ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Context
“I would like to think that at some point ... the UK has reached its goal of being one of the leading semiconductor nations.”
This is the vision of Andy McLean, CEO of the newly established UK Semiconductor Centre.
Earlier this year McLean was recruited to lead the UKSC, an idea that had been mooted in various government reports over the years to provide a focal point for the UK semiconductor industry.
Backed by £19m of government funding, McLean and his team aim to bring together government, universities and the private sector to support key components of the government’s Semiconductor Strategy.
In the latest episode of The BritChips Podcast, McLean explains what the UKSC is trying to do, how it will use its funding, and where it can help startups, universities, investors, and government work together more effectively.
The UK already has a panoply of organisations, institutions, associations and government initiatives supporting different (and sometimes overlapping) facets of the UK semiconductor industry.
For McLean to realise his vision, the challenge for the UKSC is more than connecting the dots, so to speak.
It’s also to create visible and accessible pathways for industry players - startups and scaleups in particular - to surmount the many obstacles they must overcome at each stage of their growth in order to reach and exploit their chosen markets.
This podcast is also available on the BritChips YouTube channel and in audio form on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Show Notes (AI gen’ed)
* In this episode, Anthony Miller traces the history of the UK Semiconductor Centre from the 2024 government report through the 2025 industrial strategy and into the appointment of Andy McLean as CEO.
* Andy shares why he returned to the UK after more than 30 years in the US semiconductor industry, including leadership roles at National Semiconductor, TI, and Analog Devices.
* The conversation explains the UKSC mission in one sentence: connecting industry, academia, and government to help the UK semiconductor sector scale.
* Andy breaks down the 19 million pound funding package, noting that it is spread across multiple years and is intended as operating and outreach support rather than direct industry investment.
* The discussion emphasizes the centre’s role as connective tissue rather than a lead investor, with government acting as a signal and lever to attract private capital.
* Andy discusses why the UK’s semiconductor ecosystem is strong on research, heritage, design, and materials science, but weaker on turning those assets into commercial success.
* Andy explains the importance of workforce and skills development, from primary school STEM interest through university and postdoctoral programmes.
* The AI hardware plan gets a detailed look as an example of policy that combines education, innovation funding, and procurement, with government acting as a lead customer for emerging UK technologies.
* The Taiwan mission is used as a practical example of outreach, with UK startups and SMEs meeting major system integrators, manufacturers, and potential customers in a globally important ecosystem.
* Andy outlines how the UKSC thinks about startup support as a full journey: university research, spin-outs, early programmes like ChipStart, investment, and then market access and scaling.
* A major theme is the role of university technology transfer offices, where Andy sees a need to study equity terms and licensing practices more closely so spin-outs can scale more easily.
* The episode closes with a vision for the next five to ten years: preserve the UK’s creative problem-solving strength and get the UK into the global top tier of semiconductor nations.
Timestamps (approx)
00:00 - Why the UK Semiconductor Centre matters
00:45 - How the UKSC emerged from government semiconductor strategy
02:12 - The 19 million pound remit and the appointment of Andy McLean
03:23 - Why Andy left the US semiconductor world for the UK
05:37 - The selection process and why global experience mattered
06:57 - The UK’s strengths in research and its commercial gap
08:37 - Running a tiny, government-funded centre with a national mission
10:22 - What the UKSC does and how the funding is really used
11:54 - Why the centre is a lever, not a direct investor
14:21 - Why semiconductor policy spans skills, education, and research
16:49 - Why semiconductors matter through applications, not in isolation
17:30 - How the AI hardware plan uses procurement to create traction
19:46 - Why AI is important but not the only UKSC priority
21:41 - The purpose of the Taiwan mission for startups and SMEs
23:24 - Taiwan’s role across manufacturing, systems, and data centres
25:45 - What UK companies took to Taiwan and what they hoped to gain
27:49 - What success looks like from the mission over time
29:07 - How the UKSC measures impact through KPIs and economic value
30:41 - Measuring startup success through quantity, funding, and scale
33:48 - Why the startup journey needs one connective system
35:23 - How UKSC links universities, ChipStart, investors, and markets
37:15 - Why technology transfer offices are a key pressure point
39:15 - Equity stakes, licensing terms, and barriers to spin-out growth
40:33 - UCIT and the push for simpler, more uniform terms
42:11 - Looking for evidence of what is blocking scale in the UK
43:44 - Why overseas funding is not the main concern
45:38 - The risk of foreign acquisition and how to make the UK stickier
48:33 - The long-term goal: top-tier global status for UK semiconductors
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