News: Suppliers
22 January 2025
UK’s North East advanced material electronics sector to contribute over 7000 jobs and nearly £900m gross value-added in next five years
The UK’s North East advanced material electronics industry is projected to contribute nearly £900m to the UK economy over the next five years, according to a new report by Urban Foresight on behalf of Business Durham and the Compound Semiconductor Applications (CSA) Catapult. The report identifies ‘significant growth potential’ in the sector, which is already providing many jobs and contributing to the UK economy.
The report maps the landscape of the North East’s advanced material electronics (AME) sector, i.e. electronic systems using materials that have been engineered to have superior properties compared to conventional materials.
The North East AME sector is particularly strong in developing sensors, microwave communications, and display technology for the defence & security, space & aerospace, telecoms, and healthcare industries.
Highlights from the report include:
- The North East AME sector currently employs 2798 people, up from 1800 in 2020.
- The North East AME sector could employ a total of 7583 people in the next five years.
- The North East AME sector currently provides £369.9m of gross value-added (GVA) to the local economy, up from £183.9m in 2020.
- Accounting for wider economic impacts, the total projected GVA contribution to the North East economy is £893.8m over the next five years.
There are currently 58 businesses in the AME sector in the North East, 96% of which are SMEs.
According to the report, the barriers facing these businesses are skills, funding and the development of new products. However, business growth support programs, such as the networking body North East Advanced Material Electronics (NEAME), are helping to address these challenges. The report estimates that 46% of new jobs and £50.6m of the increased GVA is because of support from these programs.
As the UK’s authority on compound semiconductor applications and commercialization, CSA Catapult provides expert knowledge and access to specialist equipment that enables businesses to de-risk their technologies and speed up their time to market. In 2023, CSA Catapult opened an office at NETPark in Durham to help support a cluster of businesses specializing in compound semiconductor technologies.
“This new report provides clear evidence of the growth opportunity across the North East electronics industry,” says CSA Catapult Martin McHugh. “The region is supporting critical industries such as defence, telecoms and healthcare by developing next-generation semiconductor and compound semiconductor technologies in collaboration with a strong academic base. CSA Catapult is committed to supporting growth in the region. Our role as a trusted, neutral convener is to help the region achieve the significant projections outlined in the report,” he adds.
“We are delighted to see the significant growth potential of the North East electronics industry, as highlighted in this report,” says Kerry Walker, business growth director at Business Durham. “Business Durham is committed to supporting the growth of this important sector, which is creating jobs and contributing to the economic prosperity of the region. The North East has a strong track record in innovation and manufacturing, and we believe that the advanced materials electronics sector has a bright future ahead. We will continue to work with our partners to support businesses in this sector to access the skills, funding and research they need to thrive,” he adds.
“We were thrilled to be able to refresh our landscape research from 2020 and produce a new report that demonstrates how investment from the council has directly supported business growth,” comments Emma Clement, principal consultant at Urban Foresight. “The main difference between the 2020 report and this new one, however, is the broader definition of AME. This encompasses a wide range of electronics and material technologies. Our research found that the full breadth of technologies, services and markets are served by the region,” she adds.
“As a rapidly growing SME focused on satellite communications and aerospace, with its base at NETPark and a founder member of NEAME, we are pleased to operate with our key partner suppliers in the region,” comments Steve Clements, CEO of aXenic Ltd. “We have witnessed the significant growth of the advanced manufacturing sector particularly over the last five years and experienced the supportive business climate. We look forward to participating in the continued support for the region to deliver further growth in the next five years.”
The report is an update of a previous landscape report published in 2020 and was commissioned by Durham County Council and the Compound Semiconductor Applications Catapult. Urban Foresight compiled the report from desk-based research and business surveys.
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