Power semiconductors
High-power diode, thyristor and module manufacture for traction, grid and industrial drive applications.
Regional cluster
The Midlands semiconductor cluster
A manufacturing-weighted cluster built on power semiconductors, wide bandgap materials growth and the process materials and equipment that supply fabs elsewhere.
What is the Midlands semiconductor cluster known for?
The curated Semiconductor.co.uk company index currently holds 11 published records in this cluster — 6 dedicated semiconductor businesses and 5 diversified companies with semiconductor capability alongside other activity, across 8 capabilities. The count moves as records are verified, and is a count of published records rather than an estimate of every company in the region.
Power semiconductors and materials. The Midlands holds long-established power device manufacture in Lincolnshire, compound semiconductor and laser device fabrication in Northamptonshire, and a group of materials, substrate and process chemical suppliers across Staffordshire, Warwickshire and the West Midlands.
Research in the region is concentrated on wide bandgap materials and power electronics, with silicon carbide materials growth and power conversion research feeding national programmes. The 2026 Government sector study identifies the West Midlands specifically for wide bandgap materials growth rather than for chip design.
- 11
- Published records in this cluster
- Curated index, verified individually
- 6
- Dedicated semiconductor businesses
- Semiconductors are the core activity
- 5
- Diversified companies
- Semiconductor capability alongside other work
- 8
- Distinct primary capabilities
- From the controlled capability vocabulary
At a glance
- Power semiconductor manufacture with long industrial history
- Compound semiconductor and laser device fabrication
- Silicon carbide and wide bandgap materials research
- Substrates, target materials and process chemicals supply
- Test, probe and vacuum equipment manufacture
- Manufacturing and materials rather than fabless design
What this cluster specialises in
Compound semiconductor and laser fabrication
Wafer fabrication of photonic and compound semiconductor devices for optical communications.
Materials, substrates and process chemicals
Wafers, sputtering targets, precision membranes, thermoelectric materials and specialist chemicals supplied into semiconductor processing.
Test and process equipment
Probe and test equipment, wet-bench cleaning systems and vacuum engineering for wafer processing.
Capabilities recorded here
- Power Semiconductors2
- Process Chemicals2
- Wafers / Substrates2
- Compound Semiconductor Fabrication1
- Semiconductor IP1
- Semiconductor Materials1
- Test / Probe Equipment1
- Vacuum / Process Equipment1
Companies recorded in this cluster
Drawn live from the central company index and listed alphabetically, with no ranking or paid placement. A cluster is only recorded where the operating location genuinely sits inside the cluster geography, so companies elsewhere in the same region are not listed here.
Showing 11 of 11
CoreTest Technologies
DedicatedLincoln-based semiconductor test equipment business supplying automated test equipment, probers and handlers while designing and manufacturing its own test interface hardware including load boards, probe cards and temperature-forcing systems.
Test / Probe Equipment · Lincoln
WebsiteDynex Semiconductor
DedicatedLincoln manufacturer of high-power semiconductor modules, thyristors and IGBT devices for rail traction, energy transmission and industrial drive systems.
Power Semiconductors · Lincoln
UK operation of Zhuzhou CRRC Times Electric Co., Ltd (China)
WebsiteEuropean Thermodynamics
DiversifiedKibworth manufacturer of thermoelectric semiconductor coolers and generators and thermal management assemblies for aerospace, automotive and industrial customers.
Semiconductor Materials · Kibworth
WebsiteIrresistible Materials
DedicatedBirmingham materials company developing photoresists and hard masks for extreme ultraviolet and electron-beam semiconductor lithography.
Process Chemicals · Birmingham
WebsiteLumentum Technology UK
DedicatedOperator of the Caswell indium phosphide wafer fabrication site in Northamptonshire, producing photonic chips and optical modulators for optical networking; the UK arm of a US-headquartered group.
Compound Semiconductor Fabrication · Towcester
UK operation of Lumentum Holdings
WebsitePI-KEM
DiversifiedTamworth supplier of silicon, sapphire, glass and compound semiconductor wafers with associated coating, polishing, etching and dicing services, within a wider advanced materials business.
Wafers / Substrates · Tamworth
WebsitePlater Group
DiversifiedDerbyshire chemical manufacturer producing high-purity acids, etches, cleaners and developers for electronics manufacturing, packaged in a dedicated cleanroom facility.
Process Chemicals · Glossop
WebsiteRenaissance Semiconductor
DiversifiedBirmingham company offering configurable digital IP blocks and system-on-chip design services for connectivity and domain-specific processors.
Semiconductor IP · Birmingham
WebsiteSilson
DedicatedSoutham manufacturer of ultra-thin silicon, silicon nitride and silicon carbide membranes and substrates produced in its own cleanroom for semiconductor, x-ray and electron microscopy applications.
Wafers / Substrates · Southam
WebsiteTransys Electronics
DedicatedPrivately owned power semiconductor manufacturer near Birmingham operating an in-house wafer fabrication facility producing IGBTs, MOSFETs, diodes and thyristors, with UK diffusion, lithography and dicing.
Power Semiconductors · Coleshill
WebsiteUnitech Shyre
DiversifiedWest Midlands designer and builder of ultrasonic wet bench cleaning and dip coating systems, including an automated wafer cleaning system developed for semiconductor customers alongside optics and aerospace work.
Vacuum / Process Equipment · Brownhills
Website
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Manufacturing and fabrication capability
Unlike London or the Thames Valley, this cluster's centre of gravity is production. Power semiconductor manufacture in Lincoln and compound semiconductor and laser device fabrication in Northamptonshire are both operating wafer-processing sites, and are recorded as such in our index.
Around them sits a supply layer that is easy to overlook: substrate and target material suppliers, precision membrane and photomask-adjacent manufacture, process chemicals, wet-bench cleaning equipment and vacuum systems. Several of these companies are classified as diversified because semiconductor work is one of several markets they serve.
Universities and research
The University of Warwick is the region's main semiconductor materials research base, with silicon carbide and wide bandgap materials growth capability and power electronics research that connects directly to the region's manufacturers. The 2026 sector study cites this capability as the West Midlands cluster's defining strength.
The University of Nottingham's power electronics research and the University of Birmingham's materials and microengineering activity extend the regional base, and Birmingham is also the origin of materials companies recorded in the index.
Investment and programmes
Investment in the Midlands has been driven by power electronics demand from automotive and rail electrification, and by national programmes in wide bandgap materials rather than by a single semiconductor announcement.
The 2023 National Semiconductor Strategy's emphasis on compound semiconductors and research infrastructure is directly relevant here, and the UK Semiconductor Centre announced in 2025 is the route through which regional manufacturers are expected to engage with national scale-up support.
Cluster and industry organisations
University of Warwick
Silicon carbide and wide bandgap materials growth and power electronics research, cited in the Government sector study as the West Midlands cluster's core capability.
Midlands Engine
Regional partnership coordinating innovation and investment activity across the Midlands.
UK Semiconductor Centre
National coordination point for scale-up support and international engagement.
How this cluster fits the UK sector
The Midlands is one of the few UK clusters where semiconductor activity is dominated by manufacture and materials rather than design, which makes it a supply-chain cluster for the rest of the country as much as a regional industry in its own right.
Power semiconductor capability here is also tied to the UK's electrification programmes, so its outlook depends on automotive, rail and grid investment as much as on semiconductor policy.
The 2026 Government sector study identifies 12 regional semiconductor clusters across the UK. The national clusters overview sets out all twelve, each with its own resource and live company count.
Sources
Facilities, programmes and funding described above are drawn from the following first-party and institutional sources. Figures published by a cluster organisation or company are attributed to them in the text rather than presented as official statistics.
University of Warwick
Warwick Manufacturing Group and materials researchUniversity of Nottingham
Faculty of Engineering research, including power electronicsDepartment for Science, Innovation and Technology
National Semiconductor Strategy
Continue reading
All 12 UK semiconductor clusters
The national picture, region by region, from the 2026 sector study.
UK company index
Search every published record by capability, region and cluster.
Investment and policy
Public programmes and private capital behind the sector.
Semiconductor glossary
Definitions for epitaxy, foundry, compound semiconductor and more.