Leonie White’s strategy work is that we must focus on a futuristic ambition-fuelled identity rather than a sense of Britishness that's unlikely to register beyond our shores.

The UKSC will be headquartered in King’s Cross, to ensure it's internationally accessible, but its success will be measured by how well it supports regional clusters from Bristol to Belfast. That includes translating the technical brilliance of our innovators into a story that policymakers, investors, and the next generation of engineers can all get behind.