Microelectronics UK 2025

The inaugural Microelectronics UK 2025 launch event was held at Excel London on September 24–25, 2025. This new exhibition and conference brought together the UK's microelectronics, semiconductors, photonics, and embedded systems industries to showcase innovation, foster collaboration, and address talent gaps in the sector. With over 3000 attendees, the event featured over 100 exhibitors, 100+ speakers, and dedicated zones for Semiconductors UK, Photonics UK, and Embedded Systems UK.

Semitronics were delighted to participate in the UK's largest gathering for the microelectronics community, promoting collaboration and highlighting the UK's capabilities in R&D and manufacturing. The event aimed to strengthen the UK's position in the global microelectronics ecosystem by encouraging strategic partnerships and providing a platform to drive innovation and trade.

Microelectronics UK was a hub of industry launches and announcements. The show had a big story on the Semiconductors UK stage at the very start, with the announcement of a £10 million fund to boost UK semiconductor innovation by Tech Minister Kanishka Narayan MP during the opening address.

The investment, alongside Innovate UK, is expected to support up to 40 British businesses. “I hope you will feel that right across the UK, across the nations of this country, we are putting a fundamental focus on what semiconductors will do in our collective future,” Narayan told attendees.

“Microelectronics UK is clearly an outstanding gathering,” added Narayan, saying it was ‘testament to the UK’s growing leadership’. “It showcases the strength, ambition, and collective energy of the sector.”

Collaboration was another major theme of the event. Understanding the UK’s global role and potential for partnerships came through clearly in the sessions exploring Malaysia’s semiconductor industry and vision. Hai Liang (Duncan) Lee, director of technology at Malaysia Semiconductor Industry Association, noted that 40% of Malaysia’s export is through semiconductors, with 7% of all global trade flowing through the country. “The UK is the right place to do product UP… [but] if you want to deploy global products, you want to acquire market share, you are talking volume business,” Shariman Jamil, CEO of SMD Semiconductor, told attendees. “This is where Malaysia can complement the UK.”

Yet there was a wider sense of a call to action for the microelectronics space. Sue Daley OBE, director at techUK, told attendees that the message from industry was that action was needed in order for the UK to position itself as an ‘indispensable part of the global semiconductor ecosystem’.

Daley outlined the three missions in TechUK’s Plan for Chips report, published in February: turning current strengths into leadership; ensuring the UK’s semiconductor businesses have greater access to finance; and capitalising on UK strength in the global supply chain through strategic partnerships.

“If the global chip market is heading for $1 trillion by 2030, the UK needs to turn strategy into serious action,” said Daley. “The National Semiconductor Strategy has made some positive strides with establishing the UK’s Semiconductor Centre, holding a lot of potential to coordinate efficient support for the sector. Now, we must focus on delivery. That’s the task ahead, and groups like techUK, the Chips Coalition, are pushing hard to make this a reality.