Regional map
Semiconductor activity in the UK is concentrated in 12 regional clusters, each with a distinct technical specialism, spanning all four nations.
Last reviewed: 21 August 2026
The 2026 Government sector study identifies 12 regional clusters: the East of England (Cambridge), London, North East England, Northern Ireland, North West England (Manchester), Scotland (Edinburgh), Scotland (Glasgow), South East England (Southampton), South Wales, South West England (Bristol), the West Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber.
They are not interchangeable. Each cluster has developed around specific research strengths and industrial history — design and semiconductor physics in Cambridge, compound semiconductors in South Wales, photonics and packaging in Glasgow, silicon photonics in Southampton, power electronics in Bristol.
Design, IP and semiconductor physics
Semiconductor research and chip design depth, including fundamental semiconductor physics, gallium nitride and advanced materials, chip architecture expertise, and a concentration of design, semiconductor IP and fabless activity.
National coordination, fabless design and research spin-outs
Described in the study as the strategic centre of the sector: home to national coordination bodies including the UK Semiconductor Centre at the Institute of Physics, with research strengths in neuromorphic computing, nanotechnology, MEMS and silicon quantum electronics, and business activity weighted towards fabless design, IP and research-led spin-outs.
Compound semiconductors and advanced materials electronics
A business-led advanced electronics cluster extending beyond conventional silicon, with capability in compound semiconductor radio frequency and millimetre-wave components, MEMS manufacturing, photonics for space and aerospace, and flexible organic and radiation-detection electronics.
Integrated photonics, nano-manufacturing and hardware security
A nationally influential hardware security research base alongside integrated photonics and nano-manufacturing capability, and large-scale advanced manufacturing in data storage components.
Upstream materials science and characterisation
Semiconductor relevance concentrated upstream in fundamental materials science, characterisation infrastructure and national materials coordination, including graphene and two-dimensional materials research.
Fabrication capability and emerging device science
A research-and-fabrication centre combining industrial-standard cleanroom processing on wafers up to 200mm with research on memristors, neuromorphic architectures and AI hardware co-design, alongside a cohort of dedicated semiconductor firms.
Photonics, quantum and advanced packaging
One of the UK's most substantial concentrations of semiconductor and photonics capability, including advanced semiconductor packaging facilities, quantum-enabled sensing, mid-infrared photonics and gallium nitride micro-LED research.
Silicon photonics and nanofabrication
Internationally leading silicon photonics capability with advanced nanofabrication infrastructure and national rapid-prototyping foundry access, alongside a business base weighted towards multinational design and integrated device manufacturer activity.
Power electronics, radio frequency and materials
Capabilities in next-generation power semiconductors across wide and ultra-wide bandgap materials, radio frequency and 6G research, device design and materials characterisation infrastructure.
Compound semiconductor manufacturing and supply chain
Recognised in the study as the world's first compound semiconductor cluster, with a near-complete vertical supply chain spanning epitaxial growth, prototyping, wafer manufacturing, device fabrication, advanced packaging, module integration and process equipment.
Wide bandgap materials growth and power semiconductors
Silicon carbide materials growth using industrial chemical vapour deposition capability, contributing to national power semiconductor and next-generation semiconductor materials programmes.
III-V materials, heterogeneous integration and test
Capability spanning III-V compound semiconductor materials and devices, heterogeneous microelectronic integration design, millimetre-wave characterisation, national epitaxy provision, electron-beam lithography and a route into production engineering.
Semiconductor capability is unusually place-bound. Fabrication and characterisation facilities are expensive and immobile, specialist skills pool around them, and supplier relationships form locally. A cluster therefore represents shared infrastructure and a labour market as much as a group of companies, which is why Government analysis treats regional capability as a strategic asset rather than an incidental pattern.
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