UK sends its good ideas overseas to be made – only to buy them back again, says Rockley boss
The UK has been unable to break free from off-loading its innovations overseas to be manufactured during the past decade and the upcoming semiconductor strategy is unlikely to change the tides, the boss of Rockley Photonics has said.
Rockley Photonics, which specialises in sensing technology, was once a key customer to the UK’s largest computer chip manufacturer Newport Wafer Fab prior to its takeover by Chinese-owned Nexperia.
While the takeover is currently subject to a Government inquiry under the National Security and Investments Act, Rockley has had to transition out of the UK and double down on its US supply of computer chips.
Speaking to City A.M., Dr Andrew Rickman OBE said: “We have to send all of our good ideas abroad to have them made just the buy them back again with public money.
“[The UK Government is] spending all this money to create the environment that our general public want but miss out on the opportunity to actually generate the wealth, the jobs, the prosperity that comes with the development of the science.
“We’re not serving the taxpayer and the general public well.”
British engineering heavyweight Dyson is one of the best examples, having shifted its manufacturing operations to Asia 20 years ago.
Today, Dyson is one of many UK companies which have syphoned manufacturing processes overseas, to primarily Asia and North America.
Rickman urged the Government to open up a foundry, where silicon wafers can be manufactured,
He added that while the Government “better hurry up” with its semiconductor strategy and better support British technology firms, the company is not ‘holding its breath’ for change.
“[We’re] not terribly impressed. To be constructive about it, if we look at what we’re doing in our general field, the UK has long said goodbye to the mainstream semiconductor industry,” he said.