TechWorks Marks 30 Years, Pushes UK Semiconductor Growth at S2S26

TechWorks, the UK’s semiconductor and electronics industry network, marked its 30th anniversary by hosting the inaugural Semiconductors to Systems Summit (S2S26) in London. The organization called for deeper collaboration across the UK chip value chain to convert the country’s design leadership into commercial products, jobs, and measurable economic growth.

The summit, TechWorks’ first dedicated semiconductors-to-systems event, drew leaders from chip design, advanced packaging, and electronics manufacturing to address a persistent UK gap: world-class silicon IP and research that too rarely scales into domestically built products. TechWorks argues that unlocking growth requires stronger links between design houses, substrate and packaging suppliers, board-level manufacturers, and systems integrators. The message lands as governments across Europe and the US pour subsidies into fabs and packaging capacity, and as chiplet architectures push design decisions closer to the PCB. Speakers flagged talent, investment, and supply chain resilience as priorities for the decade ahead.

For OEM buyers and electronics engineers, the push signals a more coordinated UK and European sourcing landscape. British firms design a disproportionate share of global silicon, yet most wafer fabrication, IC substrate production, and PCB assembly happens in Asia. Closer ecosystem collaboration could shorten design-to-production handoffs and expand regional options for substrate-like PCBs, HDI boards, and turnkey assembly at a time when supply chain diversification ranks high on procurement agendas. TechWorks also spotlighted its interest groups covering automotive electronics, power electronics, and deep tech, where UK demand for high-reliability boards and advanced thermal management keeps rising. Value, the summit’s message went, flows to ecosystems that connect silicon, substrates, and systems under one strategy.

The S2S26 theme of bridging design and manufacturing mirrors daily OEM procurement reality: great silicon needs matching substrate and board technology. LT CIRCUIT supports UK and European customers with HDI, IC substrate, rigid flex, and high layer count PCBs, helping engineering teams move advanced designs into reliable volume production.