Innovation and Design Excellence Keep Leading Fabless Companies in the U.K.

Graham Pitcher, Group Editor, Engineering Design Division, Findlay Media

It’s a piece of data that surprises many people: More than 30 percent of Europe’s fabless semiconductor companies and independent design houses are located in the U.K. And many of these companies are industry leaders in their chosen field such as processor design, communications technology and mixed-signal/analog.

Despite the wide range of technology focus, one thing is common amongst them all: their customers are primarily located outside the U.K. So why are these companies located in the U.K. when they could be closer to their customers?

Simon Knowles, vice president of strategy and co-founder, Icera Inc, Bristol, U.K., said, “Our biggest site and our headquarters are in Bristol. Why? Because Bristol is probably the best place for digital design in Europe.” The reason for this goes back to the 1980s. “It’s all because of Inmos,” he claimed. Inmos was incorporated in the U.K. in 1978, focusing originally on memory devices—at one time capturing 60 percent of the global market for SRAM. It then looked to develop the Transputer, a novel processor architecture intended for use in parallel processing. Unfortunately, the company was not the success that was anticipated, and its technology was eventually acquired by STMicroelectronics NV, Geneva, Switzerland.

“How do you build a successful company?” Knowles asked rhetorically. “Get the best people you can.” And many of the best digital designers can be found in the Bristol area. They are, Knowles believes, so sufficiently valued by the industry that they can put lifestyle at the top of their agenda.

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